The Munch Bunch

Followers of the blog last week will have enjoyed revisiting the excellence that is ‘Cookin’ With Coolio’, an internet-only TV show where the 90s rapper assumes a Jamie Oliver role and tells us all how best to pimp our cuisine. Whilst surrounded by “bitches” in hot pants, obviously. That was probably a contractual stipulation.

Of course, he’s not the only musician to have an interest in gastronomy. Blur’s Alex James spent his days after the band’s break-up making cheese – an oft-repeated and fairly dull fact – and, of course, former MOBO nominee Levi Roots, who has become something of a minor celebrity after the success of his ‘Reggae Reggae Sauce’ on Dragon’s Den. (Well, I say “minor celebrity”, I think I mean that Britain’s students probably hail him as one of their “hilarious” ironic icons. If he plays his cards right, maybe one day he’ll be as revered as Chuck Norris.)

Then there are the foodstuffs created in homage to musical heroes. Fancy tucking into a Luther Burger? Named after its rumoured creator, Luther Vandross, it’s like a normal bacon cheeseburger, only in place of the bun you use two grilled Krispy Kreme donuts (I think my aorta just puked). Or, if you’re in the Chicago area, head to Kuma’s Corner where you can dine with Megadeath. The burger called Megadeath, that is. Not the band. Kuma’s serve a whole host of rock and metal-themed sandwiches. For instance, $13 will get you a Slayer, described thusly: “Pile of fries topped with a ½ lb. Burger, Chili, Cherry Peppers, Andouille, Onions, Jack Cheese, and Anger”. I’m not sure if that last one is a special kind of herb, or if it’s merely prepared with a full serving of the emotion. Maybe the waiter calls you a bastard.

But until today I hadn’t ever seen a professionally shot video involving Brett Anderson and a fistful of squished blueberries. Though, between you and me, I had always secretly dreamed this day would arrive:

Love Music Love Food started earlier this year, and, being the brainchild of the people behind the Teenage Cancer Trust, is for a fantastic cause – even if it’s a bit wayward conceptually.
Basically, the idea is this: they get famous musicians to pose in various food-centric situations, ranging from the sexy-and-cool to the attention-grabbingly weird. Which is why (in this gallery here), on the one hand, there’s Marina Diamandis dressed as a 50s diner waitress serving bacon and pancakes, and on the other, there’s All Saints’ Mel Blatt peeking out between two curtains of melted cheese. How curiously nauseating.
That’s not all though. There’s Mani with a very phallic plate of sausage and mash, the ginger fella from The Kooks trying to out-stare a sheep, Noel Gallagher looking moody with – get this – a cup of tea, Roger Daltrey with a trout in his top pocket, Coco Sumner eating boiled egg and soldiers, and, my personal favourite, a particularly bizarre photo of what may or may not be Peaches sitting on some beans on toast, with a caption that suggests she is warming them up by farting on them. Or maybe that was in my head. Nope, I just checked. It’s there all right.

So, like ‘Cookin’ With Coolio’, Love Music Love Food is brilliant, if more than a little confusing.