The One With All The Food: 10 Dishes We Want To Try From ‘FRIENDS’
In honor of the FRIENDS reunion this weekend, here are our favorite treats from the show
I love FRIENDS. Actually, scratch that. To say that I love the show is an understatement. What do you call it when you’ve memorized nearly every episode and still laugh at the scenes when you rewatch it for the thousandth time? Please tell me it’s not called insanity.
So when the news of a FRIENDS reunion became official, I was beyond ecstatic even if I had no idea what to expect. I just wanted to see Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Ross back together. So, in celebration of “The One We’ve All Been Waiting For”, here’s a list of the 10 best food items (and moments) from FRIENDS in case anyone wants to make their own version or have the next best thing delivered to their doorstep. And no, we won’t be including the “Manipulative Shrew” from “The One With Phoebe’s Birthday Dinner” (Season 9, Episode 5). Sorry to disappoint you.
The One With All The Food
The One With All The Food
1) Rachel’s “Traditional” English Trifle
Season 6, “The One Where Ross Got High.” Rachel’s English trifle gone awry is perhaps the most unforgettable of all the things they’ve eaten on the show. Monica finally relinquished control and let Rachel be in charge of dessert for Thanksgiving. Things started going south when Rachel made the traditional British dessert with “a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard — which [she] made from scratch — raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sautéed with peas and onions. Then more custard and then bananas and then [she] just put some whipped cream on top.” Joey and Ross discovered it was because the pages of the cookbook she was using were stuck together and Rachel ended up making “half an English trifle and half a shepherd’s pie”! The rest of the group had to find creative ways to avoid eating the meat-laden trifle, which became more and more ridiculous as the episode progressed. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: How To Make It
2) The Moist Maker
Season 5, “The One With Ross’ Sandwich.” This is the best recipe from a fictional character that I have ever heard. It’s basically a sandwich made of leftovers from Thanksgiving, but Monica’s secret is “a piece of gravy-soaked bread in the middle”, which Ross calls “The Moist Maker” — both disgusting and mouthwatering, if you ask me. No wonder Ross’ colleague stole the sandwich from the office fridge, causing “Red Ross” to go ballistic. After leaving a threatening note to make sure no one messes with him (and his lunch) ever again, he ended up going to a work-mandated anger management session. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: How To Make It
3) Phoebe’s Grandma’s “Secret” Cookies
Season 7, “The One With Phoebe’s Cookies.” Wanting to be the mom with the best cookies ever, Monica asks Phoebe for the recipe to her grandma’s amazing chocolate chip cookies. Sadly, Phoebe lost the copy of the recipe when her apartment burnt down. Monica then starts to frantically recreate the recipe from the very last cookie that Phoebe saved. After 22 batches of experimental cookies (with Batch 16 upsetting Ross’ stomach), Monica found out that the recipe was actually in the back of the pack of Nestle Toll House cookie dough and not a secret signature recipe as Phoebe’s grandma claimed. To be fair, “toll house” does sound a little bit like “Toulouse”, especially if you’re struggling to speak on your deathbed and you’re telling your granddaughter to never share the recipe with anybody else. Get your cookie fix from Mo’ Cookies, Moloko Cookies, Famous Amos, Prologue or Epilogue. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order Mo Cookies
4) The Joey Special
Season 4, “The One With Ross’ Wedding (Part 1)." Every FRIENDS fan knows that The Joey Special is the best kind of pizza because it’s “two pizzas!” While Joey didn’t mention what kind of pizza he usually gets, in the episode “The One Where Ross Can’t Flirt” (another ridiculously hilarious episode from season 5), we find out that the group usually orders pepperoni pizza while Phoebe gets the vegetarian pizza. Get your pizza fix from Crosta Pizzeria, Elbert’s Pizzeria, Francesco’s, Angel’s Pizza. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order from Elbert's Pizzeria
5) Monica’s Christmas Candy
Season 7, “The One With All The Candy.” Desperate to be liked by her neighbors, chronic crowd-pleaser Monica decided to make candies for the holidays which she leaves by her front door so her neighbors can get one any time. However, her neighbors went crazy for it and emptied the container soon — even going as far as waking her up in the middle of the night to ask for some “little drops of heaven.” We’re not sure what’s inside Monica’s borderline addictive candy, but we do see her frantically drizzling chocolate over small bits of candy while yelling at anybody who dared to mess with the system. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: How To Make It
6) Cheesecake from Momma’s Little Bakery in Chicago, Illinois
Season 7, “The One With All The Cheesecakes.” Admit it: You’d eat it off the floor too if you drop half of an entire cheesecake, just like Chandler and Rachel. The unlikely duo stumbled upon a box of cheesecake after it was mistakenly left at their doorstep instead of Mrs. Braverman downstairs — twice. According to Rach, “it had a buttery, crumbly, Graham cracker crust, with a very rich yet light, cream cheese filling”. They shared the dessert (and the secret) until they had to fight over the last parts of the cheesecake which they accidentally drop on the floor. Joey catches the two on all fours, shamelessly eating the splattered cake, and promptly joins them while pulling out a fork from his coat pocket oh-so-nonchalantly. Get your fix from Gallery By Chele, Workshop at The Grid Food Market, Cakes by Gel Salonga. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order from Gallery by Chele
7) Meatball Sub
Season 5, “The One With The Ride-Along.” It’s no secret that Joey doesn’t share food, but his love for meatball sub is deep and true. He even went as far as protecting “the greatest sandwich in the world” from what they thought was a gun shooting at them (turns out it was just a car backfire). In fact, Joey loves meatball subs so much that Rachel and his sister Dina used it to distract him when he got mad at Dina for getting pregnant. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: How To Make It
8) Free Crab Cakes
Season 9, “The One With Blind Dates.” Ever got stood up for a blind date? Well, nothing soothes the pain of rejection like a plate of delicious crab cakes. When Ross’ blind date didn’t show up, the waiter at the restaurant where he got stood up gave him some appetizer crab cakes on the house. Later on, we find out that this act of kindness was actually a ruse to make him stay longer so the waiter can win the bet to see how long he’d wait for his date. Pissed, Ross told him off, but not before demanding for his free crab cakes. At the end of the episode, Joey and Ross are back in the restaurant pretending to get stood up again in order to get more free crab cakes. Now it makes you wonder how good these crustacean delights are if you and your friend are willing to debase yourselves to get it. Get your fix from Café Fleur in Poblacion. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order from Café Fleur
9) Monica’s “Audition” Dishes
Season 1, “The One With The Stoned Guy.” In the show’s first season, we see Monica applying to be the head chef at the restaurant owned by Phoebe’s friend (played by the hilarious Jon Lovitz). During the episode, she was trying out her recipe for salmon mousse with Joey’s help (which he described as creamy whipped fish), and then she serves “rock shrimp ravioli and cilantro-ponzu sauce with a touch of minced ginger” and prepares onion tartlets while the stoned restaurant owner plays with a box of Sugar-Os to save the gummy bears drowning in a bowl of milk. It was a chaotic audition, but man oh man Monica’s dishes sound uhhh-mazing. We definitely want to try those. Get your fix from Carlito’s Catering’s Baked Salmon, Lazy Oeuf by Metronome’s Salmon Rillette & Cream Cheese Croissant or Kale & Onion Quiche. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order from Carlito's Catering
10) Monica’s Lasagnas
Season 1, “The One With A Dozen Lasagnas.” When Monica’s aunt cancels her order for a dozen lasagnas, Monica got stuck with a dozen lasagnas in her freezer. To get rid of it, she ended up giving it away to her friends and even Paolo (yes, Rachel’s sleazy Italian lover). Not going to lie, we would love to have one of those giant pasta trays. Get your fix from Cibo, A Mano, Banapple (Lasagna Roll Ups), Doña Mila’s Lasagna, Mum’s Lasagna. (Photo: NBC)
Photo Credit: Order from a mano
FRIENDS is studded with tons of awesome food content and hilarious food moments like every Thanksgiving episode, Monica’s jam from the third season, Monica’s bouillabaisse and Joey’s star-winning cookie from “The One With The Cooking Class”, Chandler’s “Chanberry” sauce, Joey’s “peanut butter fingers”, five steaks and and an eggplant for Phoebe, Monica’s “brown beef smileys” or tacos, and even Ross’ fajitas from season 9. When you rewatch all ten seasons, you’ll realize how food plays a huge role in one of the greatest comedies in TV history.
Lead photo: NBC
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