It's hard to imagine a British film using food as an extended metaphor for life, but this Greek movie has a try. Beginning with breastfeeding, it is a soft-hearted, nostalgic look back at the life of a youngster exiled from Istanbul to Greece during a period of political strife and allies our child hero with the cooking skills he learns from his grandfather, a spice merchant.

As foodie films go, it's no Babette's Feast or Tampopo, however. Made in 2003, and reputedly Greece's most successful film, it's full of rather clumping philosophical insights like: "Grandpa said the word gastronomer conceals within it the word astronomer. As such, my lessons in astronomy involved the use of spices." On the plus side, it has a real feeling for Athens and Istanbul, where much of it was filmed, and would best suit expatriates, or those wanting to relive a recent holiday there.