Pulp Fiction might have premiered in 1994, but I only got to see it in 1997, with my best friend, at the cinema. We were 13 and needless to say, the film made quite an impression on us. It was like no movie we had ever seen before and it sparked such rebellion in us that we shared a cigarette in the theatre, while the movie was running. No, we didn’t get caught and yes, we felt like such badasses.

As was the way of the 90’s, after seeing a movie that was to your liking, you would then go buy the CD with the soundtrack; so we did, a counterfeit one, as this was the only option at the time in our country. We would play Urge Overkill’s “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” on repeat and just fantasize about being like mobster wife Mia Wallace, her perfect white collared button shirt and her golden pointy Chanel ballerina flats and her dark shiny bob, along with her cool air square done with perfect burgundy nails stemming from artful cigarette flicking fingers. And while I’m pretty sure the overdose scene surely made us gasp and grip the edge of the chairs, the altogether feeling of the film was more glamour than gore.

There are a lot of food references in Pulp Fiction and they’re all very Americana: there’s the Big Kahuna burger, the bloody as hell “Douglas Sirk” steak, pancakes with a side of bacon, a corn muffin, even pop tarts, a whole discussion about the European fries and mayonnaise combo and the way the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is called Royale with Cheese in France and then, there’s the Five Dollar Shake. This shake is delicious and it’s ready in “two shakes of a lamb’s tail”, as Miss Wallace would say. Also, in the very wise words of Vincent, played by John Travolta, “I don’t know if it’s worth five dollars, but it’s pretty fucking good.” But be warned: what this shake isn’t is a “ten dollar smoothie”, in as it’s not as healthy or sought after as the latter is in our day. So, if this ’90’s milkshake sounds way too alternative for you, just go ahead and blend yourself 1 cup unsweetened almond milk with 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, a couple of ice cubes, one sliced banana, 1 Tblsp pure maple syrup, pour it in a fancy glass, top it with some coconut cream and heck, put a cherry on top anyways.

The Five Dollar Shake

One medium banana, sliced

 

Seeds scraped from one vanilla pod

200g/1 cup yoghurt

250ml/1 cup whole milk

1 big scoop of vanilla or custard ice-cream

2 Tblsp honey

4-5 ice cubes

Simply scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into your blender, add all ingredients except for the maraschino cherry and squirty whipped cream, then blend everything well. Pour into a tall or big glass, squirt some whipped cream on top, then decorate with a maraschino cherry. Insert straw and delight into a $5 milkshake!