The food of 'Gilmore Girls'

Besides being a cozy fall show with a plot revolving around its titular characters, "Gilmore Girls" has another theme woven throughout its seven-season run: a love of food and lots of it.

For one thing, many episodes take place at the uncomfortable but all-important Friday night dinners at the Gilmore mansion hosted by Lorelai's (Lauren Graham) parents Richard and Emily (Edward Herrmann and Kelly Bishop).

These usually consist of fancier dishes that are a bit hit or miss with Lorelai and her daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel), ranging from the always comfortable spaghetti to the acquired taste of escargot.

Sometimes the food is symbolic, like how Lorelai and Rory apparently tend to end up in petty debates when they eat spaghetti, while other times the food is merely a backdrop to help move the plot along.

Likewise, it's sort of a running gag that Lorelai and Rory love eating a lot of food at once, particularly when they eat takeout together. Sometimes they'll even order six different kinds of food, meaning they'll have a grand total of 12 or more servings for just two people.

That running gag is exemplified well in the above video where Lorelai's best friend Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) assumes that a large catering order Lorelai made was just for her and Rory.

And in fact, Sookie is actually a large part of the show's running themes with food. Sookie is a chef who co-owns an inn with Lorelai, so many of the plots involving Sookie revolve around food in some fashion. Sookie even met her husband (Jackson Douglas) because he was her vegetable supplier.

Even when Sookie isn't actively describing yet another mouth-watering culinary concoction, many scenes with her take place in the inn's kitchen where there always seems to be a cornucopia of fresh food laid out on the central counter.

And of course, another big player in the food related narratives in "Gilmore Girls" is Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), a diner owner who's one of Lorelai's love interests. Many episodes feature Lorelai and Rory getting breakfast and making very specific orders of food alongside their precious coffee.

Between the takeout, Friday night dinners, chef best friend, and diner owner boyfriend, you really can't remove food or its importance from "Gilmore Girls."