The Classic Frozen Treat Alfred Hitchcock Enjoyed After A Meal Of 3 Steaks

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One of cinema's most influential figures, known for keeping audiences on the edge of their seats with his movies, seems to have also had those watching him eat dinner equally intrigued. Alfred Hitchcock was monolithic for his filmmaking, but also physically, he cut an imposing figure befitting his much-talked-about diet. Even in his 30s, Hitchcock's love for steak and ice cream was widely known. An anecdote from Casey McKittrick's book, "Hitchcock's Appetites: The Corpulent Plots of Desire and Dread," recounts the public's fascination with the director's appetite during his first trip to the United States in 1937. Dining at the popular 21 Club in New York City, Hitchcock ordered the now-famous meal of steak followed by ice cream not once but three times over! The six-course meal was topped off with brandy and tea, after which the satiated director stated to the New York Press, "I find contentment from food. It is a mental process rather than a physical one."

While celebrity food choices can sometimes be eclectic, like Johnny Cash's fondness for his mother's biblical dessert, Alfred Hitchcock's food choices seem to be fairly simple — steak for dinner, ice cream for dessert. However, he did have fine tastes and showed his appreciation for a particularly good scoop by saying, per TIME, "Such ice cream I would not trade for a steak & kidney pudding, a boiled silversmith with carrots & dumplings, or a Kentish chicken pudding. In fact, I like it." Interestingly, the director was reportedly skeptical of what he would be eating on that first trip to the United States. It's safe to say, however, that the food was to his liking.

Alfred Hitchcock's epic steak and ice cream dinner wasn't a one-off. It happened on numerous occasions, leading to memorable anecdotes from those who witnessed it firsthand. Hollywood's master of parodies, Mel Brooks, dined with Hitchcock before embarking on the making of High Anxiety, a film that spoofs the thriller genre. Brooks recollected to Bon Appétit how Hitchcock had his own booth and waiter, and ordered a multi-course dinner of shrimp cocktail, sirloin steak, baked potato, asparagus, and tomato on a bed of lettuce with a cheese dressing and two servings of vanilla ice cream. Once the meal was done, or so Brooks thought, the gourmand director pulled out a cigar but didn't light it. Instead, he called the waiter and said the now-famous words, "George, I'm really peckish tonight. Do it again." And yes, the entire meal was repeated.

Another version of Hitchcock's dinner habits, documented in The New Yorker, claims that he enjoyed eating ice cream before his steak rather than after. It was possibly perceived this way, as he didn't eat three main course steaks followed by three desserts. Instead, as one would with a good film, he experienced a meal from beginning to the end, and then went back to the start to enjoy it all over again.

If you're curious to try Hitchcock's triple steak and ice cream meal, it's more economical to recreate it at home. We suggest picking up a Denver steak, which is usually cheap but comparable to a prime cut, followed by some homemade ice cream, which can be made even without a machine.