Corrupted Fairytales: A Tasting Menu Curated by The Preaching to the Perverted Podcast

For your Appetizer… 

The Lure (2015) + Szarlotka with Pretzels - Some things lure you… into a nice hangover

Sink your teeth into this glammed-up, gilled-out fever dream.

The Lure is a Polish musical horror that drags Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid down to the neon-soaked depths and tears it to shreds — lovingly, viciously, and with sequins. Meet Silver and Golden: two siren sisters who crawl ashore and dive headfirst into a seaborn ship’s cabaret, with intrigue into humanity pangs and coming of age sadness. Equal parts predators and punk princesses, they croon, they seduce, they devour — sometimes literally.  The mermaid sisters toss in blood, synth, and sapphic longing. This isn’t your childhood fairytale — it’s a razor-toothed ballad of lust, loneliness, and the dark glitter of girlhood gone feral.

I must confess this food and drink pairing  was not my idea, but our good friend Barbara’s @c0c0c0barbie suggestion. I wanted something that reflected how uniquely Polish this movie feels to me - from the off-the-road disco bars to the glittery musical number in the shopping centre. There is also something about the rural parts of continental Europe at a certain point in time that feels exactly like my childhood - so when Barbara said that the most Polish snack they could think of were pretzels, it was a match made in heaven.

The cocktail is fairly simple, but it is a true and tested formula - its main ingredient can be traced back all the way to 16th century Poland. It uses Żubrówka, bison grass vodka (yes, it comes with a blade of grass in the bottle, it is very pretty). The director was inspired by 14th and 16th century depictions of sirens in fairy-tales, so this seemed incredibly apt. Named after the apple pie, I think the key to a nice Szarlotka is using plenty of ice and cooling your juice. The Szarlotka will lure you in with its sweetness and the salty pretzels will keep you drinking - a match made in heaven (or hell, if you have work tomorrow).

Learn now to make it.

For your Entree... 

The Ugly Stepsister (2025) + French Lavender 75 with Egg Finger Sandwiches - On the victorians, the 70s and mayonnaise

One of our absolute favourites this year — and now streaming on Shudder — is the viciously elegant The Ugly Stepsister.

This Norwegian beauty-horror gem slashes through fairy tale vanity with surgical precision. Imagine The Substance colliding with Bavarian brutality, all wrapped in Sofia Coppola silk — then doused in formaldehyde. We recommend this twisted marvel for its razor-sharp vision: Victorian body modification, tapeworm terror, and a grotesque unraveling of patriarchal beauty ideals. It’s a film that peels back the skin of perfection — literally — and asks what’s left underneath.

Gorgeously grotesque, defiantly feminine, and not for the faint of stomach.

This was a very difficult pairing to execute because I was obsessed with hitting the same perfect balance between body horror and absolute delicacy that this movie strikes so effortlessly. There was no question that it needed to be somewhat gross, definitely a bit uncomfortable, and yet sweet enough to entice you into swallowing it - like the good girl we know you are. 

One of my favourite aspects of the film is the wardrobe design, which takes inspiration from several decades with dramatically different styles to bring about this vague sense of ‘historical’ that can only belong in the realm of fairy tales. And, culinarily, no one did that better than the 70s - a Victorian(a) vision only achieved through copious amounts of white bread and mayonnaise. We used the surimi and quails eggs as not just a way to elevate the sandwiches, but quote directly from our favourite character (the eggworm, obviously). Then the cocktail was easy: like the women Elvira dreams of becoming, it needed to be botanical, beautiful, and bubbly. Enter the French Lavender 75 (by Jess from Ivory & Noire), which uses Empress Gin and lavender syrup to put a spin in the delightful classic. Add some extra lemon juice to cut through the mayo, and you’re all set.

Learn how to make it.

For your Dessert...

Sleeping Beauty (2011) + Cornflake Orange Tart with Screwdriver - Reliable Alcoholism for Breakfast

We close our lineup with a quiet, creeping nightmare: Sleeping Beauty.

Don’t let the stillness fool you — this one slithers under your skin. It’s a slow-burn descent into a world where beauty isn’t just passive, it’s commodified, sedated, and eerily observed. We recommend this austere, unnerving film for its icy precision and the way it twists the fairytale into something far more disturbing. The final act peels back the veil, revealing a vision of erotic labor and dreamlike submission that flirts dangerously with somnophilia — all without ever raising its voice.

For those who like their horror served cold, clinical, and crawling with dread.

When I was first thinking about this movie and what to pair it with, I pondered whether to reproduce some of the menu served at the black tie dinner. That is a fine idea, and is what inspired the podcast menu itself - where we eat some trout roe and pay homage to the blinis with caviar that are the first course. However, this did not feel like a distilled enough reading of the movie. Instead I craved something that would encompass the experience of the main character more directly. 

The inspiration behind this pairing is exactly that - we see our Beauty having vodka for breakfast a number of times, and even making vodka with cornflakes for her tragic best friend. This is indeed a dysfunctional pairing, reflecting both the character but also some of the dissonances at the filmic level. The vodka is almost too overpowering, cutting through the sweetness and density of the orange custard. The cornflakes, on the other hand, provide a strong textural contrast; just like our protagonist, who has a soft centre covered in well-charred cheap cereal. 

Learn how to make it.

Please stay tuned to our upcoming podcast on the topic of Corrupted Fairytales out on August 15th, 2025. Check out our socials at @preach2pervpodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 

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Co-host & Co-Curator: Rosemary Stillborn

Co-host & Co-Curator: AJ Bravo

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