Movie Menus: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Born into creaky old age, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) gradually "ages" into youth, becoming increasingly wise beyond his years (or so it only seems).

Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this Best Picture-nominated movie is a sweet look at the well-examined life well-lived. As Benjamin Button sees it, life is "a series of intersecting lives and incidents," for better and for worse. "Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life."

Of course, the biggest dent on Benjamin's life is the bruising fact he's aging in the opposite direction as his true love, Daisy (Cate Blanchett), a condition that tends to focus the mind on the moment and on the things that really matter.

Benjamin was born and raised in New Orleans, the storied culinary capital of the South. Here's a selection of classic dishes from the Big Easy.

Benjamin says, "You never know what's coming for you." True enough. But if you're lucky, maybe it'll be dessert. Here are a couple traditional New Orleans desserts and one wild-card thrown in for kicks.

Benjamin shares a classic New Orleans cocktail with someone from his past. The cocktail is the Sazerac. The mystery person? Sorry, no spoilers here!