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Film Released: 2005

Genre: Romance,  Comedy
Starring:  Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta
Directed by:  Andy Tennant

The film is set in modern day New York where Alex "Hitch" Hitchens  played by Will Smith, is a professional "matchmaker" who concentrates his efforts on coaching men in the art of wooing the woman of their dreams. A very exclusive "consultant"  the only way to get his services is via referral from one of his former clients and then, if he accepts you as a client, he will only coach you on your first three dates.

His latest client is Albert Brennaman  played by Kevin James, a clumsy overweight "nice guy" tax accountant who has fallen head over heels in love with one of his firm's clients, society celebrity Allegra Cole played by Amber Valletta.  Hitch sets to work on Albert who, following Hitch's advice, finds himself on a date with Allegra who is currently being tracked by gossip columnist Sara Melas  played by Eva Mendes, a single minded career girl who has given up on men.

Whilst working with Albert, Hitch coincidentally meets Sara in  a bar and , having seen her brush off the advances of another man trying to pick her up, decides to put his talents to work on his own behalf ....just for the challenge.  He manages to get a date and surprisingly finds himself falling for Sara.

Meanwhile, Sara's best friend is very upset  at having been used as a "one night stand" by a man who Sara now mistakenly believes was a client of "The Date Doctor" (who incidentally Hitch turned down as a client) and is determined to unmask and ruin him. When she finds out that Hitch is the date doctor,  she outs him as someone who  just helps men have flings with women.  In the process, Albert is tarred with the same brush in the media and Allegra, who had actually fallen for Albert believes he was only out for one thing too.

In an effort to put things right, Hitch finds Allegra and convinces her that Albert is genuinely in love with her whilst at the same time, managing to convince Sara that his feelings for her are also genuine.
 

The food element occurs on one of Hitch's dates with Sara when they attend a mass cooking lesson. As a sampler, a waiter hands out "Coquille St. Jacques with a reduced lemon butter sauce". It's actually a Scallop served on what looks like an endive leaf - not like any Coquilles St. Jacques recipe we've ever come across. So here's a recipe for a traditional Coquilles St. Jacques.

Happy Cooking!

Coquille St Jacques    HT  HD 30mins
 

Serves 4    Hot Seafood Vegetables Alcohol   Hors d’oeuvre Starter  Appetiser  Eggless

Ingredients
4 Large Scallops or 8 Small Scallops
90ml/3fl.oz. Dry White Wine
150ml/5fl.oz. Water
Salt and Pepper

25g/1oz Butter
8 Button Mushrooms, roughly chopped
25g/1oz Plain Flour
4 tbsp Single Cream
Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
A Small amount Mashed Potato (Optional)