The identity of a community is shaped by various factors, with food serving as a significant cultural marker. A complex interplay of social interactions, market dynamics, and geographical influences creates foodscapes imbued with diverse social meanings and values. Culinary narratives seek to encapsulate these foodscapes—along with associated memories and social practices—through films and literature. This paper aims to analyse how the acts of cooking and consuming food serve as narrative devices for constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing social norms and expectations, focusing on three selected films from Malayalam cinema: Salt n Pepper: Oru Dosa Undakiya Katha (2011), Ustad Hotel (2012), and The Great Indian Kitchen (2021). Each of these films prominently features food in their titles. The exploration will address the roles that food and its preparation play within these narratives. Is food merely a means of sustenance, or does it fulfil broader social functions? How do every day dining rituals articulate societal norms and expectations? Furthermore, how are discourses surrounding religion, gender, caste, class, and labour constructed through foodscapes? This paper will also investigate how recipes and cooking processes function as metaphors and narrative tools in these films, enhancing the viewer's understanding of themes such as oppression, romance, and identity realization. Despite the direct connection of these film titles to food and related spaces, each film approaches the concept of food uniquely. The processes of construction, reconstruction, and deconstruction occur through food practices that include recipes and dining rituals. A close reading of these three films using semiotic analysis will reveal the deeper significance of food within their narratives.