Ben Ford Spills The Beans On Harrison Ford's Sneaky Food Habit - Exclusive

Ben Ford, the son of Harrison Ford, might tell you that being the son of a movie star can have its frustrations, especially when it comes to eating together. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, noted chef Ben Ford told us about his father's sneaky food habit. With a mischievous grin, Ford said, "I'm going to out him on this one. I'll give you a juicy thing. He eats off people's plates." As an action star who has to maintain a particular physique, Harrison Ford orders from the menu according to his special diet, but spices up the meal by sampling from other people's plates. "That's how he cheats."

Though in his 80s, Harrison Ford is still starring in action films, such as the recent "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." To keep up his screen-ready physique, he adheres to what Ben Ford refers to as the "six-pack for an actor's diet." As one can imagine, this diet doesn't offer a lot of satisfying variety. Harrison Ford has previously expressed his lack of enthusiasm for the diet, which consists primarily of fish and vegetables, and not much else. The diet excludes items such as meat and dairy, which is noteworthy, as Ben Ford has built his career on nose-to-tail cooking and has a meat-centric repertoire.

Ben Ford comes by his love of food and cooking honestly. When he was a boy, Harrison Ford wasn't the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" star he is today. Instead, he was a carpenter and he worked a series of other odd jobs, including as a cook on a boat and in a pizzeria. Ford told us how his then-young father would cook for him, and he describes his nostalgia for a grilled cheese sandwich featuring sharp cheddar, Worcestershire sauce, and sliced tomato: a "memory dish" that will end up in a cookbook someday. Ben Ford notes that his father's skills have grown a lot since that time and that today Harrison Ford is, in fact, a pretty good cook in his own right. 

When they get together for family meals at home, they usually make very simple fare — grilled fish or vegetables that would slot right into his father's diet. When they go out to a restaurant Harrison Ford might splurge on chicken. But sometimes that's just not enough, and he has to have a little taste of what everyone else is having. With the actor's current diet being so austere, we can see why he might be drawn to mooch off his son's plate. As we all know, if you eat food off someone else's plate, it doesn't count.