Wday.ru has chosen the best pictures about food and not only, after which you will again begin to enjoy the sacred rite in the kitchen.
You need to cook with pleasure. But the obligation to stand by the stove is exhausting every day, and cooking begins to seem like a heavy duty to us. Good food films are what will bring back our inspiration in the kitchen. And we especially love this movie because it is not only about food, cooking and cooks.
This is not just some fictional boy who suffers and overcomes circumstances, this is the real little Nigel Slater, the future world famous chef, suffering from love for his mother, who knows how to cook only one dish – toast with butter. He was ready to eat some toast every day, if only his mother lived for a long time, but alas … The boy is worried: dad is cold to him, and the hired au pair, vulgar Joan, winks playfully. And she is glad to try – she bakes turkeys, decorates cakes with cream curls, in a word, she strenuously paves the way to the widower’s heart through the stomach.
It turned out that these two women – a sweet, unskilled mother and Joan with her culinary talent – awakened the culinary inclinations in the young Slater. And suffering forged his fighting character.
“This is the best lemon meringue you have ever eaten! Son, if I were you, I would give up. You can’t even come close to such perfection “, – Joan was wrong, Nigel did not give up and surpassed her in art. And it was very interesting for us, the audience, to watch this process.
The seventies of the XNUMXth century, in other words, the time when ladies in France wore corsets and men wore wigs. “The Sun King” Louis XIV goes for the weekend to the castle of Prince Conde – if the owner welcomes the monarch well, then his career will go smoothly. Conde is confused, but he has a lifesaver – a unique majordomo François Vatel. A wizard, a jack of all trades, a culinary genius and an effective manager. Moreover, he is played by quite young Gerard Depardieu.
The picture is spectacular, solid, there is a royal scale in everything. The French court arrives as a whole “camp”, with servants, pages, jesters, favorites and dogs. A huge kitchen works to feed the guests – they clean pheasants and quails, chop meat carcasses, bring fish on carts, bake bread, dozens of cooks knock with knives.
Tragedy is brewing in the air like a thunderstorm. And the first clouds are gathering when the courtier de Lozen (Tim Roth) orders Vatel an offering for the maid of honor, whom he plans to seduce: “On an almond cake, fruits and flowers ‘in tones of flesh and blood.’
But while the thunderstorm has not struck, we are fascinatedly watching how the wizard Vatel crumples bright colored caramel in his hands, in front of the amazed chefs’ eyes, forming a fruit out of it. Dipped in powdered sugar, caramel peach looks alive and literally glows from the inside.
Despite the “puppet” fashion and interiors of America of the 60s, this is not a romantic comedy at all, but an acute social drama. The progressive North is fighting with might and main for the rights of the black population of the United States, and the relaxed South still cannot get used to the fact that it is high time for white people to get used to doing all the “dirty” work. Well-groomed Mississippi housewives pay more attention to dressing and playing bridge than raising their own children, and treat black maids as not even second-class, but third-class people.
The film leaves a nagging aftertaste, but very beautiful. And the dark-skinned maids in gray uniforms and white aprons are very contagious. For example, it’s very exciting to watch the maid Minnie (Octavia Spencer) teach her owner Celia (Jessica Chastain) how to fry crispy chicken. This sad, poignant story is lavishly garnished with cream pies, gourmet canapés and cut pink hams. After the end credits, wiping away my tears, I want to cook something beautiful, juicy and aromatic, enjoying the cooking process and rejoicing that you are not a servant in a southern American state.
The movie lover is not alone in Hollywood. Greece, in cooperation with Turkey, is also capable of delighting fans of food films.
A Greek-Turkish family is deported from Turkey to Greece. A boy named Fanis suffers from the fact that, because of all this politics, he is separated from his beloved grandfather, a philosopher and cook, who knew how to live talentedly and cook talentedly. Is it strange that his grandson became a good cook when he grew up? Observing the ups and downs of this family, the viewer along the way with pleasure comprehends the subtleties of Turkish and Greek cuisine.
The film is lively, juicy, smells like barbecue smoke, Istanbul kebab, lamb kefte on live fire, olive oil and Turkish coffee.
Indian cuisine is, in fact, and there are spices and spices flavored with spices. But only those who are not born in India think so. The beauty Aishwarya Rai is in her place in this film: a girl who can speak with spices is exactly what she should be – gentle, big-eyed, of exotic origin.
“Saffron helps on dull evenings. He brings love into your life. Cinnamon – it brings people together … ”, – the voice of the main character off-screen fascinates the viewer. Immediately a thought: it would be nice to get into such a shop and pick up several bags from different cans: turmeric, ginger, curry … And then bring home gifts from distant countries and play in the kitchen with the same Indian music as in the film.
What is at least this quote from The Spice Princess: “Try an eggplant – scorch it over the fire, then peel it from the inside, then fry it, adding 10 garlic cloves, red onion and tomatoes, and sprinkle it all with coriander. It will satisfy your passion for the evening. “
Someone may accuse this French comedy of excessive naivety and predictability of the plot, but chocolate delicacies are too appetizing in it. Milky, bitter, liquid, in tiles, in the form of hearts, Easter eggs, in matte foil – chocolate is good always and everywhere.
Unlike the famous film “Chocolate” with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, there is no mysticism and the heroes are too awkward – two socially phobic introverts who hardly overcome the need to go out into the real world. This is an easy fairy tale with a happy ending that you can indulge in one evening with a piece of chocolate cake and a cup of tea.
American Abby (Brittany Murphy), suffering after breaking up with her boyfriend in Tokyo, asks the cook Maezumi to teach her how to cook ramen soup. He first snorts, then agrees, but arranges harsh hazing. At first it may seem: is there a lot of noise due to some noodles? Then you understand: the Japanese chef is not just hiding a certain “secret ingredient of a secret ingredient soup”, he is trying to ensure that the student becomes a mature person, cultivates a strong character and learns to live consciously.
If your broth “lacks a soul”, refer to the wisdom of the older generation.
If you watch a lot of films about food and chefs, you will notice a pattern: a culinary genius is always a little crazy. Well, let’s say, unbalanced and very ambitious, like a theatrical diva. For example, Catherine Zeta-Jones’ restaurant chef Kate Armstrong in Taste of Life reacts sharply and painfully to any comments about her cooking. Even at a psychologist’s reception, where she was sent for being rude to a client, she, as a programmed one, discusses how best to cook the quail – fry and serve with ravioli in truffle sauce with wild mushrooms.
She is hired as an assistant to the cheerful and sexy chef Nick, who cooks like he dances. A confrontation between two chefs begins: Kate is dry and fanatical, measures out every degree in the heating of the oven, Nick is an artist, maestro, cooks to the sounds of an Italian opera. But gradually the ice melts between them, that’s why the melodrama.
And now look: they are already hugging and cooing:
“- But I don’t eat cakes …
“Not my tiramisu!”
I would also like to arrange a romantic dinner, and for someone to spoon-feed you cake as well.
It is very difficult to maintain peace of mind when you are a brilliant restaurateur in the best French traditions and are fighting for another Michelin star, and then suddenly emigrants settle next to your gourmet establishment. Too dark, too noisy, too Hindus, if possible. And they also open a catering establishment!
After the struggle of traditions and some misunderstanding at the beginning, everyone eventually fell in love and became a single family. And all this accompanied by incredibly beautiful Indian music.
After this film, you can’t decide in any way: whether you want this moment to stew Burgundy beef in red wine, or swing at something from Mumbai cuisine, bright yellow from turmeric.
“Julie and Julia: making a recipe for happiness”
By the way, did you know that if you do not dry the meat after washing, it will not brown properly? So, the wife of the ambassador, the loud American Julia Child, did not know about this either, until she learned this knowledge in a Parisian culinary school. She spent hours chopping raw onions and shedding tears to achieve the dexterity of a knife, and it was not in vain: Julia became a real chef, published a cookbook, became famous, and then this film was shot based on her memoirs. For with such energy and charm it is impossible not to conquer the world.
Meryl Streep as Julia Child in this film is pure beauty. And hats-curls-red lipstick-gloves-strings of pearls in the scenes of 1940-1950 are also lovely. And all the cooking scenes are lovely again!
If you are tired of cooking and just living, take some time to watch this movie. Rise immediately!