SC - RE: sca-cooks V1 #2867

[grasse]

Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> 
> Hi, all!
> 
> Last night I went to see the new movie, called
> "Vatel".  Starring Gerard Depardieu, Uma Thurman,
> Julian Glover, Julian Sands, and Tim Roth.  Taking
> place in 1671 France, Gerard Depardieu is Francois
> Vatel, steward to the Prince of Condé [Julian Glover],
> who has been informed that King Louis XIV [Julian
> Sands] will accept a 3 day invitation to visit the
> Prince at his home in Chantilly.  Vatel plans,
> prepares and executes the most amazing banquets,
> spectacles and amusements for Louis and his court.
> The scenes in the kitchens are absolutely wonderful.
> The scenes of the spectacles and amusements are shot
> from both Louis' eyes and from Vatel's back stage
> eyes.  This is supposed to be based on the real life
> story of Vatel.

Vatel has always been one of my heroes, but his story also serves as a
wonderful cautionary tale for the SCA feast-cook and autocrat. For those
who don't know the story (does discussing history count as spoiling the
plot of a movie?), Vatel deals with a lot of problems that our Royal
Progress feast days might have in common with those of 17th-century
France: the fireworks don't go off in the rain, there's a miscount of
diners resulting in several tables going without a roast, etc., and
Vatel is appropriately apologetic and immensely wounded in re his honor.
Finally, when the fish delivery is late (one wagon-load shows up on time
and he thinks that's all there is going to be), he decides there is only
one way to eradicate the profound stain on his honor. And, in
appropriate SCA fashion, the majority of the revellers don't even notice
any of the problems, have a lovely time, and are utterly perplexed as to
what all of Vatel's fuss is about. Ultimately, while everyone admits
what a terrible tragedy it all is, it would be a shame to let it spoil a
good party.    

Adamantius
P.S.: A more detailed account of the adventures of Vatel, taken from a
contemporary letter, has appeared on this list; it may be in the
Florilegium, for all I know.
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com