[Sca-cooks] Foodie Movie Supreme: Vatel

[Olwen the Odd]

>OK, i know this is old news to many...
>
>I *finally* rented "Vatel", which came out about a year and a half
>ago. I really enjoyed it. And took place only about 70 years out of
>"SCA period".
>
>For those who don't know, it's a fictional account of a series of
>major feasts and festivities produced by Vatel, a master chef in the
>employ of the Prince de Conde', and served to The French Sun King
>Louis XIV and his huge and devious entourage.
>
>I was, naturally, especially riveted by the kitchen sequences. I just
>kept imagining how much better a feast i could do with such a large
>and knowledgeable staff to prepare the food - and such a HUGE
>kitchen, ok, series of kitchens...
>
>If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth renting. Perhaps not
>the best acting by everyone in the cast of luminaries, but a very
>well done film, and quite a few good acting turns. I felt the
>extremely negative reviews were unwarranted. Sure, it wasn't *great*,
>but it was really really good. I guess the folks wanted an action
>hero and automatic weapons.
>
>Just watching Vatel in the kitchens and coordinating the
>entertainments got me in a state of pre-Feast stress :-)
>
>Anahita

Funny that.  I rented Vatel again this past weekend to take along for
viewing at my hostesses home Christmas Eve.  She enjoyed the movie almost as
much as me.  I have seen the thing roughly 8 times thus far and plan to
purchase it if I ever find it for sale.

I agree, having a knowledgeable staff in the kitchen really *IS* all that.
As a memeber of the Bright Hills Cooks Guild I can attest.  We do work well
together.  We each know our niche and the skills of the others in the group
and that is the secret I suppose.

The production cost of Vatel must have been a budget buster, don't you
agree?
Olwen

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