SC - More on "Vatel"...

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Hullo, the list!

I managed to sneak off and see a showing of "Vatel" earlier this
evening, and I wish to add my recommendations, such as they are, to
Huette's. As I've mentioned before, Vatel is probably the patron saint
of the SCA event steward and cook, although a post-period contemporary
of people like La Varenne, Digby and Pepys. 

Most of what is known, historically, about Vatel is the circumstances of
his death, which the movie actually obscures a bit in an attempt to
flesh out the character, add social and personal motivation to the
character in addition to professional ones which are known from
contemporary accounts. The film manages to make this bare-bones incident
a little more complex, and whether this approach is any closer to the
truth I can't say, but I hope that referring to the historical figure in
this way hasn't spoiled the movie for anyone. 

Be that as it may. What I enjoyed most about the film was what appeared
to be accurate portrayals of a modern French cuisine in its
semi-infancy. Among other things, there are shots of brioche being
kneaded in the traditional manner, puff pastry being made and worked
with, a huge batch of duxelles being made to fill pie shells in lieu of
absent meat, and a mysterious substitute for custard made from sugar and
cream, which, we are assured, will whip up just like egg whites.
Amazing! It's mentioned in an offhand way that this is an old recipe
from Chantilly. Oh, and some absolutely stunning on-camera sugar work.
It's as if Vatel is some kind of time-traveller from the era of Careme,
sent back to usher in the age of modern French cookery.

Of course, everybody knows that that was really La Varenne who did that.
;  )

I can't think of anybody who put in a bad performance, and Tim Roth
proves that his "sleazeball-in-an-ornate-powdered-wig" act, as also seen
in "Rob Roy" was not a fluke. 

Costumes appear to my untrained eye to be excellent, and sets and props
are amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in food and with
a chance to see it.

Now, does anybody if there's any truth to the rumor that Gerard
Depardieu is really the illegitimate son of Karl Malden? As he gets
older... well, see for yourself.

Adamantius 
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com