[Sca-cooks] Food or foodie movies

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 4, 2010, at 8:27 AM, Johnna Holloway wrote:

> We've played this game a number of times over the years. Master A. and Christianna are s quite good at this.
> 
> You can search the archives under food movies list and turn up titles like this.
> 
> I don't know if Stefan has made a list or not. Besides the ones mentioned this August, we've also talked about the films below.
> 
> Johnnae
> 
> from 2006
> 
> Here's the list of titles without commentary - always looking for more!
> Christianna

Glancing again at the list [snipped], I'm not sure if these are in there:

Le grand Chef (2007), based on a South Korean graphic novel, apparently, a typically South Korean schmaltzy comedy-drama concerning a disgraced culinary student (accused of being responsible for fugu deaths) who is pressured by a young reporter to enter a competition against Japanese chefs to keep the prize -- a national treasure, the ancient knife of the line of Korean Royal Chefs -- in Korean hands.

I'm in the process of watching, if I can finish this e-mail while the pause button does its thing, 

Le grand Chef II -- Kimchi Battle (2010) (yes, Stefan, you heard that right, Kimchi Battle!) After a culinary international incident (Korean diplomat at state dinner in Japan is served bulgogi and kimchi and proclaims them as excellent as any he ever had in Korea, only to be smugly informed that the dishes are representative Japanese food), a worldwide Kimchi Competition is declared, as contestants fight for the honor of the Korean national condiment. Protagonist from first film, having returned to his grandfather's farm-restaurant, discovers that the favorite in the competition, the Korean chef who had prepared the meal in the opening scene, is his adoptive sister, bent on winning the competition and using the prize money not to save the family's struggling business, but in a hostile takeover of the land on which the family's business is built. Apparently she was an unhappy kid without a Dad, working in a small restaurant, so obviously the solution is to nuke the place.

Sibling rivalry, schmaltziness over the emotional impact and family bonding capacity of comfort foods, and interplay with the ubiquitous stupid, pretentious judges, ensue in a big way... and, as always, some really spectacular cooking scenes.

It certainly says some very interesting stuff about female chefs, who have a hard enough time outside of Korea...

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter