The Joy of Food and Movie

So like I said in my last blog, I saw Julie & Julia today, on its opening weekend. What a wonderful movie. Meryl Streep - a brilliant actress, a league of her own, did full justice to the real life character of Julia Child. My due respect to both these great women who are great achievers in their respective field and excelled in what they did/do.


I was made aware of this movie couple of months back when I had my back turned towards TV while I was doing something in my kitchen and heard the familiar voice of Julia Child. Being a foodie myself, I turned around to check, what was it all about? ...one of the iconoclastic chefs... maybe her TV show is coming back on one of the channels?! - and the thought was delightful. I was so impressed to see Meryl Streep enacting as Julia Child and doing such an extra-ordinary job - no surprise over there.


Right away I googled Julie & Julia and came across that the movie was based on two true stories of two women in real life. Julie Powell's very creative idea to formulate a challenging personal project to make an ordinary mundane life interesting - to prepare every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' (for "servantless Americans"). All this Julie did whilst blogging and bringing her experiences to her readers and followers: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment.


So about the movie, it is really scrumptious. The visual presentation of some of the food, the apartment in Queens, NYC, scenes from Paris and the local markets in France in the fifties was a delicious treat. The scene of making of Bruchetta - french bread swimming in butter and then laden with tomatoes and seasonings by Julie, and being devoured by her husband - and equally so, when he smears his face with her chocolate cake - was something only a true foodie can understand. After trying her hand in a few things - when asked by her husband what she likes to do the best - Julia's way of finding her niche in cooking is, as she simply put it, "Eat". This is inspirational considering what a great success she has been in real life.


One amazing thing that I found was both these women had such incredible men as their husbands - Paul and Eric. Both these men are so supportive of their wives' pursuits, being so sensitive to their needs and contributing to their success. Getting involved in their projects whole heartedly, loving them no matter what, sharing every precious moment and detail. Such strong anchors in their lives. I wish one day to meet somebody like them myself. And like Paul says to Julia, "You are my butter to my bread" I hope one day I can say that to somebody...sigh!!!


One small revelation that came towards the end was that Julia Child herself did not approve of Julie's cook-every-recipe-in-one-year project. Julie's conclusion was that the use of four-letter F word was probably what got Child's disapproval. I felt sad with Julie but was glad that this did not stop her from seeing the project to a successful end - she finally accomplishes to de-bone a duck under the guidance of Julia Child. And goes to Smithsonian museum to pay homage to the woman who was her inspiration for this project by visiting "Julia Child's Kitchen" display and leaving her a block of butter under her picture.


All the actors did extraordinary justice to each character. The story of these two women both in Paris and New York was wonderful and appropriate to the two different centuries, countries and cultures. Overall an excellent movie for all to see this summer. The striking part of this movie was that the story was reality; it was representative of the lives of people with whom one can identify.


I am all inspired to do some cooking myself - for a pot-luck on Monday I will be making Butter Tarts, mmmmmm involves butter, and Tandoori Chicken. And I am already blogging ;)


Bon Appétit!!!