Food in the Movie - Les Émotifs Anonymes

Released on: 2010

Language: French

Genre: Romantic Comedy/ Drama

Directed By: Jean-Pierre Améris

Screenplay By: Jean-Pierre Améris, Phillipe Blasband

Starcast: Benôit Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie, Swann Arlaud, Pierre Niney, Stéphan Wojtowicz

As simultaneously tasty and insubstantial as the bite-sized pieces of chocolate that its characters create, Jean-Pierre Améris’s  Les Émotifs anonymes is a typically anodyne rom-com given a certain poignant piquancy by the paralyzing shyness of its romantic leads. As chocolatier Angélique (Isabelle Carré) explains to potential boss Jean-René (Benôit Poelvoorde) during her job interview, it’s the bitterness that defines a bar of chocolate, a quality that also characterizes the lives of both characters, who are so overwhelmed with fear (of life in general, but especially human contact) that neither can seemingly function in the world. Jean-René oversees a failing chocolate enterprise whose terrible product proves the operation’s downfall; Angélique is a brilliant chocolate maker and her recipes the key to saving Jean-René‘s trade, but she’s so morbidly self-effacing, she can only practice her art anonymously and thus won’t cop to her skills. Instead she’s assigned the position of sales rep until her secret talents eventually reveal themselves and she comes to the rescue of not only Jean-René‘s business, but his stopped-up heart.

Although never straying too far from the conventions of the genre (unexpected romantic opportunities, missed connections, comic set pieces), the film’s whimsical tone is continually undercut by an air of subdued melancholy and its mode of humor is less riotous than pathetic. Which is to say that even the farcical antics of an extended comedic sequence are tempered by the look of perpetual sadness on Jean-René‘s face and the air of disappointed optimism on Angélique’s. In other words, this is pathetic humor in the sense that it generates pathos along with laughter (or, often, in its place). In the film’s most extended set piece, a squirm-inducing first date between the central couple is continually interrupted by the sweat-drenched Jean-René‘s constant trips to a restaurant bathroom to change his besotted shirts. By the time he bails on the evening by escaping through the washroom window, he’s ceased to be a figure of fun and become an object of pity.

But pity isn’t the central attitude evoked by Améris’s film, even if its main characters are legitimate subjects for our emotional charity. A winningly sympathetic look at individuals whose irrational fear of life has reduced them to the margins of functionality, Romantics Anonymous suggests that even the most hopeless cases can be helped by sympathetic support groups (the eponymous organization that Angélique frequents), friends, and the romantic possibilities afforded by a similarly afflicted partner. The film may not dig much below the surface in its portraiture of these individuals, and it may not offer much in the way of laughs, but it’s sweet in a way that’s not cloying and it’s not unpleasant going down. A few chocolate-oriented scenes are especially enjoyable: those that articulate the unique sensory and sensual pleasure of eating fine chocolate, and one about making the chocolate itself. It is our heroine’s unique gift with chocolate that is vital to the future success of the factory, and the scene really pins down what makes her chocolate so special-the flavor combinations including chocolate and paprika, green tea white chocolate, and even some sort of mushroom tuile, the textures, and having an innate feel for the very nature of the medium-as well as the joy that comes from creating something wonderful. Like a good piece of dark chocolate, Améris’s movie is tasty enough, but with just that right amount of bitterness.

 

Green Tea White Chocolate

Ingredients

400 gms                        White Chocolate Bar

125 ml                         Heavy Whipping Cream

25 gms                         Unsalted Butter

2 tbsp                         Green Tea Powder

Method

• Cut the white chocolate and butter into small pieces.
• Bring heavy whipping cream in a saucepan to almost boil over medium heat. Remove cream from heat when bubbles appear around the saucepan.
• Immediately add the white chocolate and butter to melt while the cream is still warm. Mix all together with rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth.
• Sift and add green tea powder into the mixture. Combine all together until the color is homogeneous. 
• Pour the mixture into a prepared baking dish lined with parchment paper. Flatten the surface with spatula to remove any air bubbles.
• Refrigerate for 4-5 hours.
• Remove the green tea chocolate from the baking dish once it's firm. Warm knife under hot water and wipe it dry completely.
• Slice the chocolate block into 4 blocks, then cut each block into 9 small pieces (36 squares total).
• Dust extra green tea powder on top of the chocolate.
•  Store the chocolate in the refrigerator until serving.

Moderate drinking can lower risk of heart attack, says study

Drinking in moderation helps protect heart, with study finding it lowers risk of many conditions compared with not drinking

Moderate drinking can lower the risk of several heart conditions, according to a study that will further fuel the debate about the health implications of alcohol consumption.

The study of 1.93 million people in the UK aged over 30 found that drinking in moderation - defined as consuming no more than 14 units of alcohol a week for women and 21 units for men - had a protective effect on the heart compared with not drinking.

Previous studies have suggested that alcohol has a positive effect on the levels of good cholesterol in the blood and proteins associated with blood clotting.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, found that moderate drinkers were less likely than non-drinkers to turn up at their doctor with angina, heart attack, heart failure, ischaemic stroke, circulation problems caused by a build-up of fat in the arteries and aortic aneurysm than non-drinkers.

But the research found that heavy drinking - more than 14 units for women and 21 units for men - increased the risk of heart failure, cardiac arrest, ischaemic stroke and circulation problems caused by fatty arteries.

The authors of the study, from the University of Cambridge and University College London, welcomed the findings but cautioned: “While we found that moderate drinkers were less likely to initially present with several cardiovascular diseases than non-drinkers, it could be argued that it would be unwise to encourage individuals to take up drinking as a means of lowering their risk.

“This is because there are arguably safer and more effective ways of reducing cardiovascular risk, such as increasing physical activity and smoking cessation, which do not incur increased risks of alcohol-related harm such as alcohol dependence, liver disease and cancer.”

Moderate alcohol consumption has long been associated with a lower risk of heart disease compared with abstinence or heavy drinking but the authors described their study as the most comprehensive to date on the relationship.

Non-drinkers were separated from former and occasional drinkers. With previous studies, concerns have been raised that people who have stopped drinking due to illness could have skewed results among non-drinkers.

An independent review of evidence, which formed the basis for last year’s change in the official advice on alcohol consumption, lowering the recommended limit for men from 21 units to 14, making it the same as the guideline for women, found that the benefits of drinking for heart health only apply for women aged 55 and over and the greatest benefit is seen when they limit their intake to about five units a week, equivalent to about two standard glasses of wine. 

The new study found that heavy drinking resulted in an increased risk of a range of heart diseases compared with moderate drinking, but carried a lower risk of heart attack and angina.

The authors cautioned that this did not mean they were less likely to experience a heart attack in future, just that they were less likely to present these conditions at first diagnosis, compared with moderate drinkers. Also, as the study is observational, no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect.

One unit of alcohol is about equal to half a pint of ordinary strength beer, lager or cider (3.6% alcohol by volume) or a small pub measure (25ml) of spirits. There are one and a half units of alcohol in a small glass (125ml) of ordinary strength wine (12% alcohol by volume).

Dr James Nicholls, the director of research and policy development at Alcohol Research UK, said that given the increased risk of other health conditions from drinking, moderate alcohol consumption within existing guidelines was unlikely to curtail or lengthen life expectancy overall.

 “While the findings provide convincing evidence for protective effects, the authors sensibly point out that this doesn’t mean it would be wise to take up drinking in order to lengthen one’s life - not least because any protective effects tend to be cancelled out by even occasional bouts of heavier drinking,” he said.

“There are better ways to strengthen the heart such as exercise and good diet. All things being equal - and given the increased risk of suffering other health conditions linked to any amount of alcohol consumption - if you drink within the existing guidelines it is unlikely that alcohol will either lengthen or shorten your life.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Most Influential Television Foodies of All Time

Most Influential Television Foodies of All Time

These Chefs have not just created good dishes but have influenced millions of people around the globe with their dedication, hard work, sound knowledge, creativity and above all their passion for cooking and serving.

There is nothing quite as torturous as watching a highly skilled chef making beautiful food that you can’t eat. We sit through this every week as we tune in to our favorite cooking shows on television, and all because we love the celebrity chefs behind the recipes. They bring their food to life with their personalities and their cooking skills, and, let’s face it, we all wish we could cook as well as they can. We will just have to be forever envious of how perfectly their food always comes out, and how they can finely chop vegetables without also chopping their fingers while on camera.

So get hungry or grab some snacks to hold you over, because we’re counting down our favorite celebrity chefs and sharing some of their cooking tips while we’re at it!

Mario Batali

Mario Batali is known for his expertise on Italian cuisine, and for his great love of olive oil. He knows the ins and outs of every tomato sauce, pasta, and meatball, as well he should-he holds a spot in the Culinary Hall of Fame. I don’t know why, but whenever I think of Chef Mario, I can’t help but think of that ponytail.

Julia Child

What can you say about everyone's favorite TV chef that hasn't already been enumerated in hundreds of books, television shows, and articles, not to mention a major motion picture? One of the first celebrity chefs on television, Julia Child became known for her expertise in French cuisine and for her distinctive voice. She became a celebrity chef after her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, was published in 1961, and she helped start the craze that surrounds celebrity chefs, as it exists today. The happy, often hapless Child was hardly graceful in her TV kitchen, but she taught us that you could be an ordinary person and still make culinary miracles happen-as long as you applied yourself, kept an open mind, and had a positive attitude. Child passed away in 2004 at age 91. 

James Beard

The granddaddy of food TV, Beard revealed to America that-gasp!-eating could be about more than just filling your belly, and-gasp!-our nation had a legitimate cuisine all its own. Beard's enthusiasm for cooking and eating was infectious, and even though his shows haven't aired for years, he paved the way for the next several generations of small-screen chefs.

Jacques Pépin

Pépin was a revelation to Americans who thought of French chefs as snooty Parisians with tiny mustaches and perpetually upturned noses. (That description only applies to most French chefs.) And his endearing partnership with Julia Child disproved the hoary adage about how many chefs you can have in the kitchen.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, who specializes in French cuisine, is known for his sense of humor as a celebrity chef. He is perhaps best known for his Food Network show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on which he travels the world, sampling some of the best and-sometimes-most bizarre foods known to man. First, Bourdain-who's been through the best and worst of what the food world has to offer-ventured into that deeply alien territory behind the swinging doors of Manhattan restaurant kitchens. Then he took it a step farther and let us tag along as he turned his keen sense of taste-and acid tongue-on the world at large.

Wolfgang Puck

Hailing from Austria, Wolfgang Puck is one seriously adorable celebrity chef. It may be his accent, but his lovely personality and cooking skills only help his case. Puck also has some serious talent in the kitchen. He holds a few Michelin Stars and was recently inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.

Martha Stewart

Domestic diva, queen of the kitchen, master perfectionist, and, yes, ex-con. Joke if you must, but Martha, in all her Westchester splendor, didn't just set the bar on what it means to serve a successful meal: She single-handedly dug the mine, melted the ore, forged the steel, and then set the bar.

Gordon Ramsay

He is perhaps one of the most popular, if not the most popular, celebrity chefs of our day. Gordon Ramsay is world-renowned for his cooking skills, but more importantly for his temper, as seen on such shows as Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. He does have some serious cooking cred, though. He has been awarded over a dozen Michelin stars, so he clearly knows his stuff in the kitchen. His palate is also impeccable, which is why he can always tell when something is bland, donkey! Gentle, he's not. But Ramsay has cut through the frills of an increasingly pretentious food culture, shown us what it takes to have the right stuff, and brought the focus back to the cardinal rule of the restaurant world.

Emeril Lagasse

You would think he is another Italian chef, but Emeril Lagasse actually specializes in delicious Creole cuisine. He always kicks it up a notch for the camera with his personality and his iconic catchphrases. His charm and skills as a chef earned him a spot on our top favorites !Lagasse injected a sense of humor and loads of energy into the foodie scene back when most Americans still answered "yellow" when asked what kind of cheese they wanted. And he made many realize for the first time that, yes, you can actually have fun in the kitchen.

Jamie Oliver

All too often, chefs get caught up in the flavors and textures of foods while forgetting all else. In making sure that we mind our health, our community, and our earth, Oliver injected a good dollop of conscience into his cheerful, faux-Cockney mix. He is the richest chef of these days with a net worth of $400 million. 

Tom Colicchio

He may not helm a TV kitchen counter, but in his turn as the expert of experts on Top Chef, Colicchio has become the man that every at-home chef imagines they're trying to impress when they're at the stove. He's also great at conveying exactly what makes a contestant's meal great-no small feat when the small-screen audience can neither taste nor smell for themselves.

Rachael Ray

Yes, she's bubbly (to put it nicely), and, sure, she has a tendency to baby talk about food. But in the years she's been on TV, R.R. has crusaded for the idea that cooking at home is still within the grasp of ordinary, workaday folks. And she's done so even as the rest of the food world has gone increasingly exotic and esoteric. Armed with a distinctive New York accent and practical cooking tips, she is one of Food Network’s most famous celebrity chefs. She is most well known from her show 30 Minute Meals, her down-to-earth cooking and teaching styles, and her lively personality.

Giada De Laurentiis

Another Food Network celebrity chef, Giada De Laurentiis specializes in Italian cuisine. She holds an Emmy for her daytime cooking show, Everyday Italian and also appears on the show The NextFood Network Star as a mentor to contestants. What’s best about her are her fun personality and her easy to follow cooking tips, which make her a pleasure to watch and learn from.

Bobby Flay

Bobby Flay has hosted over a dozen cooking shows on the Food Network channel and is constantly appearing on many more. Perhaps one of the most famous celebrity chefs, Flay has countless books, awards, and restaurants, all gained from his skills as a chef and reality television personality.

Paula Deen

Paula Deen has been stirring up quite the controversy lately with her admission to using the ‘N’ word and the backlash that followed. Even so, her love of butter, her drawling accent, and her artery-clogging recipes earned her the number two spot on our list.

Food in The Movie- Spanglish

Food in The Movies

1. Spanglish

Released on:December 2004 

Genre:Drama

Directed By:James L. Brooks

Story By:James L. Brooks

Starcast: Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Paz Vega 

James L. Brooks' "Spanglish" tells the story of a Mexican woman and her daughter who travel all the way to Los Angeles to bring sanity to a crazy Anglo family. When I mention that the father of the family is played by Adam Sandler and is not its craziest member, you will see she has her work cut out for her. And yet the movie is not quite the sitcom the setup seems to suggest; there are some character quirks that make it intriguing.

Consider Deborah Clasky, the mother of the Los Angeles family. She is played by Tea Leoni like an explosion at the multiple personality’s factory. She is kind, enlightened and politically correct. She is also hysterical, manic and a drama queen whose daily life is besieged by one crisis after another. I am not sure this character has any connection to a possible human being, but as a phenomenon, it's kind of amazing; Deborah doesn't just go over the top, she waves goodbye as she disappears into cuckoo-land. Somehow Leoni is able to play Deborah without frothing at the mouth, and indeed makes her kind of lovable.

One who loves her is her husband John (Sandler), although he treacherously observes "I'm running out of excuses for the woman of the house." John is a chef -- in fact, according to the New York Times, the finest chef in America. You would therefore expect him to be a perfectionist tyrant with anger management problems, but in fact he's basically just that sweet Sandler boy, and at one point he is asked, "Could you stop being so stark-raving calm?"

Deborah's mother Evelyn (Cloris Leachman) is a practicing alcoholic whose rehearsals start at noon. She's a former jazz singer, now relegated to resident Golden Girl, sending in zingers from the sidelines. Her drinking pays off in the last act, however, when she sobers up (no one notices) and gives her daughter urgent advice.

Into this household come Flor (Paz Vega) and her daughter Cristina (Shelbie Bruce), who is about the same middle-school age as the Clasky's daughter Bernice (Sarah Steele). Flor and Cristina have lived in the barrio for six years, and now venture into Anglo-land because Flor needs a better job. The story is narrated by the 17-year-old Cristina as an affectionate memory of her mother, who learned English the better to treat this needful family with enormous doses of common sense.

Now that we have all the characters on stage, what is their story about? Is it about Flor, whose daughter narrates the story, or about the Claskys' marriage, or about the way the two daughters, both smart, both sane, are the go-to members of their families? I'm not sure there's a clear story line; it's more as if all these people meet, mix, behave and almost lose their happiness (if happiness it is) before all is restored, and the movie can end.

Along the way there are some wonderful scenes. My favorite involves a sequence where Flor decides she must finally explain to the Claskys exactly what she thinks, and why. At this point she still speaks no English, and so Cristina acts as her interpreter. As mother and daughter, Paz Vega and Shelbie Bruce play the scene with virtuoso comic timing, the mother waving her arms and the girl waving her same arms exactly the same way a second later, as they stalk around the room, Cristina acting as translator, shadow and mime.

There's also ironic dialogue in a sequence involving the Times review of John's restaurant, which to John is a catastrophe. Restaurants are ruined by four-star reviews, he explains: A line of @$$#o!>s immediately forms out in front. Please, lord, he prays, just give me three and a quarter stars. The restaurant isn't really crucial to the story, however; it's more like a way for John to get out of the house.

Oh, and Tea Leoni has the first onscreen orgasm that can seriously be compared with Meg Ryan's showstopper in "When Harry Met Sally." After Ryan's, you'll recall, another woman in the restaurant said, "I'll have what she's having." After Leoni's, you just want to dial 911.

When it comes to the experiences of a Latino maid in an Anglo household, nothing is likely to improve on the adventures of Zaide Silvia Gutierrez in "El Norte" (1983), where the space-age automatic washer-dryer proved so baffling that the young maid just spread the washing out on the lawn to dry in the sun. But "Spanglish" isn't really about being a maid, it's more about being a life force, as Flor heals this family with a sunny disposition and an anchor of normality.

There are a couple of excursions toward adultery in the film, one off-screen, the other not quite realized, but they, too, exist not to cause trouble, but to provide trouble that can be cured. The movie is all about solutions, and the problems are more like test questions. At the end, I felt there hadn't been much at risk, but I got to see some worthy characters stumbling toward improvement.

Talking about the delicious dish of the movie, here we present Bernice’s French Toast BLT.

French Toast BLT

Ingredients

4        Bread Slices

5        Eggs

2 tbsp   Milk

A pinch  Sugar

1 tbsp   Butter

4-6      Strips of Cooked Bacon

1        Small Tomato, sliced

2        Lettuce Leaves, split          in halves

1-2 tbsp Mayonnaise(optional)

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk and sugar.  Whisk together until light & fluffy.  Place the bread slices in the custard mixture one at a time, allowing each one to soak for at least a minute.

2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  When the butter has melted and a few drops of water flicked onto the skillet sizzle & immediately evaporate, place the custard soaked bread pieces in the pan.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until the outside has turned a golden brown and the inside has set firmly.  Remove from heat and repeat with the other bread slices.

3. When all the French toast has been cooked, assemble your BLTs.  Spread a thin layer of mayo on each French toast slice, then top with a layer of bacon strips, tomato, and lettuce.  Put both sandwich halves together and slice in half.  Serve hot.