Helen RandellInspiration
October 24th 2009 23:11
Cook books and culinary magazines have come a long way. No longer are they printed on yellowing, soft paper with barely a picture in sight. These days if you don't actually see something that makes your mouth start to water, its unlikely you're going to make the purchase and take the recipes home to your kitchen.
Cook books work on inspiring others to produce food, which in many cases, will not look as glamorous or delicious once made by the home cook, but will still taste fantastic. Movies about food are another form of inspiration altogether.
I, and a couple of friends, went to see Julie and Julia the other night, and I still feel the need to make Boeuf Bourginon. The movie is an excellent melding of the story of Julia Child and her rise through Le Cordon Bleu and into the world of cook book publishing and the story of Julie Powell, a blogger who sets herself a goal to cook 524 of Julia's recipes in one year. I can not say enough about what an excellent actor Meryl Streep is - she is convincing in every role, and plays Julia's loud, brash and loveable character very well.
One thing that struck me about the movie was Julie's reluctance to try several of Julia's recipes - and I am sure we have all been there. There are always several recipes which you think 'Hmm, not sure about that one' or 'Wow, that looks amazing, but I think I'll just stick to ordering that when I am at a restaurant'. Having said that, I am on a self-imposed new cook book/magazine ban, because I currently have so many recipes which I have not yet made. 'Just get through those Helen and then we can look at more'. I was please to realise that I have a similar Blaze Le Creuset casserole pot as both Julia and Julie use in the movie.
A few tips learned from the movie: gently heat your bowl before you add the egg yolks to make mayonnaise, to brown your meat properly you need to dry it with paper towel, don't overcrowd your mushrooms and most importantly enjoy your cooking and never apologise if something doesn't turn out exactly as it should.
Cook books work on inspiring others to produce food, which in many cases, will not look as glamorous or delicious once made by the home cook, but will still taste fantastic. Movies about food are another form of inspiration altogether.
I, and a couple of friends, went to see Julie and Julia the other night, and I still feel the need to make Boeuf Bourginon. The movie is an excellent melding of the story of Julia Child and her rise through Le Cordon Bleu and into the world of cook book publishing and the story of Julie Powell, a blogger who sets herself a goal to cook 524 of Julia's recipes in one year. I can not say enough about what an excellent actor Meryl Streep is - she is convincing in every role, and plays Julia's loud, brash and loveable character very well.
One thing that struck me about the movie was Julie's reluctance to try several of Julia's recipes - and I am sure we have all been there. There are always several recipes which you think 'Hmm, not sure about that one' or 'Wow, that looks amazing, but I think I'll just stick to ordering that when I am at a restaurant'. Having said that, I am on a self-imposed new cook book/magazine ban, because I currently have so many recipes which I have not yet made. 'Just get through those Helen and then we can look at more'. I was please to realise that I have a similar Blaze Le Creuset casserole pot as both Julia and Julie use in the movie.
A few tips learned from the movie: gently heat your bowl before you add the egg yolks to make mayonnaise, to brown your meat properly you need to dry it with paper towel, don't overcrowd your mushrooms and most importantly enjoy your cooking and never apologise if something doesn't turn out exactly as it should.
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