- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226243238
- eISBN:
- 9780226243276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226243276.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This epilogue focuses on Babette's Feast (1987), a quasi-cult food film by the Danish director Gabriel Axel that may be considered a modern fable of French culinary culture. An exemplary tale of ...
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This epilogue focuses on Babette's Feast (1987), a quasi-cult food film by the Danish director Gabriel Axel that may be considered a modern fable of French culinary culture. An exemplary tale of French cuisine, Babette's Feast (Babettes Gaestebud) stands out for its reach and for its subtle sensuality. The film tells the story of a French cook far from France and is capped by a spectacular repast that conjures a vision of sensual and spiritual well-being created by the transcendent artistry of the main character who, through her art, recreates her country. Babette's Feast shows French cuisine as emblematic of the community created, sustained, and restored by the culinary. It also illuminates the connection between culinary production and the act of consumption.Less
This epilogue focuses on Babette's Feast (1987), a quasi-cult food film by the Danish director Gabriel Axel that may be considered a modern fable of French culinary culture. An exemplary tale of French cuisine, Babette's Feast (Babettes Gaestebud) stands out for its reach and for its subtle sensuality. The film tells the story of a French cook far from France and is capped by a spectacular repast that conjures a vision of sensual and spiritual well-being created by the transcendent artistry of the main character who, through her art, recreates her country. Babette's Feast shows French cuisine as emblematic of the community created, sustained, and restored by the culinary. It also illuminates the connection between culinary production and the act of consumption.
Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226243238
- eISBN:
- 9780226243276
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226243276.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. This book brings these “accidents” to the surface, illuminating the ...
More
French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. This book brings these “accidents” to the surface, illuminating the magic of French cuisine and the mystery behind its historical development. The book explains how the food of France became French cuisine. This culinary journey begins with Ancien Régime cookbooks and ends with twenty-first-century cooking programs. It takes us from Carême, the “inventor” of modern French cuisine in the early nineteenth century, to top chefs today, such as Daniel Boulud and Jacques Pépin. Not a history of French cuisine, this book focuses on the people, places, and institutions that have made this cuisine what it is today: a privileged vehicle for national identity, a model of cultural ascendancy, and a pivotal site where practice and performance intersect. With sources as various as the novels of Balzac and Proust, interviews with contemporary chefs such as David Bouley and Charlie Trotter, and the film Babette's Feast, the book maps the cultural field that structures culinary affairs in France and then exports its crucial ingredients. What's more, well beyond food, the intricate connections between cuisine and country, between local practice and national identity, illuminate the concept of culture itself.Less
French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. This book brings these “accidents” to the surface, illuminating the magic of French cuisine and the mystery behind its historical development. The book explains how the food of France became French cuisine. This culinary journey begins with Ancien Régime cookbooks and ends with twenty-first-century cooking programs. It takes us from Carême, the “inventor” of modern French cuisine in the early nineteenth century, to top chefs today, such as Daniel Boulud and Jacques Pépin. Not a history of French cuisine, this book focuses on the people, places, and institutions that have made this cuisine what it is today: a privileged vehicle for national identity, a model of cultural ascendancy, and a pivotal site where practice and performance intersect. With sources as various as the novels of Balzac and Proust, interviews with contemporary chefs such as David Bouley and Charlie Trotter, and the film Babette's Feast, the book maps the cultural field that structures culinary affairs in France and then exports its crucial ingredients. What's more, well beyond food, the intricate connections between cuisine and country, between local practice and national identity, illuminate the concept of culture itself.
