El Bulli Cooking in Progress Is One Amazing Film

Well, the Oscars have been awarded in Hollywood and congratulations to all. But there is one film the members of the Hospitality Industry are all waiting to see in wider release and that's El Bulli - Cooking in Progress.

If you have not had a chance to read any of the film's glowing reviews, just check out the movie's trailer and you'll run, not walk, to the showing nearest you or purchase the DVD for your permanent collection. 

Truly an inspiring film about the nature and value of creativity!

POST NOTE, February 25, 2013: It’s finally confirmed! THERE WILL BE A SECOND FERRAN MOVIE!

Vendome Pictures has just announced they are moving ahead to turn Lisa Abend’s book, The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adria's elBulli, into a new film.

The movie will focus on the drama of the young apprentice chefs going through the restaurant's famous training program. Besides Adria, the main characters will be his Chefs de Cuisine--Eduard Xatruch, Mateu Casanas, and Oriol Castro

There will also be a stunning range of stagiares: Katie Button, an American former biomedical researcher turned chef; Luke Jang, a Korean who paid his way to El Bulli by working in a slaughterhouse; Andrea Correa, a Colombian chef who gets to be Oriol's personal assistant; Roger Alcaraz, a son of Catalan goat farmers; and Gael Vuilloud, a young French chef who can't quite pick up Spanish.

But the big question is: Who will play Ferran? Abend has always thought of Johnny Depp in the central role.

And while no one can doubt his talent, for this role, he might have to gain some pounds.

But what better way to gain weight then while studying (and savoring) the cuisine for this world famous Chef and his amazingly talent staff.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

The Official 2013 Oscar Cocktails and Goodie Gift Bags

Before, during and after the 2013 Academy Awards the winners (and losers) will enjoy these official cocktails. Experience the fun and fame:

The Patrón Gold Cosmopolitan 
1 1/2 oz. Patrón Silver Tequila 
1/2 oz. Patrón Citrónge Orange Liqueur 
2 oz. Organic Blackberry Juice 
1 oz. Fresh Orange Juice 
Fresh Blackberry Garnish 
10 Carat Gold Rim

The Ultimat Blue Sunrise 
1 1/2 oz. Ultimat Vodka 
1/2 oz. Patrón Citrónge Orange Liqueur 
2 oz. Fresh Blueberry Juice 
1 oz. Fresh Mango Juice 
Blueberry Garnish 
Silver Sugar Rim 

Post Note, February 24, 2013: Don’t feel too bad for the Award losers. The marketing firm Distinctive Assets will hand out theirs traditional swag bags, valued at more than $45,000, to nominees who don’t win.

Bag goodies include trips to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, personal training sessions, tequila, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, beauty appointments, "portion-controlled" dinnerware, acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a voucher for a fitness and weight-loss retreat and one-year membership to Heathrow's VIP service.

Niw when the 'bagless' winners start crying on the Oscar podium, you know why. Hopefully someone will also remember the staff who worked so hard to make the evening possible as well. Can you say, "Tip AND bag, please"?

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Oscar Movies Made in Hotels

Lights, Cameras – HOTELS!

Sunday is Oscars Night and that means nearly endless movie clips, past and present, will be shown. Captured in many of those clips will be some of the world’s greatest hotels. Here are just a few of the locations that helped to make these fine films Oscar winners:  

PARK HYATT TOKYO - Lost in Translation

Sofia Coppola won the Oscar for Best Writing of an Original Screenplay in 2003 in this her second film. Talk about talent! Also much talked about was the bar's stunning view from the 52nd floor high above Japan's capital.

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LA MAMOUNIA MARRAKECH - The Man Who Knew Too Much

Alfred Hitchcock starred Doris Day and James Stewart as an American couple caught up in mystery and intrigue in 1956 in Morocco. The film was awarded an Oscar for Best Song when Doris sang Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) in one of the Hotel's elegant suites. Later the song became her happy-go-lucky musical T.V. theme.

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FONTAINEBLEAU MIAMI BEACH - Goldfinger

Who can forget a young Sean Connery as a handsome and very buff James Bond sunning by the pool. And where was that stunning pool located? Why, at the Fontainebleau, of course, where no special effects were (and are) ever needed. Despite that fact, the film did go on to win the 1965 Oscar for Special Effects.

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GRAMERCY PARK HOTEL - Almost Famous

When William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit) goes on assignment after rock-and-roll's famous for the Rolling Stone Magazine, he encounters not only the rich, the talent and the strange, he also discovers the bohemian hotel that was the New York City home to stars (and near stars) of 1970s. Kate Hudson won her 2001 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in this near documentary film.

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BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL - California Suite

Maggie Smith (who we have all come to love yet again as the reserved Lady Violet in BBC's Downton Abbey series) won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in this 1978 film as an over-the-hill actress who simply had to see-and-be-seen at this famed Hollywood Hotel.

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HOTEL DEL CORONADO - Some Like It Hot

Located on a stunning California beach, this 1959 film is a visual delight as well as a hallmark comedy about romance American style. Equally stunning are Orry-Kelly's costumes for which he won an Oscar. One can only wonder, however, had Marilyn Monroe not been wearing them to, umm, 'their best advantage', would the designer have won his award quite so easily.

Featured Cuisine

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Tea and Tablets Hallmark the Last Episode of Downton Abbey 3

The last episode of Downton Abbey’s Season 3 saw the Crawleys (minus the Irish black sheep, Tom Branson, who is home with the baby) off to Scotland for their annual journey to field and flora.

Robert Crawley for one was glad to return to the embrace of tradition after having been forced to face the urgent need to modernize the economic base of Downton Abbey in order to survive the changing times. 

There will be tartan and tweeds, fishing and frank talk, shooting and stepping out at the ghillies’ ball.  

Yet always present is the fact that, just as Scotland is NOT England, the new century will be very different from the last.

Consider the arrival of Michael Gregson, Lady Edith’s amorous very married editor. Like a latter day Edward Rochester from the bildungsroman novel Jane Eyre, he is trapped in an undissolvable marriage to an insane wife.

In Bronte’s book, the heroine runs from a romantic relationship with a man so encumbered. A more modern Lady Edith struggles to understand the situation and seemed to finally accept the possibility of a shadow relationship.

Yet some things don’t/can’t change or there will simply be no order/no meaning in the English world of manners. One such tradition is the need to savor hot tea in all times of stress and strain – but a proper cup of tea.

And what is a ‘proper cup of tea’? NOT something brewed hours before sitting (and cooling) in an impersonal thermos. A correctly made cup of tea requires fresh hot water.  In short, it requires a fire either in a kitchen or where if one is outside fishing or hunting?

Enter the fabulous Kelly Kettle. Created in Ireland by an avid angler named, yes, Kelly over a hundred years ago, it is the perfect (and an in-the-known) answer for how to obtain hot water without burning down the surrounding forest or grasslands. 

Simply fill the outer lining with water and then light a small fire in the core cylinder and in an amazingly short time one has fresh piping hot water for tea (or warming toddies).

But no tea is complete without sweets. Once again, what’s possible is a comfortable home setting, doesn’t transfer with equal ease and grace to the Scottish moors. Yet tradition must be maintained. And the Scots, of course, have an answer. Just have a tablet.

Not a tablet of medical or digital fame, but one of absolute culinary glory. What we are referring to is a heavenly Highland treat that is neither a piece of candy nor a slice of fudge but something wonderfully different.

Made simply from sugar, butter and condensed milk cooked slowly to a ‘soft ball’ stage (235 degrees), it is compact, delicious and an ideal companion to an outside cup of tea.

For you see, with tea and a sweet in hand, any subject can be discussed (at least in the world of Downton Abbey’s third season) from unhappy marriages to alternative relationships.

Shocking, but so very English.

And the resolutions? Well now, they’re to be revealed in Season Four, possibly this Fall or Winter. The next Season is currently being filmed with Lady Mary, it is rumored, moving into the central role.

So until then, enjoy a heartening cup of tea with one ‘tablet’ of sweet delight and cheerfully chant “patience, patience – soon, soon”, but with an English accent, please. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Korean Air Force Parody Offers Humor to Snow Bound Chefs

The record setting winter storm Nemo has dumped heavy snow from Washington DC to Maine. Thousands of homes and business are still without power. Hundreds of planes are only now getting airborne again.

Equally affected have been the region's countless restaurants. Many are still unable to open due to stranded staff, power blackouts and delayed deliveries.

But have no fear, for as the East Coast digs out from tons of late season snow, the gentlemen of the South Korean Air Force have created a stunning parody of the musical Les Miserables entitled "Les Militaribles".

Here too the stuggle is with too much snow but 'moved' with such talent even Broadway (snow or no snow) will have to say, "Bravo - Well Done Gentlemen!".  This outstanding parody is proof once again that "Spring will come" and that thankfully true talent is universal!

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013