From Eat Drink Man Woman to The Lunchbox, get home cooking inspiration from these five movies
- If you are running out of recipes after months of cooking at home, these five films should whet your appetite
- From Little Forest to Lunchbox, these movies celebrate the healing powers of home cooking
As coronavirus lockdowns persist and restaurants have either closed or seen their opening hours limited, many people around the world have been forced to cook for themselves.
If you are one of them we hope you find some culinary inspiration from these films about the healing power of home cooking.
Babette’s Feast (1987)
Babette (Stéphane Audran), once a celebrated chef, flees the violence of post-revolution Paris, seeking refuge in the modest Jutland home of elderly sisters Filippa (Bodil Kjer) and Martine (Birgitte Federspiel). Their late father was a strict pastor, and his pious doctrine still has hold over the remote community.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, Babette secretly spends all her savings on an extravagant French meal, as a sign of gratitude to her hosts. The feast includes turtle soup, roasted quail, caviar and many fine wines. Initially reluctant to indulge in such sinful pleasures, the food has something akin to a spiritual impact on the disciplined diners.
Adapted from a short story by Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) and starring some of the biggest stars of European cinema, Babette’s Feast was the first Danish film to be awarded the Oscar for best foreign language film. It was such a sensation when released that restaurants across the US served special recreations of the film’s transformative banquet.