Julie and Julia--a goal that keeps you forward

     "Julie and Julia" is a very inspiring movie about how a set goal combined with passion could keep you moving forward and make your dream come true. In the movie, Julie wants to follow her passion for cooking after reading the cookbook written by Julia Child, who is always optimistic and enthusiastic about everything. Julie then sets the goal of making all the recipes within one year and starts the project called "Julie and Julia" in her blog.
     The movie truly depicts Julie's journey throughout the year, including the moment she is on the edge of giving up. The scene where Julie lies on the kitchen floor, crying furiously because she just messed up her cooking and can't feel the passion anymore, resonates with my emotions and reminds me of the moments I feel like quitting lacrosse or a learning English. I feel very encouraged by her consistence and power of passion.
     I like the parallel storyline of the movie, making the plot much more interesting and forming a comparative structure. Although the two stories take place in different times, the way they are structured in the movie is like Julie and Julia are next-door neighbors exploring recipes together. I'm amazed at the full equipment in the kitchen. I never realize that there is so much in cooking that you can explore.
     Although I admire Julie's consistence and passion, Julia Child is the kind of person I truly want to be. Having such a friend definitely makes me hyper and passionate about life, but being such one is more desirable. Whatever happens, Julia could always see it through a pair of optimistic glasses and I wish I could do the same. This isn't a simple movie about cooking and food. Behind it, it's also a very deep life lesson about passion and personality.


Staring at the lobster

Always happy about life

A meal that changes a life--Babette's Feat

 

 

     Babette's feast depicts the transformation of an oppressed and overly religious sect provoked by a luxurious feast that costs £10,000. During the feast, they start learning to embrace their emotions and to enjoy pleasures, which they regard as sinful crime before.
     While reading the short story, I picture in my mind the image of the dinner table and the luxurious dishes. I can't even remember all those fancies names now, but the descriptions from the story rise and weave to form a lively three dimensional dinner. It's like you can sense the words and lines from the paper. The movie, in terms of this, helps a lot by providing a detailed close-up at the food. A large portion of the movie is given to the feast and the preparation in the kitchen. Looking at General Loweinhelm enjoying the food, I feel as if I tasted the food myself. Unfortunately, General Loweinhelm is the only one who knows how to enjoy at the table. 
     The driver who helps in the kitchen is a foil to the believers. Even he is from a lower class and probably not as educated as the believers, he, however, knows how to enjoy pleasures. 

 

 

     I like the whole plot of the story because I like to see people going through emotional realization and epiphanies. Ironically, the one thing I don't like about the movie is the transformation part. I expect huge transformation and epiphany from the religious believers. After all, it's a life change. All they do at the end is just engaging in conversations, signings, and kissing, the most prominent change of all.
     Babette's feast reminds me of a movie I like better with a similar plot, Chocolat starred by Johhny Depp and Juliette Binoche. If you've never seen this movie, I highly recommend it if you want to learn about the magical power if food, or chocolate.
     On the surface, Babette's feast seems like a story all about food. But it's actually pretty deep and there are a few illusions in the novel. For example, the dinner is aattended by 12 people, which refers to the Last Dinner. Their old overly oppressed days is over. Since now on, people are embracing a new  life with pleasure and hope, and I'm sure that the whole point of the story.

 

 



The most magical art---cooking!

     Before I start my glorification and admiration for the art of cooking, you should all take a few minutes to watch the following video about how a three-star Michelin restaurant turns a ordinary fruit strawberry into an art work.

     If you don't know what a three-star Michelin restaurant is, you definitely need to do your homework before taking a food course. The Michelin guide awards one to three stars to a small number of restaurants of outstanding quality and a rare three stars are awarded to restaurants offering "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey."

    

     Some people say cooking is chemistry. I agree. That's the logical way to look at the nature of cooking, making a meal out of mixing up materials and heating and cooling. Eating, too. But emotionally, I feel that food is an art. It has nothing to do with the decorations on the outside. You don't need to make the food particularly pretty to turn it into an artistic work. It's the passion behind it. When you have the curiosity and excitement for cooking, you will have the motive to explore the magic of cooking, and that's where the innovation comes from.

     I do believe that food has the magical power to control your emotions, as long as you know how to taste and enjoy the food. There is a huge difference between "taste" and "eat". When you simply eat it, it becomes a functionary material to support the body and keep it running. Tasting, however, requires you to take time to taste the texture of the food, the particular mix of flavor, and the feeling of the food sliding along your throat. The food, then, will further slide into your heart and provoke the emotion.

     So, don't think of making the food an artistic work a redundant and unnecessary job. It's like the makeup for the food. You could use your full imagination to explore, to invent, and to turn your passion into a dish on the table.

The magic food that cures all illness--Noodles!

     Everyone had a magic food that can cure all the illness and blow away the bad mood. For me, the magic panacea is noodles that my grandpa makes. The noodles I'm talking about is not the dry Lo Mein noodles you would order from Chinese restaurant, but soup noodles. My grandpa would always make the delicious soup first, then add in the noodles that has been boiled three times and rinsed by cold water. Meat and spinach are an indispensable companion of the noodles. Sometimes he would put in a fired egg, and the noodles will look very pleasant, with white eggs, green spinach, brownish meat and dark yellow soup. My body is warmed up when I take the first sip of the soup, as if the stomach is brain of the body and it tells the body to cheer up and get strong. There is some scientific logic behind, I suppose, like soup is good for the body, noodles is easy to digest, nutrition is balanced, etc. But emotional power is the real unexplainable magic. 

Soup Noodles

The featured pork ribs from the Zhao family

Recipe of spicy stir-fried pork sparerib:

1. Chop the ribs up into pieces of 3-5cmlong. Rinse the pieces clean.

2. Add water until the water covers theribs in the pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt for 3.3lb of pork ribs, 2-3 slices ofginger. Stew for 25 min until the meat is medium ready.

3. Drain the rib pieces and save the soupfor later use.

4. Add a little vegetable oil in the wok onlarge fire, and heat until the oil boils.

5. Stir-fry the rib pieces, add 2/3teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper powder, 2 teaspoons of cooking wine, and2 teaspoons of soy sauce.

6. When the color changes to dark brown,add a little soup left from the stew and braise for 2 min.

7. Add 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder. Stir fry a few times.

8.Congratulations! The spicy stir-fried pork sparerib is ready to enjoy!!

Gradients:

pork spareribs, ginger, water, salt, olive oil, pepper powder, cooking wine, soy sause, chicken bouillon powder

     The stir-fried pork sparerib is a feature dish of my grandma's. She is an excellent cook and her delicious cooking accompanies me throughout my childhood, but the stir-fire ribs are my favorite. Ever since I can remember, my family always has pork ribs during holidays and reunion. It's like a symbol of the family, and to me, a reminiscences of my grandma. This is not a unique meal. It's pretty common in other families, too. But the flavor of grandma is unique and nobody in the world can copy that, not even my parents.
    This is my first time cooking it, and it's very successful. (Well, it's actually hard to screw up with pork ribs. There are just so many ways of cooking it that you can fix it and improvise.) I never realized that there are so many complicated steps because it seems so easy when grandma is making it. Also, in Chinese recipe, they always tell you to add "some" salt, "enough" water, "a little" pepper, or cook until "almost ready." How am I supposed how much is enough?! It takes my grandma some time to figure out and she had to make it again to measure the exact amount of the gradients. I'm glad that we have a recipe now and my children and grandchildren can follow it easily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptM6IZgZezQ