THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY HOW TO
THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY MOVIE
THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY PROFESSIONAL

Dicing, emulsifying, and sautéing (or dehydrating, flash-freezing, and spherifying, for that matter) are not dangerous knowledge that threaten the soul of cuisine-they’re the palette chefs use to make their art. But The Hundred-Foot Journey’s insistence on pitting inspiration against technique-even suggesting that culinary inspiration can take place without technique-represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what chefs do. Granted, some people do actually feel that molecular gastronomy is soulless, and the idea that spirit is separate from and superior to the material world is as old as Plato. If you let technique take center stage, the result is soulless food. (We know this because he starts drinking a lot more often than he did when he was hanging out with Marguerite.) Molecular gastronomy doesn’t fulfill him the way classical Indian and French cooking did-pipettes, flasks, and other lab equipment kill the joy of cooking, the film implies.

THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY PROFESSIONAL

After Hassan gains national recognition cooking at Madame Mallory’s restaurant (within months of starting his stage), he climbs the professional ladder to a chic modernist restaurant in Paris, whose owner lures Hassan with the promise that his establishment pursues “innovation, innovation, innovation.” However, cooking experimental, critically acclaimed dishes like shellacked beets and cauliflower ice cream, Hassan is unhappy. To the extent that the film has a villain (apart from a stereotypically snooty French chef who is vanquished within the first hour of the movie), it’s molecular gastronomy, the technique-intensive, chemistry-focused discipline made famous by Ferran Adrià at El Bulli. In fact, focusing too much on the physical act of cooking is a bad thing, according to The Hundred-Foot Journey. Based on the omelet that she has made according to Hassan’s instructions, Madame Mallory concludes that he has “it”-the ineffable quality that makes a great chef.

THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY HOW TO

(The old idea that you can tell a chef’s quality based on his omelet will be familiar to any Top Chef fan.) What’s extraordinary about the scene is that Hassan’s hands are thoroughly bandaged up, thanks to a misfortune that has recently befallen him, so instead of actually cooking the omelet for Madame Mallory, he tells her how to cook it according to his specifications. A turning point arrives when Hassan auditions for a stage in Madame Mallory’s restaurant by cooking her an omelet. Perhaps as a safeguard against accusations of French chauvinism, Hallström insists that Hassan is a culinary prodigy in spite of his lack of classical training. This storyline could set up all sorts of uncomfortable implications about the sophistication of French culture vis-à-vis Indian culture, but The Hundred-Foot Journey takes pains to assure the audience that it is not down with Orientalism. As Hassan wins over the locals with his flawless Indian cooking, he also takes an interest in learning more about la cuisine classique by way of flirting with Marguerite (Le Bon), a sous-chef at Madame Mallory’s restaurant.

The Kadams open a new restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren, doing a French-accented riff on her character from The Queen). Hassan learned how to cook from his late mother at their family restaurant in India, but he has no formal culinary training. Morais, tells the story of Hassan Kadam (Dayal), a young Indian man who moves to the South of France with his headstrong father (Om Puri) and four siblings. The Hundred-Foot Journey, based on the novel by Richard C.

THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY MOVIE

(Spoilers follow, although not much happens in this movie that you can’t see coming a mile away.) The film presents an absurd view of professional cooking, in which technique is irrelevant, inferior, and counterproductive to inspiration. But as beautiful and mouthwatering as The Hundred-Foot Journey’s cooking scenes are, they convey an odd message when taken together.

The hundred foot journey