Tran Anh Hung - excellent director of Cannes Film Festival 2023 - invited chef Pierre Gagnaire to be the culinary consultant for "The Taste of Things".
After appearing at many international film festivals, Tran Anh Hung's The Taste of Things (French title: The Pot au Feu) will premiere domestically on March 22. The film's name refers to a traditional French beef stew, which is also the dish that culinary consultant Pierre Gagnaire invited Tran Anh Hung to enjoy when the director first visited the chef's home to discuss the project.
"I treated Hung to my own pot-au-feu recipe. Hung complimented me, and then he invited me to join his project with the same name," Gagnaire told NPR.
Before that, the chef heard many people talking about Tran Anh Hung's aesthetic works. He agreed to be a consultant for the film because he liked the director's gentle and elegant style.
After studying the history of French cuisine with a historian, Tran Anh Hung asked Gagnaire to create a menu that would fit the script. Before filming the project, the artist and his mentor discussed how to prepare the dishes, to make them look like they were presented in the 19th century. Pierre Gagnaire himself worked in the kitchen for five days so the director could observe and visualize the cooking movements. In addition to providing culinary advice, the chef also played a small role in the film.
From right to left: Director Tran Anh Hung, chef Pierre Gagnaire, actor Benoît Magimel on the set of "A Thousand Flavors of Humanity". Photo: Gaumont
The film features a foreign aristocrat inviting Dodin (played by Benoît Magimel) and his friends to a lavish but unsophisticated party. In return, Dodin invites the man to his place, intending to serve only simple pot-au-feu.
The stew combines meat ingredients such as beef, veal, pigeon, rabbit and many kinds of vegetables, requiring meticulous preparation. Gagnaire said that for the pot-au-feu cooking scene alone, the crew used 40 kg of meat, requiring a professional chef to be present on set to prepare it, then the camera crew had to film it accurately and beautifully.
The cooking scenes in the film were all recorded live, because Tran Anh Hung wanted the sound and images to be vivid. The filmmakers did not use fake food models like some food films. The director said that when he called "cut", the actors continued to eat with great appetite. The props team had to ask the actors to stop eating so they could rearrange the table.
Tran Anh Hung (left) and chef Pierre Gagnaire. Photo: Gaumont
As for Tran Anh Hung, the director said he admired Pierre Gagnaire's way of working. The chef chose each dish to suit the script. "I was moved when I saw him working hard in the kitchen, trying to cook, making mistakes, then starting over again, until he found exactly what he wanted," the director said.
Pierre Gagnaire, 74, is a famous French chef. He is considered by experts to be a person who "does not follow conventional patterns and is always at the forefront of the fusion cuisine movement". In 2015, Le Chef magazine voted Gagnaire in the top 10 best chefs in the world .
Gagnaire opened his own restaurant in the city center of Saint-Étienne in 1981, receiving two Michelin stars. Since then, the chef has worked in many restaurants in England, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and the United States, achieving a total of 14 Michelin stars.
The Michelin Guide is a culinary guide published by the French tire company Michelin. Since its first publication in 1900, the Michelin Guide has featured the cuisine of more than 40 global destinations.
Along with Pierre Gagnaire, the director's wife - Tran Nu Yen Khe - and son Tran Cao Phi joined the project. Yen Khe took on the role of art director and costume designer, while Cao Phi worked as assistant director, collaborating with his father for the first time.
According to Tran Anh Hung, his wife has a refined aesthetic sense and quickly grasps what is suitable for the work. During the working process, the director lets the art and costume design department be creative and does not interfere much.
Tran Anh Hung (left) instructs French actor Benoît Magimel on set. Photo: Gaumont
Tran Anh Hung, 62 years old, settled in France after 1975. He studied at the prestigious École Louis-Lumière film school. The director's film The Scent of Green Papaya won the Caméra d'Or award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. In 1995, the director won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival with Cyclo.
The film is adapted from the novel The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant, Gourmet (1924) by Marcel Rouff. The main character Dodin is a famous chef who spends all his time thinking about top-quality dishes. Dodin's talent is so renowned that he is considered the "Napoleon of the culinary world".
Chef Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) works for Dodin and has a great sense of taste and ingredients. Eugénie is admired by many but does not want to take the limelight, devoting herself to the kitchen. She teaches the maid's 13-year-old niece (Bonnie Chagneau Ravoire) to master the art of cooking. Dodin proposes to Eugénie several times, but she hesitates. Dodin then decides to cook for Eugénie, something he has never done before, to express his love.
Duong Chung (According to Vnexpress.net)
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