By Guest blogger, Erwin: The Foodie Intern
Maybe I should admit a couple of things first. I am a newbie when it comes to anything culinary. Outside of the Food Network Channel (God bless those programs!), I haven’t really set foot into the technical/creative sphere of the kitchen. Yes, I’ve made a sandwich or two or some other quick dish. It doesn’t really fall into the same league as what Iron Chef Bobby Flay or Chef Tyler Florence can do. Receiving an internship with celebrity chef and mistress of mixology, Kathy Casey, I didn’t know what to expect.
The foodie world by itself is amazing and I am more and more intrigued each day. Granted I don’t work in the kitchen, I do get to work in front of a computer and look up all things foodie. I can’t say more than enough about how insanely diverse this world is. I have to sometimes catch myself and stop drooling after I look up FoodBuzz recipes and blogs or shake myself out of a daydream while something is cooking up in the Food Studios.
But I digress.
A couple of weeks back, Kathy brought her Chef team Cameo McRoberts, Travis Childers, and myself to watch a sneak preview of the new Julie & Julia movie. As I’ve said, I consider myself to still be a newbie to the food world. Again, I didn’t know what to expect.
The movie is a blend of two true stories: Julie Powell’s Julie & Julia and Julia Child’s memoirs’ My Life in France. The movie follows our two young heroines at two different periods of time.
Julie Powell works in a post-9/11 world behind a cubicle and drowned in the sorrows of insurance claims. A could-have-been novelist, she’s reached a pivoting point where she doesn’t know what to do. Comforted by the thought of cooking, she comes up with a plan: to cook all of the recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days.
Julia and Paul Child have just moved to Paris, France where Paul has been stationed in the U.S. Embassy. In this pre-McCarthy era, the Childs are loving the French life. Julia, never steady hanging out at home, enrolls in a culinary school. Looking always for a new adventure and fresh from graduating culinary school, Julia and her friends decide to put together a cook book.
I won’t give away too many details of the movie, but I loved it. This newbie loved every aspect of the movie from beginning to end. The character development with the two female leads is genuine and heart-felt. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams do both Julia Child and Julie Powell justice, respectively. It does follow within the romantic-comedy genre, but as a guy, I still loved the movie. The movie’s flow will keep you pulled in with Julia’s amusing quirks and Julie’s sheer determination. It’s a great look into two people whose lives parallel each other well.
Take it from me, even if I am from a food newbie.
