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Vahid Sohrabi
Co-founder and Lead Researcher of Saffron Express magazine.
What is Saffron role in Movie Theaters + scene name
The last article in saffron express was What is Saffron place in medicine?. And now we want to once again write about this red gold. If you are interested in cinema, food, or the history of the relation between these two essential pleasures, the Saffron Express team invites you to continue reading this very amusing article. In the article below, we are going to talk about the movie scenes which saffron has played a role in them!
A remarkable event occurred in movie theaters in Hollywood in the 1980s. And that was the passage of the food as a powerful and effective element in the film industry.
Movies, at long last, discovered the visual and aesthetic appeal of food, glorious food, and began to make movies in which food played a leading role, thus giving birth to a new genre: food films.
The history of using saffron is more than other foods in this area, due to the boldness of the color of saffron, the directors used saffron colors to show the beautifulness of the food.
The Silver Chalice (1954)
One of the first examples would be the silver Chalice (1954), a Biblical saga best remembered as Paul Newman’s movie debut. In a great marbled hall, Caesar and his guests remain mildly interested in a procession of dishes of bronze-coated food, some surrounded by flames, and each supported by two male slaves. Although the movie itself was a Hollywood embarrassment, the trays served in this scene has been still remembered.
In the offbeat comedy-thriller Bandits (2001), a family taken hostage by two bank robbers experiences a frightening and unpleasant meal; But for those watching, it’s a delicious plate, seasoned with comedic touches. One of the kidnappers, who admits he does a little cooking of his own, tells the hostages that he can definitely taste lemon zest, oregano, and a little cream in their food, but there is another ingredient he can’t quite identify. He guesses basil or rosemary until he figures out saffron, which the blubbering lady confirms.
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Our Man Flint (1965)
In the movie Our Man Flint (1965), James Coburn plays the title role. In this entertaining spoof of James Bond films, the recipe for bouillabaisse* plays a pivotal part. Coburn, as ace US secret agent Dereck Flint, accepts the assignment to track down an evil organization bent on ruling the world by controlling the weather. Flint’s first clue as to the whereabouts of this infamous syndicate comes from a chemical analysis of a dart (aimed at him) that reveals (in addition to poison) the presence of garlic, saffron, and fennel. Flint deduces that the person who fired the dart must have been in Marseilles within the last 24 hours. Because throughout the world in the preparation of bouillabaisse, the usual proportion of garlic, to buttered saffron fennel is two cloves of garlic to a pinch of saffron to a dash of fennel. Now only in a small section of Marseilles are these three condiments prepared in these proportions.
Chef in Love (1996)
Much of a Chef in Love (1996), is a flashback to the early part of the twentieth century. Pascal Ichac (Pierre Richard), a bon vivant Frenchman in his autumnal years – and a man of many talents, most notably a gourmet chef – meets a young Russian princess. In the intimacy of their shared compartment, with her help, he opens a French restaurant, at the New Eldorado, the straight away is renowned for its culinary masterpieces, including bass, sturgeon steamed with saffron, and duck.
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Ratatouille (2007)
You may also remember pleasant Pixar animation, Ratatouille (2007), which was based on the relationship between a mouse and a young chef. There is a moment in the movie when the mouse is searching for an ingredient to complete the dish he is about to cook. That ingredient is saffron. Then he says: “Ahh. L’Aquila saffron…”
There is also another scene, where Remy (the mouse), is speaking of a dead master chef, and he says: “I’m telling you, saffron will be just the thing. Gusteau swears by it.”
Bibliography
Zimmerman, S. (2010). Food in the movies, 2nd edition.
- July 13, 2020
- , 6:59 pm
- , Saffron Culture
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