"documentary" news and stories

A couple of weeks ago, I featured a cookbook called A Taste of Country Cooking in our Cookbook of the Day column. Written by Edna Lewis, it is one of the definitive works on classic Southern cooking out there. That post spurred filmmaker Bailey Barash to comment in order to let us know that she produced a 21 minute documentary about Miss Lewis.

I've taken the time to watch the documentary and I'm posting about it now because it's far too good to let it just hang out in the comments. You can watch it on Gourmet Magazine's website or on Georgia Public Broadcasting's website. Thanks Bailey, for letting us know about your wonderful film!

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If, like some of us, you were left wanting by the film adaptation of Fast Food Nation, a new documentary called Our Daily Bread might be more your speed. Created by Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Our Daily Bread is composed of long, unblinking scenes shot in industrial greenhouses (above), farms and animal processing plants throughout Europe. There are no interviews or voice-overs and the locations are not identified. The New York Times gives it a glowing review, and also features a related piece with a few quotes from Geyrhalter. Several trailers are available here. For the moment, it appears that screenings of the film in the U.S. are limited to New York City and Chicago. Hopefully that will change soon.

Just as there are many types of barbecue (Eastern North Carolina-style, Western North Carolina-style, Kansas City-style, and Memphis-style, to name just a few), so too are there many types of barbecue documentary.

In addition to Barbecue is a Noun, the documentary made by North-Carolinians-turned-NYC-filmmakers, there's also Barbecue: A Texas Love Story.

The title may have tipped you off, this film chronicles the Lone Star State's abiding love for barbecue, from the Great Texas Mosquito Festival to a small east Texas church that raises money through sales of its "Holy BBQ."

Believe it or not, the film is narrated by former governor Ann Richards, and it features prominent barbecue-loving Texans like Dan Rather and Kinky Friedman.

Hot barbecue. A hot cast. What's else is there?

The kitchen at El Bulli, recently chosen again as the best restaurant in the world, is at the forefront of culinary innovation. Diners wonder how the food is done and chefs take sabbaticals just for the chance to visit. Without dropping everything and going to Spain, you can take a tour of the kitchen, too, via the Decoding Ferran Adria DVD. The DVD is hosted by Anthony Bourdain, who visits the "lab" in Barcelona and tracks the progress of food at the restaurant from a mere idea to a plated dinner, a process which can take up to 6 months.

A few short clips of the film are available, to get a taste of what you'll find on the full-length, hour-long DVD.

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