Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
Food, art and the lifestyle of a different age collide in Laura Gabbert’s documentary, “Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles.” This is the sort of film you do not watch on an empty stomach, less you do something you might regret…like having sugar cookies for breakfast, as I am. We see the build up to the event, and hear Yotam Ottolenghi discuss it afterwards, while also getting a history lesson in the lifestyle of the court of Versailles before the revolution occurred; there’s a certain irony in this film, which I will explain later.
Renowned chef Yotam Ottolenghi has been asked to create a food selection for an event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City celebrating the art of the Versailles. His response is to focus on pastries and desserts, which were the food of the elite and privileged at the court. To help him, he reaches out to some of the most imaginative and talented food artists in the world. We see the highs and lows of the journey to get these items made, the creativity the other chefs bring to the process, and can’t help but get hungry watching the desserts come to life. We also get a historical picture of what the French court was like, and why, at its end, Marie Antoinette ended up beheaded, and the decadence of the time didn’t last.
Gabbert’s documentary is straight-forward and informative, with a collection of interesting personalities on camera to keep us entertained throughout. Ottolenghi is a charismatic protagonist for this movie to follow, intelligent and able to take us through the process of getting ready for this event and make it entertaining. The irony I spoke of is this whole event being for a gala that serves the elites, rather than being available for the masses. Isn’t that part of the reason the court of Versailles ended up in ruin in the first place?
