Food in Film- Hosted by The Well-Seasoned Cook

Well-Seasoned Cook

So think about the films that you’ve enjoyed, perhaps even watched countless times. The movies don’t have to be about food or drink per se such as Babette’s Feast or  Like Water for Chocolate (although they can be), but also think about flicks that lick at those food moments revealed with startling clarity, vague adumbration, or the light or dark reflections of the mood at hand.

I chose Indigenes (also known as Days of Glory), which was nominated for an Oscar in the "Best Foreign Film" category. This was the fourth Academy Award nomination for Algeria*.  Previous nominations were:

DUST OF LIFE (1995) -- Nominee, Foreign Language Film
LE BAL (1983) -- Nominee, Foreign Language Film
Z (1969) -- Winner, Foreign Language Film

Five of the films North African actors recieved best actor awards at Cannes.

Film synopsis from Oscar.com

For the North African troops fighting for France during the Second World War, their experience in uniform becomes a painful lesson in just how little regard their colonial rulers have for their humanity. As one company of soldiers pushes north through Europe, its members continue to find themselves denied the basic rights taken for granted by their French counterparts.

There is a scene in the movie where the Maghrebi and African soldiers are denied tomatoes at meal time because they are "luxuries reserved for whites only". Algerian Corporal Abdelkader takes a basket of tomatoes and crushes them with his boots defiantly stating that if all the soldiers don't get tomatoes, no one will.

An Algerian tomato puree recipe seems fitting, but a little too basic. So I'll present  Algerian peppers stuffed with goat cheese garnished with tomatoes.  I used jalapenos for this version, but piquillos and poblanos are fine for this dish.

I charred the peppers directly over the flame on my stove. This method is fast and easy for charring just a couple of peppers. This method also just lightly cooks the peppers, they retain a bit of crunch. If you want a deeper roasted flavor with the sugars that roasting on a grill brings out, than by all means do that. Scrape off the charred skin with the back of a knife and rub off any remaining black bits with a paper towel, cut slits along the length of each pepper and scoop out the seeds with a small spoon.

The peppers were stuffed with a mild, fresh goat cheese seasoned with finely minced garlic, finely minced flat leaf parsley, ground pink and green pepper corns. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the tomatoes, give everything a squirt of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle everything with coarse sea salt.

I like this with an Algerian layered flat bread called meloui. I'm filming that recipe for a foodcast next week.

 

*Perhaps the most famous Algerian film is The Battle of Algiers, however it was an Italian-Algerian co- production and not listed on the Oscars website as an Algerian film. The film is still widely recognized as one of the most important political films of all time, but it also a filmmaker's film hailed for it's cinematic qualities and influence.

Comments

[Lucy]

Great entry and a fabulous recipe!

[Simona]

Very interesting post and nice photos.

[Lisa]

Those peppers look gorgeous and zingy, and I'll have to try making them. And I loved the info about the movie, which unfortunately I missed. Must rent it soon.

[JennDZ_The Leftover Queen]

These looks absolutely amazing!
Welcome to the Foodie Blogroll! I am so happy to have an Algerian Chef like yourself, represented in our growing food community!

[Susan]

Wow. Wow. Wow. Farid, this is a knockout interpretation and a grand addition to the event. Very glad you are participating. Thank you for this thoughtful, compelling and delicious entry.