Recipe: Crème Brûlée Toast
My cinematic Parisian comfort food {v, nf}
There is one French film that I return to time and time again. The recipe title might have given it away - do leave a comment if you've guessed it! This movie is my cinematic comfort food, the film I revisit whenever my soul needs a dash of joie de vivre.
When I first moved to Paris, this movie became my blueprint for what I hoped my life there would become. Those scenes painted a world I yearned to step into: lingering in cafés watching locals gesture over their café crème, building a rapport with the neighbourhood vegetable guy who'd select the perfect avocado with practised hands, and yes, perhaps even embracing the romance of zipping through narrow streets on the back of a Vespa with a handsome Frenchman.
While some serious moviegoers might dismiss it as overly romantic, I deeply relate to the main character's passionate pursuit of everyday delights. It's become such a personal touchstone that when a British newspaper first spotted me on television, they dubbed me the UK's version of that beloved protagonist.
The film's visual palette remains striking even twenty years later - deep reds and greens punctuated by moments of blue. And how remarkably ahead of its time - that ASMR quality that's now everywhere on social media was already woven through its scenes, in the crack of a caramel crust or the lentils slipping through fingers.
Food, at its heart, is an exploration of these simple pleasures. What could be more satisfying than a steaming bowl of soup on a grey day, accompanied by a slice of crusty bread bearing the deep imprints of teethmarks in the generous butter layer (or tandsmør, as the Danes so perfectly describe it)? This celebration of simple food led me to create a cookery series during the pandemic - though "simple" took on new meaning when I found myself wearing every hat from executive producer to food stylist, from makeup artist to presenter, while the director of photography juggled three cameras, sound, and lighting.
This appreciation for life's small joys reminds me of my Austrian grandmother, who carved out a life in the depths of the Alps. After losing my grandfather early to a car accident, she raised six children alone while building a home through sheer determination. Her resourceful approach to cooking flowed down to my mother, who grew up understanding the value of life's smallest gifts. A Christmas clementine was a treasure in their household of modest means.
These days, I try to channel that same appreciation for life's small pleasures. When possible, I begin each morning by spending five minutes listing things I'm grateful for - a practice that would surely have made the film's protagonist smile, recognising in it that same search for everyday magic that made her story so enchanting.
The movie revealed, recipe and full recipe video behind the paywall.
This week’s petit pleasure - Revisiting these tracks by this talented Belgian lyricist - French rap that hits just as hard today as it did a decade plus ago.