Netflix Documentary: A Matter of Taste

"Sally Rowe`s documentary dishes a rare glimpse into the heated world of haute cuisine, with brilliant and controversial chef Paul Leibrant navigating other chefs, food critics, restaurant owners and more"

This one caught my eye because I love to cook. I went to a culinary Vo tech program in high school and missed finishing by one test..that they wanted me to pay like 100 dollars to take after I had graduated. So I said screw that, and took my cooking to my home life. At least this way my food is enjoyed after it has been slaved over.

We watch from the underside as Paul Leibrant decorates what would be a dish with food sauces in an artistic way. I always loved being able to express myself with the food sauces in school. He is described as being an innovator and being cutting edge in nearly every way. He makes food that other people would only dream to try, and successfully gets people to like it. A few dishes that are told to us are:

*Chocolate Covered Scallops
&
*Espuma of calf`s brains and foie gras

A few chefs comment on Paul`s food, saying there really is no way to tell if you`re going to like it, because there has never been anything done like it before. One chef refuses to comment because he hates the food style, and we watch as a dish is constructed with cherries and some sort of jelly. The dishes we have seen so far are tiny and delicate. The speaker describes them as "cute" Then we learn that in 2000 Paul became the youngest chef to receive 3 stars from the New York Times. Which makes you start to wonder if he really is innovative, or if he is just different and that is causing a stir?

 Paul says he learned his style from a few guys he trained with in Europe. He states the restaurants  he worked in were very very good, but they were all the same. What he has started doing is taking a base, which is something we know, and taking away a flavor, or adding in something you would never add in on your own. It makes people wonder, and throws people off. This could have gone very badly, but he got lucky that humans are a curious species.
   We watch him work for awhile, and just by watching his demeanor you learn he is very passionate about his work. Even though he is famous, he still crafts nearly every plate by hand, and makes most of the food himself. The plates are constructed one by one, each one could be the same dish but they look unique.

He is a bit goofy, they had a spot of bad luck with one of his restaurants and had to go back to making burgers and fries. So he decides to have a french fry tasting with different cuts and spices for the fries.  Paul has no lover, instead prefers to say he is married to the kitchen. We witness him leaving the burger flipping trade and heading out to get back into serious cooking.

It was a slower documentary, with a lot of comments and insight from Paul himself. You really get to see inside his mind and see some of the unique dishes he thinks up. He wants to create emotion with his food, and awake the senses, not just give you something you`ve had before. I rated it as a 4 star myself but it is definitely worth the watch in my opinion.

Netflix Documentary: Orgasm Inc.

When I start watching documentaries, I just can`t stop. I scoured through the Netflix directory this morning and added over 20 interesting documentaries on a variety of subjects. They are less widely known, so maybe by writing about what I`ve learned I can point people towards a good learning experience.

This one was about the "myth of female sexual dysfunction."

To me, I thought it was true. I have my own issues with achieving an orgasm, and I relate it mostly to stress. In the beginning of the film they have several women describing what an orgasm is to them. There was one woman in particular who said it was like having a war with herself. She felt that something was wrong with her because she couldn`t, and that she fought with herself mentally because she wanted to, but couldn`t.

So we get into the movie and meet the film maker. She was hired by this company Vivus, who was trying out a cream to help women achieve orgasm. They wanted her to make a sexual film that they would have the women watch after apply the cream in order to measure the sexual response and figure out if the cream worked or not.

They discuss how Vivus produced a drug called Muse, which was the leading ED product until Viagra was marketed, so they then turned their attention to women and their FSD, or Female Sexual Dysfunction. Every company on the market was making something and joining the race for fda approval, whether it was curing these women or not. Everyone wanted to be the first company to cure FSD.
  But what IS FSD? Its a "disease" created by doctors and unrealistic expectations. Women are led to believe they need to orgasm every time they have sex, they are lead to believe that they should be as sexually active in their 60s as they were in their 20s. Our race has decided that everything needs to be able to be fixed with a pill or a cream or an injection. We refuse to believe that this is a normal part of growing older.

There is a bunch more interesting and funny stuff in this documentary. I recommend it. 72 minutes of your life well spent. Look it up on Netflix Instant.