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Reviews
La Pitchoune: Cooking in France (2022)
An hour-long pleasant concentrated dose of inspiration vacation
I look forward to Sunday nights when I can sit and watch people who love food, who aren't fussy or pretentious, who wear really cool beautiful dresses and cool aprons, in a beautiful setting, cooking delicious food. Because of COVID, I can't fly on a plane and go to France, so this is a way to immerse myself in a world where it's summer, the food is delicious, and the flowers are blooming. There is no competition, it's just collaborative and friendly.
After watching the show, I feel more free to experiment and stretch outside my comfort zone. I have never felt bound by recipes, so that recipe-free thing is not new to me. What is new for me, is seeing the techniques for how to do it better, without having to eat as many failed experiments getting there.
A few things I have learned on the show have been game changers. Watching Kendall make an omelette was like, "oh! It's that easy?" and the next day, I made a fantastic omelette by just doing what she did, the way she narrated.
I am fifty, and I see these two couples as kids struggling to make it. It's clear they must have had help getting there, some kind of backing or support -- I imagine from their parents or something, but these days, I imagine hardly anyone their age can make it on their own. I say good for them.
There are times when I can see that Makenna, a working mom of a young child, is struggling. Anyone with children knows what that's like. How many meals have I made, pushing through, because we have to eat, and either achieved a kind of catharsis where things are better after we ate, or gotten furious and stormed out after calling everyone a bunch of jive turkeys? Being a mom to a young child is a hard beautiful part of life, even if you're in France, working in Julia Child's house. I love that she cries when people leave. It's clear that she loves her guests and her family.
Yes, this show is not about reality for most of us, but I am not digging reality in the United States, right now. It's great to just escape and look at beauty, to get inspired, and to learn.
I love their gorgeous dresses! I love that they're not skinny preachy fitness nuts. I want to sit out on a flower-covered veranda overlooking mountains and charming towns, too. If I can't, it's lovely to watch others do it.