{"id":19268,"date":"2024-02-24T11:24:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T17:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=19268"},"modified":"2024-02-24T11:25:26","modified_gmt":"2024-02-24T17:25:26","slug":"fantasy-dinner-part-3-uc4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=19268","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Dinner, Part 3: UC#4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[ed. note: This is part of our fantasy dinner series]<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UC#4’s fantasy meal is to recreate the menu from “Babette’s Feast”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Babette’s Feast (Danish: Babettes G\u00e6stebud<\/em><\/strong>) is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story of the same name by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen<\/strong>). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with funding from the Danish Film Institute.
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Babette’s Feast was the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story. It was also the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Chef Camilla Mann<\/strong> offers a good overview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In a remote village in 19th century Denmark, two elderly ascetics – sisters Martine and Philippa – are devoted to serving the poor and upholding the teachings of their deceased father. The sisters renounced suitors and all forms of finery, so they dress in drab clothing and subsist on dried, salted fish and thick ale-bread soup.
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One day, Babette, a French refugee, arrives on their doorstep, with a letter from Philippa\u2019s former suitor, recommending her as a housekeeper . Though the sisters\u2019 devout lifestyle would normally preclude them from having any servants, they take her in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourteen years go by and Babette is notified that she has won the lottery and will receive ten thousand francs! She offers to cook a genuine French dinner to commemorate the sisters’ father’s 100th birthday. And what a meal Babette prepares. A veritable feast!
\"\"<\/p>\nCulinary Adventures with Cam<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the short story, Babette flees to a small mountain town of Berlevaag<\/strong>, Norway. In the movie, the setting is set in a small village on the remote west coast of Jutland<\/strong>, Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Babette’s Feast” is based on a short story of the same name written by Isak Dinesen (the pen name of Danish author Karen Blixen). The original short story is indeed set in Norway. The film adaptation, however, takes place in a Danish village on the Jutland peninsula. The change in location was made by the filmmaker, Gabriel Axel, when adapting the story to the screen.<\/p>\nchatGPT<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Story and the Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke<\/strong> (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 \u2013 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen<\/strong>, used in English-speaking countries; Tania Blixen, used in German-speaking countries; Osceola, and Pierre Andr\u00e9zel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blixen is best known for Out of Africa<\/strong>, an account of her life while in Kenya, and for one of her stories, Babette’s Feast<\/strong>. Each has been adapted as films and each won Academy Awards. She is also noted, particularly in Denmark, for her Seven Gothic Tales<\/strong>. Among her later stories are Winter’s Tales<\/strong> (1942), Last Tales (1957), Anecdotes of Destiny<\/strong> (1958) and Ehrengard <\/strong>(1963). The latter was adapted as a romantic comedy film Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, directed by Bille August and in association with Netflix, which released it on streaming in late 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blixen was considered several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but did not receive it because judges were reportedly concerned about showing favoritism to Scandinavian writers, according to Danish reports.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Lots of Babette-related links, including recipes, at Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke<\/strong> web site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lottery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So how much did Babette win in the lottery? She won 10,000 French fracs (\u20a3).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much is that? That, it turns out, is a very hard question to answer. For one thing, we don’t know exactly when the film was set, but let’s say 1881.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another complexity was that France was on both the gold <\/strong>standard and the silver <\/strong>standard, and the relative value of the two metals was not constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what is the reference for purchasing power? Chickens? Eggs? Silicon diodes? Flour? Boots?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most estimates put the amount between $30K and $60K. The website estimator by Prof. Rodney Edvinsson, Stockholm University, puts the value of \u20a310,000 (1881) at
$ 49,219.270966460266<\/strong> USD. (pretty cool web site<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Semi-Sequitur: Turtles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A large sea turtle (uncredited<\/em>) features prominently in the movie Babette’s Feast<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea turtles also feature prominently in Survive the Savage Seas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you want to read a harrowing and true memoir of six people in life-boat survival story, check out Survive the Savage Seas<\/strong>. Eating raw sea turtles turned out to be the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interpersonal relationships became a little strained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(amazon link<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times<\/a><\/strong> describes an art exhibit detailing the life boat adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also a Telegraph<\/a> story:
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Back to Babette: A Religious Allegory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are many layers to this story….