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Mouthwatering movies: Erik van Loo
In Mouthwatering movies, a well-known person from the food or film world
tells us about his or her most memorable, sensual or belly-shaking film
scene or food film. This week we talk to Erik van Loo, chef and owner
of two-star restaurant Parkheuvel.
"I’m not really the cinema type, although I watch a lot of food films, especially ones about chefs and restaurants – the film about El Bulli [El Bulli: Cooking in Progress] or the film about restaurant De Kromme Watergang for example. Even so, I don’t find them very relaxing or enjoy watching those kinds of films very much.
That's why my favourite film is The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and Her Lover, a fairly absurd film about a dangerous gangster who eats in the same restaurant every evening with his wife and gangster friends. At some point, the wife begins an affair with another guest and they secretly have sex in different places around the restaurant with the help of the cook. When the gangster finds out, he forces the lover to eat himself to death on books (he owns a bookshop). In revenge, the woman asks the chef to cook her dead lover and serve him to her husband. The film is full of eating, but that’s not really what it’s about. I find that refreshing. The film is about food and sex and is quite bizarre, sinister even.
A little absurdism is alright. That’s why I also like the satirical film L’aile ou la cuisse from 1976 about the idiocy in French restaurants and Michelin stars. There are similarities with my profession but the films don’t go into too much detail.
I can imagine that people who don’t cook at such a high level enjoy documentaries about restaurants and chefs. I think it’s good for outsiders to get a peek into a top kitchen. Some people think that we spend all day with our nose in saucepans, proclaiming how good we are. That’s why I’m still happy with the documentary De Smaak van de Ziel [The Taste of the Soul], which follows Cees Helder, Michelin inspector Paul van Craenenbroeck and myself. I still remember the packed auditorium at the Food Film Festival in 2011! I also enjoyed seeing how different I am outside the restaurant. At some point we go to Limburg and Brittany and I can see in my eyes how much more relaxed I am. It’s confrontational, but good of course.”The scene in which the lover is forced to eat himself to death:
And the final scene in which the husband is served his wife’s lover:Ga terug naar het weblog overzicht
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