It should come as no surprise that the world of gastronomy, as with those of business, politics, and sports, is a microcosm of entrenched social biases and many uphill efforts to bring about change. Filmmaker Vérane Frédiani’s The Goddesses of Food might sound like a fun title for foodies, but the documentary deals with gender inequality issues, #MeToo horrors, and archaic defenses of patriarchy in the kitchen and dining room. Offering an ambitious survey of women chefs on three continents, the film finds a lot of commonality in the experiences of female professionals whose culinary artistry is often lost in the shadows of celebrity male chef culture. Part of the narrative delves into an early 20th-century history of French women chefs who became well-known but were against allowing other women into their kitchen "brigades." More contemporary matters focus on the unwillingness of magazines and TV to veer from the overwhelming championing of male chefs, and the tendency of Michelin guides and the various foodie organizations that award "master" designations to often be dismissive of women. Frédiani is sometimes a little too general in her point-by-point contrasts between what women and men bring to gastronomy, but the former are in agreement that they are more intuitive about food and better at multitasking because of their traditional domestic roles at home. The darkest material here sounds terribly familiar, as women in the kitchen note that they eschew makeup in order to avoid sexual harassment. Viewers are ultimately left with the hope that these problems—along with so many others—will be solved generationally, as sexist traditions finally go the way of dinosaurs. Extras include deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
The Goddesses of Food
(2016) 94 min. In English & French w/English subtitles. DVD: $29.95. DRA. Kino Lorber (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 5
The Goddesses of Food
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