Foodie Film Friday - Eat, Pray, Love

I know it's been a long time since the first of my 'Foodie Film Friday' posts but now that exams are over I can get this going properly.  So this week I am reviewing 'Eat Pray Love'.  For those of you who haven't seen it, it is a film about an American woman, Liz, who decides to go travelling in order to get her life back on track after a messy divorce.  She spends a third of a year in Italy - Eat - a third in India - Pray - and a third in Bali - Love.  I realise that this film is not entirely about food but it does feature prominently!

While in Italy Liz (played by Julia Roberts) decides to indulge herself, learning the language and enjoying copious amounts of Italian food.  The part of her journey spent in Italy is my favourite of the three because it is exactly what I like to do when I travel, pick up some of the language, sample the local delicacies and, if possible, get to know some locals to show me some things off the beaten track.

In Italy Liz's experiences range from enjoying the quiet calm of her small apartment as she sits down to a simple meal of asparagus and eggs (something which I am very partial to as you may have noticed, whether it be for  breakfast or brunch), to the hustle and bustle of Naples as she tries an authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Food is also something which brings people together throughout the film.  In Italy not only does she go out to restaurants to enjoy a meal with friends, she also tries to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for them.  You should never underestimate the value of food in helping to forge friendships.  Last year I met many of my closest friends over a beer and we cemented those friendships over food, whether we cooked or baked it together or went out to eat in a local restaurant.  Food is a very personal thing and by sharing the experience of eating it with someone you can really get to know them.  I will forever treasure the memories of our dinners in Bamberg, because even though we came from all over the world and had experiences of lots of different cuisines, cooking, baking and trying new food brought us together.

After watching the film (several times!) I finally got round to reading the book last year.  However, rather like with Julie & Julia I was rather disappointed.  I felt that Liz came across as far more self-centred in the book than in the film and not being spiritual myself I found it very hard to empathise with her experiences in the Indian ashram.

So on to my ratings:

Overall I would give this film 3/5 because although I adore the part set in Italy and I have been inspired to travel to Indonesia at some point, I find the part set in India less interesting.

As for how serious this film is (where one is serious and 5 is lighthearted) I would give it  3/5 as it is a fun film but it does make you think.

As food is only featured in one third of the film I will have to give it a 2/5 on the foodie front.

On the road again

With term over I decided I needed a few days away to chill out and forget about work.  I've really missed Germany so I decided to go back to Bamberg for a few days, revisit some of my favourite places and soak up some German culture - mainly in the form of beer and Brezen (soft pretzels).

We (my boyfriend and I) stayed at the Alt Ringlein Hotel.  It's located in the very centre of Bamberg opposite the Schlenkerla Brewery which is famous for its smoked beer.  As we were tired from travelling we ate in the hotel on the first evening where I had Schäuferla (a roasted shoulder of pork) with pureed savoy cabbage and a potato dumpling.  I washed all this down with a Mahr's 'U' - the U stands for Ungespundetes which means the beer is unfiltered.

After the meal we headed over to Stilbruch a great restaurant/bar (if you're looking for the best burgers in town head here for their hearty Börgers which come with a large portion of salad and are great value, they also do really good pizzas which are similarly good value).  I opted for my usual, a strawberry wine.

On Saturday we had a lazy day but did leave the hotel to go and stock up on essentials from the supermarket.  By essentials I mean the German things I love that just can't be found easily in England.  My top priority were the bars of RitterSport chocolate - not the best chocolate you will ever have but tasty nonetheless - however I did also pick up a local bottle of wine (Silvaner) an Apfelschorle (a fizzy apple drink) and some chocolate-orange Leibniz biscuits along the way.  As you can see the wine comes in a bottle which is a different shape to your traditional bottle.  It's called a Bocksbeutel and is very traditional for the Franconian region.

In the evening we had dinner at Klosterbräu, my favourite restaurant in Bamberg.  If you ever visit then you absolutely have to try the Haxe - pork knuckle - which comes with Sauerkraut and Kloß - pickled cabbage (it's so much tastier than it sounds) and potato dumplings.  On this occasion I went for the Pils, however, I highly recommend all of their different beers.  Aside from the food, the atmosphere in Klosterbräu is great, with its wood-panelled dining room and friendly staff.

We left Klosterbräu and headed to a bar called Lewinsky's.  There's nothing that special about this bar in itself, however I love it because of all the wonderful memories I have of it, from my time spent in there with the other Erasmus students every Thursday.  That and the bar serves my favourite beer, Zwergla, from the Fässla brewery.

On Sunday we continued the foodie theme with a trip to Cafe Müller.  This is a lovely cafe in the heart of Bamberg where they serve everything from a Champagne breakfast to the traditional German Kaffee and Kuchen (cake and coffee).  We opted for the sauteed potatoes with spinach and a fried egg, a simple yet tasty lunch, followed by cake - I had a raspberry and cream slice while my boyfriend had a cream slice with egg liqueur and walnut-cake base.  Although the cafe does serve really good coffee I decided to have a warm milk with honey - my usual caffeine-free alternative.

On Monday morning we skipped breakfast in the hotel as we wanted to go to the Schlenkerla brewery opposite for a more traditional German breakfast of white sausage (traditionally made with veal but it can also contain pork), brezen (soft pretzel) and sweet mustard.  My boyfriend also had a glass of their smoked wheat beer, a speciality which he thinks is delicious but which I cannot stand, I really think that smoked beer is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it.

Weißwurst, Brezen, Süßer Senf

The rest of our time in Bamberg was spent lazing around and enjoying yet more beer.  It was great to go back to a place I love so much, it really is like a home away from home and I can't wait to return - hopefully in the summer for the Sandkerwa beer festival with other friends from my year abroad.

Enough about my travels for now, with exam term coming up I will be staying in England for a while and will be back to posting about my cooking and local Cambridge eateries.

Bis bald Bamberg!  Ich vermisse dich schon.