This week’s recommendations are both centered around the fact that I wrote this shortly before lunch. Or, to put it more elegantly, around the power of really good food.
The Final Table (Netflix): I love Netflix’s gorgeous, indulgent masterpiece Chef’s Table, where each episode focuses on one of the best chefs in the world. I also love cooking competitions. It was really nice to discover, then, that Netflix created a cooking competition that combines the drama of a cooking show and the beauty of a food documentary. The Final Table features chefs from countries across the world who pair up and cook a featured dish from a different country every episode. The dishes are judged by famous representatives from that country and if you are in the bottom three, you cook an additional dish judged by that country’s most famous living chef. The food is spectacularly beautiful, the drama is minimal and entirely food-based, and the respect these chefs all have for each other’s work is touching. Watch if you like to drool over slow-motion shots of food being plated or if you loved The Bear.
The Cook of Castamar (Netflix): I complain a lot on this channel about shows (and streaming services) that play it safe and churn out a lot of lazy paint-by-numbers content. This is the opposite of that and so I cannot recommend it highly enough! Set in 18th-century Madrid, The Cook of Castamar is about two lonely people who fall in love. One of them is a Duke and the other is the quiet, talented cook he employs. He has just lost his wife to a tragic accident and she is an agoraphobic with a mysterious backstory. Sounds a little like a romance novel setup, and those elements are there, but the series is elevated by a genuine sweetness between the leads that will have you rooting for them to overcome all odds. The series is set during an absolutely fascinating time in Spanish history (that I was totally unaware of) and involves tons of scheming side characters, gorgeous costumes, and delicious food. Watch if you like a less glittery, more serious Bridgerton, 18th-century men’s fashions (so ornate!), and slow-burn love stories.
As a note, this series is in Spanish.