“Two single sisters make a place in their small Danish home for a woman named Babette, who seeks refuge from war in Paris. Together they live an austere life. One day Babette learns that she has won a prize of ten thousand francs. She ponders, she plans and then spends it all to import boatloads of the finest foods for one lavish feast. The little neighborhood guests gather, not knowing there is a culinary genius in the kitchen. During the dinner she never appears at the table, but remains perspiring in the kitchen, performing with meticulous skill and artistry. A young boy serves as her waiter and follows her instructions to the very letter from turtle soup, to the succulent grapes for dessert. The group savors her meal. Men and women who have been guilty of estrangements begin, impulsively, to revel in mutual forgiveness and fellow feeling. In the spirit of a toast a guest of honor stands. He is a uniformed general. He discourses on the glories of divine mercy, and then says, ‘This feast reminds me of a woman chef in Paris [she is standing only a few feet away in the kitchen]. She could,’ he says, and this is the key line, ‘transform a dinner into a kind of love affair; an affair that made no distinction between bodily appetite and spiritual appetite.’
This is the type of cook I dream to be; there is little that interests me more than food. While there is much I lack I feel like one of the best ways to show others you care about them is to make them feel comfortable. I have always felt like food is one of the best ways to do this since I associate being fed with being at home.
