Garlic is the Spice of Life

Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1980) - Blank
I usually keep about a half dozen bulbs of garlic in my kitchen at any given time. After watching this doc, I got curious where Koreans' love of the garlic comes from. According to wiki, Korea is the 3rd largest garlic producing country and they eat more garlic per capita than any other country. I didn't know garlic originated from central Asia.

I made this this morning- learned it from a friend from Majorca. Very satisfying meal.
Spanish Tortilla (as a breakfast or lite snack)
Prep and cooking time: 15 minutes

1 russet potato
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
4 eggs
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cut potato in half lengthwise, then with flat side down on the cutting board, slice into 1/8" pieces. Slice onion into 1/4" pieces. Crush garlic, slice thinly. Heat a medium round frying pan on the stove in medium heat. With a bit of olive oil, fry all ingredients until potato is cooked but not burnt. In a large bowl, beat 4 eggs, pour in the fried stuff, sprinkle in some salt & pepper and mix well. Reintroduce the mixture to the pan, filling the edges with eggs. Cook about 2 minutes. Cover the pan with a large plate, walk over to the kitchen sink, flip it, then slide the tortilla back in to the pan, cook another minute or so.

Makes 4 servings or 2 depending on how hungry you are. Enjoy it with some Tabasco sauce. They go really well together.

Which came first: Music or Whiskey?

Sprout Wings and Fly (1984) - Blank




A clip from Sprout Wings and Fly:

Les Blank features fiddler Tommy Jarrell of the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina. It takes some time to understand what he's saying. Once you settle in though, Sprout Wings and Fly is filled with fascinating stories- there is Austin who got drunk and fell asleep on the road and got ran over by a truck, there is a family dining table thick with table clothes on top of each other, dating back to 1937- when Cuba was celebrating better times by eating bread and there's lots and lots stories involving whiskey. Some of them should sound a little sad or downright grotesque, but they don't in Jarrell's words. The mountain folks in this doc, including Jarrell are always upbeat and funny. Again, Blank and Co. document and revive Americana that predates white hipsterism by 40 years and still come across as authentic and sincere in every way. A beautiful doc. So when is Criterion gonna put out Les Blank collection?

Creole

Dry Wood (1973) - Blank





With intoxicating fiddle and accordion, Blank briskly chronicles Southwest Louisiana creole culture. From a beadless Mardi Gras celebration to no frills Ash Wendnesday, to a social dance, to Marx Bros. style physical comedy, to butchering of a hog, Blank gives each moment same amount of attention and warmth. It ends with Ms. Fontenot of Eunice, LA, lamenting about the changing times that 'life is too fast' for a family (she had 18 kids and raised 16) to sit down and have dinner together anymore while cooking head cheese. Laid back and extremely intimate, Dry Wood shows what a cultural documentary ought to be.

Fiddles and Accordions

J'ai été au Bal/I Went to the Ball (1989) - Blank/Strachwitz

A comprehensive anthropological survey of Cajun and Zydeco in Southern Louisiana. Blank, a Southerner (born in Florida, schooled in Louisiana), dips right into the subject and the history of the celtic and West Indies infused, fiddles and accordions heavy, impossible-not-to-stomp-your-feet music. It features many of its pioneers and practitioners showing off their skills. I had very little idea of the Cajun culture, so the film is a great history lesson- the Acadians, the descendants of French settlers in Nova Scotia who got kicked out by the British, made the long journey down to Louisiana (French colony at the time) and mixed in with Creole blacks and Cajun was born. Zydeco, also accordion heavy dance hall music (with a rub board thrown in), was derived from beat heavy African music combined with blues. There are also a lot of similarities between Cajun and early Country music. Fascinating from beginning to end, with plenty of amazing, upbeat music, J'ai été au Bal is a lively, colorful documentary about music and its people. Highly recommended.