Reflections From a Murky Pond

Much like Las Vegas, perhaps what happens on Thanksgiving should stay on Thanksgiving.

Not Any Way of Making a Turducken That I’ve Ever Heard Of!

Enjoy! Given the stresses of both the times and the holiday, with its family obligations, hopefully a bit of humor will put things in perspective.

While I’ve called this recipe Curried Pumpkin Soup, it is really a winter squash soup. Because this soup is not sweet just about any winter squash (acorn, butternut, kobacha, Hubbard) can be used instead of pumpkin.

This rich and creamy soup also pairs well with Fresh Corn Salad, especially in warmer months or areas.

Serve in deep bowls with a side of cornbread, fry bread, or Johnny cakes and enjoy the autumn or winter!

Jamaican Curry Powder is quite different than Indian curry spice mixes, though it was inspired by it and shares the name, “curry.” It tends to be simpler in flavor and tastes more spicy and sweet as opposed to the spicy-hot and slightly sour flavors found in Indian curries. The signature difference between Jamaican and Indian curries is that Jamaicans use allspice in theirs while the Indians normally don’t.

Once made, it will keep for many months if stored in a cool, dark, dry place.

At that point, no matter what you put it in or on, it’s all cut and curry. Mek wi nyam!.

American Dumpling is an independently produced feature length (81 minute run time) documentary written, directed and narrated by Eileen Nelson.  It is not a documentary about food per se, nor does American Dumpling contain much in the way of useful cooking tips and/or techniques. It is, in fact, a series of informal dialogues with several American families from a variety of immigrant cultures that uses the commonality of the dumpling as comfort food as a starting point for conversation.

American Dumpling
A Simple Story of Flour, Water, and Salt

American Dumpling is a film about families more than food – but food and family go together, else why would all cultures that I know of believe that the hearth is the center of the home?

Before I go further, let me be clear on one thing – It is unusual to the point of uniqueness for me to review or critique films of any sort, much less independent documentaries. Bear with me.

In point of fact, I actively avoid reviewing media offerings, and if the film’s Score Co-Producer, Kelly Mahan Jaramillo, wasn’t one of the few liberal types that I respect in the blogsphere, I wouldn’t have even seen the film much less reviewed it here.

American Dumpling – Review / Critique

Synopsis

In a nutshell the film is a montage of anecdotes from a small number of families and individuals who either are immigrants or are still actively maintaining at least some of the cultures of the peoples they descended from.

The melting pot of America is the melting pot of the dumpling, and although each cook has their own unique little spin they put in the recipe, it still boils down to three ingredients that are absolutely necessary – flour, water, and salt.

In walking out of this film, you get the feeling that you have known all of the characters for years.

— American Dumpling

The dumpling – flour, water, and salt – may be the glue that binds the narratives together, but the anecdotes are wide ranging and speak more of people and history than they do of ingredients.

Because people let their guard down when they’re in the kitchen – after all only friends and family are allowed near the hearth – American Dumpling provides a rare sort of glimpse into the lives, families, and histories of the people in the movie.

Review / Critique

Let me start with saying that I greatly enjoyed American Dumpling and found the film, not just enjoyable overall, but also quite engrossing. The glimpses the film gives into the lives of the people and families in it is a rare gift, and the glimpses of America’s and world’s history – including parts of it that are rarely spoken of – is even more so.

It is, however, not a polished production being filmed with a single camera / single microphone technique and being quite free-form in nature. While I liked the immediacy and intimacy this technique created, others might find less pleasing. This is not to say that the film is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, just that it is less polished and less cinematic than some documentaries have been.

The Good – Or, At Least, What I Especially Liked

• The intimacy the film had with both the people in it and with its creator & narrator, Eileen Nelson. American Dumpling, especially Eileen’s narrative interjections, is rather “flow of consciousness” in style, but that lets the viewer get a good sense of the people and the filmmaker.
• The audio track and the scoring worked surprisingly well. This is especially rare in documentaries that take place in noise-filled environment and that were filmed using a single microphone. It was a definite concern of of the Kelly Mahan Jaramillo and the other audio folks in the crew.

The Bad – Or, At Least, What I’d Rework

• While I liked Eileen’s narration of the film and the sense of herself she brought to it, she is at times a bit disjointed and wanders off-topic a bit. That can be a bit distracting and slightly jarring.
• American Dumpling was admittedly and obviously meant to be a different and shorter work and some of the editing didn’t take the best advantage of the final longer cut. Some of the cutaways and jumps between people in the film seem to cutoff the speakers and are a bit frustrating.

All in all though, it’s an engrossing and impressive film, especially one by an independent production group operating on a tiny budget. I think it could benefit from some rework and editing, but it is more than worth going to see if it makes it to a film festival near you, and well worth buying on DVD or Direct Download if it becomes available via those formats.

American Dumpling – Credits & Specs

PRODUCER: Eileen Nelson
CO-PRODUCER: Darrell Hanzalik
COMPOSER: Tomás Hradcky
SCORE CO-PRODUCER: Kelly Mahan Jaramillo
EDITING: Eileen Nelson
SOUND SUPERVISOR: Darrell Hanzalik
SOUND MIXER: Dave West

~*~

LENGTH / RUN-TIME: 81 Minutes
FORMAT: DVD Video NTSC
AVAILABILITY: To Be Determined

One thing that American Dumpling really shows is that, to a large extent, people are people. The good, the bad, the ugly, the noble, and the base – people project these things onto different and wildly disparate targets but, underneath it all, it’s the same sentiments.

In America it is a racial stereotype that Blacks love fried chicken – along with greens, BBQ ribs, and watermelon. It’s not an image that can be promulgated through the media however, not without being branded as a racist.

Well, the above holds true if you’re White, but not if you’re Oprah Winfrey.

I don’t know what, or if, Oprah Winfrey was thinking, but seeing her further a stereotype that Blacks claim is offensive is ironically funny to me.

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Get two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit!

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I’m not sure if that fact that the free lunch is a grilled chicken meal as opposed to a fried chicken meal makes this better or worse. Either way, a Black woman shilling for Kentucky Fried Chicken is hilariously funny – in a twisted and disturbing sort of way.

Leaving humor aside for a moment – if you remember, this image from the The Chaffey Community Republican Women Federated of San Bernardino County, CA was less than well-received by the Blacks.

I’m sort of wondering if there’ll be a backlash because of Oprah’s and KFC’s marketing scheme. Though, given the nature of American society, I don’t need to wonder at whom any backlash would be aimed; Oprah is protected by her race and her celebrity from any recriminations in this matter.

Still…I guess they love some chicken. I know I do. 😉