NAVARRA GOURMET

An Italian-style bittersweet comedy set on the shore of the Mediterranean, over the years. In the words of its director, Joaquín Oristrell, from Barcelona (born 1953), his aim was to achieve “the sensation that the spectator is dining beside the sea, enjoying a fine wine in pleasant company, because life is full of pleasant moments.”

It could also have been titled "Una mujer y dos hombres" “One Woman and Two Men”) as that is the basic plot. Olivia Molina plays that woman, Sofia, who arrives in this world prematurely at a barber’s shop on the same day in June 1968 when Robert Kennedy is assassinated. Her parents (Carmen Balagué, the real-life wife of the director, and Roberto Alvarez) run a refreshment stand on the beach – the place where the girl grows up among tables and cooking stoves. Hard-working, ambitious and unpredictable, she falls in love with two men. Toni (Paco León) is an estate agent for whom the role of women is to look after the house and the children. With Frank (Alfonso Bassave), the sharp guy in charge of a nearby restaurant, she will discover the secrets of haute cuisine. She travels with him to a hotel where she learns how to prepare fish dishes. However, she returns to the village on the coast when after some time Toni seeks her hand in marriage. She accepts and they have three children. Nonetheless, she wants to get on in the world of cookery, to be in control of her own destiny, and so goes to France to perfect her culinary skills. On her return – and with Frank in pursuit once more – she decides to share both suitors. Joined both professionally and sentimentally, they form a trio that sparks off much gossip in the village. Meanwhile, they both decide to head for adventure and take over a restaurant beside the sea – a business as risky as it is nice and sacrificial.

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May 2009

Monday 18^th May

Mediterranean diet

Tuesday 19^th May

Stomach

Wednesday 20^th May

The chicken, the fish and the deep sea red crab

Participants in the 6th Film and Gastronomy Festival will receive complimentary samples of Navarre Designation of Origin products after each session:

• Monday 18th May, Olive Oil and Piquillo Red Pepper.