Pusharatas: A Biloxi-Croatian Tradition

Every year at Christmas, the women of the Slavonian Ladies' Auxiliary celebrate their culinary heritage by getting together to make pusharatas (a type of Croatian doughnut) for the people of Biloxi, Mississippi.

A Tale of Two Kitchens

Two countries, two restaurants, one vision. At Gabriela Cámara's acclaimed Contramar in Mexico City, the welcoming, uniformed waiters are as beloved by diners as the menu featuring fresh, local seafood caught within 24 hours. The entire staff sees themselves as part of an extended family. Meanwhile at Cala in San Francisco, Cámara hires staff from different backgrounds and cultures, including ex-felons and ex-addicts, who view the work as an important opportunity to grow as individuals. A Tale of Two Kitchens explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of both dignity and community.

Government Cheese

After years of overproduction, the Reagan administration unloads over 500 million pounds of surplus cheese on the American public in the 1980s. The pungent dairy product comes to be known as 'Government Cheese.'

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo is a 2008 PBS documentary film detailing Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell's 1993 retracing of Marco Polo's journey from Venice to Anatolia, Persia, India and China.

Pelerinaxes

Luzía visits the eight stages of the 'pilgrimage' that the intellectuals Otero Pedrayo, Vicente Risco and Ben-Cho-Shey hiked from Ourense to San Andrés de Teixido in 1927; the story of the journey was published in the book ‘Pelerinaxes I’ (Pilgrimages I). She carries out this journey in order to finish up an audiovisual project about Otero Pedrayo’s book started at the University, together with a colleague who passed away in an accident.

Dworzec

Kieslowski’s later film Dworzec (Station, 1980) portrays the atmosphere at Central Station in Warsaw after the rush hour.

Bloed

Elles Kiers and Sjef Meijman lived intensively with four Bunte Bentheimer pigs for seven months. During the slaughter month they had their beloved pig Bom killed and then prepared it themselves. The short documentary Blood (Dinanda Luttikhedde, 2011) follows the visual artists in the final phase of their research project into the origin of our food. A valuable ritual unfolds around the processing of this animal.

New York v čase korony

The Search for General Tso

From New York City to the farmlands of the Midwest, there are 50,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., yet one dish in particular has conquered the American culinary landscape with a force befitting its military moniker—“General Tso’s Chicken.” But who was General Tso and how did this dish become so ubiquitous? Ian Cheney’s delightfully insightful documentary charts the history of Chinese Americans through the surprising origins of this sticky, sweet, just-spicy-enough dish that we’ve adopted as our own.

Secret Ingredients

While the debate continues about GMOs, Roundup and other toxic pesticides, this powerful film shares remarkable stories of people who regain their health after discovering the secret ingredients in their food and making a bold commitment to avoid them.

Through the Colorado Rockies

This Traveltalk series entry on Colorado begins in Colorado Springs, then proceeds to Pike's Peak. We experience a train ride over Royal Gorge and the sights along the Gunnison River. In Palisade, Colorado, we see men on stilts picking the local peach crop in order to avoid ladder damage to the fragile fruit trees.

Salt Lake Diversions

About an hour's drive from Salt Lake City, Utah is the ski resort of Alta, a former mining town, nestled within the Wasatch Mountains. Skiing and other winter alpine pursuits take place well into mid-spring. The relatively new ski lift is one of the longest in the western US. Some ride the lift not to ski down but to glance at the view from the 1,500 foot summit. Being the end of May, people at nearby Salt Lake are instead enjoying more summerly pursuits, such as boating. Behind only the Dead Sea, it ranks second among all large inland lakes for the saline content at 27%, the buoyancy from which makes it almost impossible to sink in. On shore at Black Rock Beach of the Bonneville Salt Flats is the site of many attempts of land speed records, most records held by Ab Jenkins. Another popular activity in the lake itself is the crystallization of salt around wire forms, the process which requires relatively still water and takes about two hours.

A Day in Death Valley

A tour of the arid, inhospitable region of the southern California desert known as Death Valley, originally named because of the many travelers in the 1840s who died of thirst, starvation and/or exposure trying to cross it.

Along the Cactus Trail

The drive from Riverside, California to Phoenix, Arizona is affectionately known as the Cactus Trail. Starting in Riverside, sights of note include: the Mission Inn in Riverside whose unique style was the brainchild of Frank Miller; the Chapel of St. Francis in Riverside, which because of its dedication to aviation is the site of many weddings associated with aviators; the Camelback Mountain outside of Phoenix, so named for its shape.

Colorful Colorado

This Traveltalk series short starts off in Denver, capital of Colorado. Known as a recreational and health center, it is noted for its beautiful parks. The Museum of Natural History has specimens of local animal life. About an hour's drive from Denver on Lookout Mountain is the grave of Col. William Cody, 'Buffalo Bill', known as a scout and a plainsman. In Colorado Springs, there is a monument to the great American humorist Will Rogers who loved the stretches of open country. Much of the mountain area of Colorado is owned by the Federal government as national forest and there are many well stocked trout streams. In Mesa Verde National Park you will find the cave dwellings once used by Native Americans.

Rudy Maxa's World Exotic Places: Japan

Travel journalist Rudy Maxa and Washington, D.C. restaurateur Daisuke Utagawa present three distinct regions of Japan, focusing on the nation's food and food producers. From the ramen of the northern island of Hokkaido, to the sushi of Tokyo, to the Wagyu beef raised on the southern island of Kyushu, food is a window on the soul of Japan.

Sugarly Yours!

Our protagonists are part of these "pastry magicians" who take up the challenge of making, reinventing and transmitting to the whole world the taste of local delicacies. Through their pastries and their stories of passion and challenge, we will meet men and women who are passionate about the pastries of their regions. We will follow these musketeers in their adventures, their setbacks and their joy of living.

The World Conquest of French Pastries

The French pastry again on the roof of the world! On January 23rd, France is awarded for the 8th time wins the pastry world cup again, one of the most prestigious international competitions of gastronomy. France thus remains the most successful country to this day. But the conquest of the world of the French pastry does not limit itself to awards. The know-how and the French creative genius are durably exported and spreads over all the regions of the world!

Mysterious Orient

A travel video about the sights and locales of east Asia.

Trabantem až na konec světa