176. Diana Kennedy - Nothing Fancy; movie review

DIANA KENNEDY - NOTHING FANCY
Cert TBA
72 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

I remember when the only British cook who was regularly on British television was the very scary Fanny Craddock.
She growled from the screen as her husband, Johnny, watched benignly from her side.
Craddock was the first celebrity chef in this country at the same time as another Englishwoman,  Diana Kennedy, with giving equally forthright views on cooking in the United States.
Hers was a niche market - she knew more about Mexican cuisine than even Mexicans did - and 50 years later she still does.
Being a keen but not clever cook, I was entranced by Kennedy's thirst for knowledge about hyper-local Mexican cooking.
Like Craddock, she is aggressively eccentric and, therefore, makes a fabulous subject for a biopic.
During Elizabeth Carroll's film, Kennedy, who is the sharpest 95-year-old imaginable, narrates her own life story.
She tells how she left Britain just after the war and became, alongside her journalist husband, obsessed with Mexico.
The 50s are painted as a more innocent time and Kennedy travelled around the country on public transport, immersing herself in the country, its culture and its food.
She chronicles her life through tragedy and triumph to the point where she is seen as a glorious one-off - a tad eccentric, often cantankerous but a brilliant cook.
Carroll's documentary is deferential towards Kennedy but, thankfully, the subject has a canny knack for self-mockery so it isn't an overbearing homage.
She often pokes fun at her own age and gives clear indication that she might have had some romantic fun in her life.
But it is, of course, the food which turns heads. She makes guacamole like nobody on earth and she doesn't mind saying why.
Indeed, she even makes a cup of coffee which seems to be superior to anyone else's.
She is a character in the full meaning of the word and continues to eke every last drop from life. Her story is so rich and varied that it is well worth telling.
Meanwhile, this is also a love letter to Mexico, its people and its food.
I was happily immersed.

Reasons to watch: The story of a one-off
Reasons to avoid: If you have no interest in cookery

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Diana Kennedy is one of only two British people who have been given the Order of the Aztec Eagle - the highest recognition for foreigners granted by the Mexican government. She’s also been presented with an MBE for furthering cultural relations between the UK and Mexico.

The final word. Elizabeth Carroll: “Diana defies every convention, every stereotype and expectation of a nonagenarian British woman, and she was operating at very high level, for her age, for most of her life. And I think that’s inspiring, it’s feminist.” LA Times

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