The Oscars Experiment: A Serious Man

This is the start of what will be the viewing of the ten 2010 Oscar nominated films. We will eat, watch and analyze. And most of all, enjoy!

First, the food and its joys!

RECIPES

We have come to a consensus that we should include the recipes of each of our meals throughout this experiment. Here are the recipes for the meal:

Israeli Kibbutz Salad

Recipe Ingredients:
3 medium tomatoes, diced
2 medium cucumbers, diced
1 medium sweet pepper, diced
2 scallions with tops, diced
4-6 radishes, diced
2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded
1/2 of a medium lettuce, coarsely shredded
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Put veggies in a bowl. mix lemon juice and oil and pour over salad. Season.

Can be served as a side dish or added to falafel in pita bread.


Baked Fish in Kosher Salt

Recipe Ingredients:
3 to 4 lb whole fish with scales but cleaned inside
4 lb kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon

SAUCE:
1/2 cup butter or olive oil
2 T chopped parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
Capers, optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Kosher Fish
Wash fish with with lemon. Place half the salt in a baking dish, just big enough to hold the fish. Place fish on top. Cover fish completely with the rest of the salt. Bake in pre-heated 400 degrees oven for 45 minutes. The salt will harden and make a crust. Once cooked remove the crust and the skin should come off.

SAUCE: Melt butter. Add rest of ingredients.

NOTE: In spite of all the salt in the recipe it does not become salty, but moist and tasty.

Not waving, but drowning...in salt.


Our meal was very successful and the best part was that the recipe was correct. The fish was not salty. It was perfectly cooked, the skin peeled off easily and the fish, striped bass, retained its natural flavor which was nicely complemented by the adding of the sauce.

After the meal, we settled down to watch A Serious Man.

MOVIE COMMENTARIES

We all enjoyed the movie. Here are some of our positive comments:

- There were interesting snippets of humor which lightened the otherwise heavy subject matter
- The clichéd representation of Jewish life in the 50s in the US was successful in creating humor
- There was great acting, particularly with the lead character, Michael Stuhlbarg
- The directing was smooth and relatively seamless

We did, however, have a few points of contention.

- There was a lack of cohesion between the opening sequence and the rest of the movie; it was an intriguing beginning, but what did it have to do with the rest of the movie?
- There was also a lack of clarity in the closing scene: what was the significance of the storm? The ending seemed, for some, a bit abrupt and too open-ended. Others liked that aspect.

In conclusion:

A Serious Man directed by the Coen Brothers

Final rating: 7.6/10