"That's not coffee. That's brown water."
I like my coffee with a little texture, the kind you get when you make it in a French press. When the cup's nearly done, that's when you know whether it's serious. There should be some sediment left on the bottom, soft like river mud.
In Bagdad Café (1987) (a.k.a. Out of Rosenheim), strong coffee becomes a kind of cultural litmus test. German tourist Jasmin (Marianne Sägebrecht, above left) is stranded "off Route 66 between Vegas and nowhere" after a roadtrip argument with her husband. Although she doesn't know it yet, her big yellow thermos full of coffee is stranded too. Both eventually make it to a rundown truckstop motel/café in a place called Bagdad. The thermos gets there first.
With the café's own coffee machine broken, Jasmin's brew gets served up to customers in short order, and to a mixed reception. Ironically it's Jasmin's husband who stops by first. "Good. Very good coffee." (He doesn't see the yellow thermos with the Rosenheim sticker.) Next up is retired Hollywood set decorator Rudi Cox (Jack Palance, above right). He takes one sip and chokes, "What was that, poison?" The proprietor, Brenda (CCH Pounder, right) is skeptical, but when it's diluted with an equal part of hot water, it tastes just fine. When Jasmin finally arrives, she says “Stop. Not so much water!” It's perfect just the way it is.
- Nora
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
I love this movie! Thanks for reminding me of it. Gotta get my husband to see it.
Another good one is Rosalie Goes Shopping, but don't recall if there are any special food scenes in it though. It's also about a German woman living in the U.S., so I suspect so.
And thanks for providing us with The Celluloid Pantry, Nora. I really enjoy it.
Ack, there should never be grounds in the bottom of the cup. A sediment of grounds will make the coffee gather bitterness as it cools; it's the same reason that we take the tea out of the water once it has properly steeped.
So the Turks and the Greeks have it all wrong, do they?