Food fanatic cooks up a documentary on French cuisine
Mason Turner figured out he wanted to attend the University of Richmond about two and a half years late. A transfer student from Texas Tech University and a native of San Antonio, Turner was looking for an East Coast school that would let him balance competing international interests with a love for the culinary arts.
“I went from a university of 33,000 to a university the size of my high school,” Turner said. “And it was the best decision I ever made. My sophomore year at Texas Tech, I was looking at schools like William & Mary and American University. A friend attended Richmond and told me I had to check out their international studies program. I visited Richmond the weekend of the French Film Festival and when I saw the city and then the campus, I was sold. This is what I always dreamed college would look like.”
Turner was accepted to Richmond as a first-semester junior, but one little thing stood in his way. He’d already committed to studying abroad in Italy through Texas Tech.
“I essentially had to apply all over again for the spring of my junior year. When I left for Italy, I had no idea where I’d be attending school when I returned. I was in Italy when I found out I’d been admitted; I registered for my first semester of classes in an Internet café in Dublin, Ireland, over a pint of Guinness,” Turner said.
By the time Turner, who is an international studies major along with a business major, returned to the United States and started classes at Richmond, he realized he’d already missed many application deadlines for summer internships in the business arena.
While he was home in Texas, he chatted with his godmother, who runs an architectural antique business out of Houston and makes frequent buying excursions to France. Knowing how much Turner enjoyed cooking, she proposed an interesting alternative: travel to Provence, France, for the summer and learn to cook under regionally renowned chef Daniel Hebet.
A few e-mails back and forth and the deal was done. Turner would go travel to Provence and work in Hebet’s kitchen for free. But as a transfer student, Turner had to be sure he completed at least 60 credit hours at Richmond in order to earn his degree. The summer couldn’t be just about cooking if Turner was going to graduate on time.
“I talked to professors in the Department of Modern Literatures and Cultures, and we came up with a plan. I’d write an extensive research paper on French cuisine and produce a documentary that introductory French language students could use in the Multimedia Language Lab as well as their classes.”
In addition to his responsibilities in Hebet’s kitchen, Turner set out to document Provence’s culinary experience. He took photographs in the markets and in the restaurant, and using university video equipment, interviewed wine producers and particularly, organic wine producers—a growing trend in Europe as well as the United States.
When his documentary debuts at the University, he hopes it will help American students understand that French cuisine is about far more than wine, bread and cheese.
“People don’t understand the regional differences. Provence is a unique area. I want to demonstrate what typical crops in the region look like, what typical meals look like, how the meal is prepared, traditions of the meal, seasonal cuisines, how French food has spread throughout the rest of the world, how the country and the region are responding to contemporary culinary practices in globalization and what the future holds for French cuisine,” said Turner.
As for whether Turner will head back to the kitchen after graduation, he’s not so sure.
“I love to cook but it’s very different to cook at home where you see the smiles on the faces of the people eating your meal. I’m interested in pursuing my other passion, which is international studies and diplomacy. I’d love to travel after graduation and work on my languages before applying to graduate school.”