Growing up in the Moroccan village of Tazzeka, Elias learned the secrets of traditional Moroccan cuisine from his grandmother who raised him. Years later, meeting a top Paris chef and a young woman named Salma inspires him to leave home.
Influenced by his grandmother’s cooking, Elias (Mahdi Belemlih) grows up to be a great chef but aspires for a better life outside his village of Tazzeka. Working for a small restaurant owned by Youssef (Abbes Zahmani), Elias struggles for creative freedom until one day a famous chef by the name of Julien Blac (Olivier Sitruk) arrives. Starstruck and wanting to impress Julien, Elias sees an opportunity to create an amazing dessert that earns him very high praise. Julien tells him that he is talented and should continue cooking.
Working at the restaurant and caring for his grandmother, Elias is focused and determined to make her proud when a rebellious young lady named Salma (Ouidad Elma) unexpectedly enters Elias’ life and influences him to go to Paris where there are many beautiful restaurants where he can work. When Youssef falls and breaks his arm, Elias takes over the restaurant where he begins creating all of the unique dishes he was never allowed to before. As he and Salma get closer, she suddenly leaves and goes back to Paris without saying goodbye. When Elias finds out, he is mortified and breaks into the restaurant while Youssef is asleep to steal cash and go to Paris. After being caught, he is told to leave and keep the cash but to never return. Knowing how passionate Elias is about cooking and his future, Youssef begs Elias’ grandmother to allow him to go to France and he offers to provide for him but she refuses.
Leaving Tazzeka without telling his family, Elias arrives in France and discovers that life is hard. Having no work and forced to stand on the corner and wait for drivers seeking day laborers, he meets a nice guy named Soulemayne (Adama Diop) who allows him to stay with his family as long as he needs. He never reveals his dream to become a master chef but he does surprise them one night by cooking an amazing dinner, showing off his skills. Handing out flyers on the street one day, he bumps into Salma who informs him that his grandmother is very ill and he must go home. He refuses to return home, feeling like a failure and pushes Salma away for good. He finally opens up to Soulemayne about his family and hopes to become a great chef.
After interviewing for an amazing restaurant and being turned down, the owner does help him with the idea of creating a street food table. The locals love his cooking and he becomes well known and even written about in the papers. I’m a sucker for a good ending however, this one is sad. He does find out his grandmother has died and finally goes back to see her grave. He brings along the articles written about his new venture and feels she is proud. I enjoyed this film very much, it’s not a heavy drama, very light-hearted and inspiring about going after your dreams. The storyline is solid, the cast is amazing and the food is incredible, I wanted to taste every dish he made.
“Tazzeka” recently premiered at the 2019 African Diaspora Int’l Film Festival
