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Why did Andy say these words while eating cake?

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by Erick Rowan on December 7, 2020

In The Old Guard (2020), Booker offers some cake to Andy, she chews it. Booker collects money from his friends:

Andy: Hazelnut, not walnut. The Black Sea. Rosewater. Pomegranate. Eastern Turkey.

(Andy Laughs)

Why did Andy say these words while eating cake?

2 Answers

The "cake" in question is Baklava, a popular sweet around the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. It's clear, watching the scene, that Andy greatly enjoys it, and from the formal way Nicky gives it to her - and the way she knows what it's going to be before she even opens the wrapping - it's clear that it's not a random gift, but something specific that Andy enjoys, and that the rest of the Guard know she's a fan of.

There are many ways to make Baklava, especially if you've been around as long, and as widely, as Andy has. Over the years, she's developed not only an appreciation for the pastry, but such a deep familiarity with the various styles that she can recognize a given piece of Baklava by taste, identifying not only the the specific ingredients (hazelnuts instead of walnuts (though I'm more familiar with pistachio), rose water and pomegranate syrup), but also place the manufacture to north-eastern Turkey, near the Black Sea. Apparently it has become a game for the Guard to find specific, obscure or unusual pieces of Baklava and challenge Andy to identify them, with a running bet to see if she succeeds or fails.

The scene is there, first, to give Andy a measure of humanity to offset her general direct military behavior, to show how she's picked up more than just military and covert tactics along her long history. Secondly, it helps highlight what I felt was the strongest part of the film, the camaraderie that developed between them over the years.

Correct answer by Avner Shahar-Kashtan on December 7, 2020

For what it's worth, in the goofs section for this movie on IMDB someone suggests that

At about 4 minutes 40 seconds mark, Charlize Theron eats "Baklava" (Turkish dessert with syrup). However, she lists the ingredients of a completely different Turkish dessert "Güllaç" (Turkish dessert with hazelnut, rose water, and pomegranate).

On the other hand, it's not hard to find baklava recipes with rose water, pomegranate or hazelnut. This one has a syrup with both pomegranate and rose water ... so it seems plausible that there could be a recipe with all three.

Also, according to the Wikipedia page for Baklava,

Another recipe for a similar dessert is güllaç, a dessert found in the Turkish cuisine and considered by some as the origin of baklava

so "completely different" may be an overstatement?

Answered by Ben Bolker on December 7, 2020

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