The Cook of Castamar

Addictive series with beautiful costumes and production value, a compelling central love story, generally strong acting, and food! The cooking scenes with the voiceovers are reminiscent of "Like Water For Chocolate."

I loved the main actress playing Clara. She's very good at the "slow simmer," the passionate woman beneath the serene surface. The romantic male lead is a little less impressive. He's a stalwart, honorable aristocrat with a soft side, but spends a little too much time looking pained and pensive. No matter, they have good chemistry.

There is a lot happening with intrigue and side characters, sometimes too much. The Duke's adoptive brother, Gabriel, is charming but his side plot with Amelia is not fully baked (sorry). The mother is superb and most of the servant characters are well played and endearing.

My biggest issue with the series is the ending. It is rushed and too much is left unexplained. It's not entirely unsatisfying, but it could have been so much better. It feels like they ran out of time and had to write/film it really quickly or something?

Anyway, worth watching. And it was fun practicing my Spanish.