FOOD IN ART AND LITERATURE – CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Cornelis de Heem, Still-Life with Oysters, Lemons and Grapes, 1660s (www.wga.hu)

A few months ago I attended an academic conference “Kultura jedzenia, jedzenie w kulturze” [Culture of Food, Food in Culture] in Kraków organised by Kultiwarium Festival. The programme was very diverse but I had time to take part in only one session: Artistic and Literary Aspects of Food. As an English literature and art history graduate I could not miss it for the world. :)

Pieter de Bloot, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1637(www.wga.hu)

I especially liked the presentation called “Cena Non Finita. Tables, Pantries, and Victuals in the 17th-century Netherlandish Painting.” As the Latin title suggested, it was an unending feast – a feast of fruit, vegetables, meats and other delicacies painted with such a precision that one can discern even the particular varieties of grapes. Interestingly, these highly realistic paintings were not always painted from nature, as they often depict compositions of flowers or fruits which grow during different months or even seasons.

Frans Snyders, Still Life, 1635-1639 (www.wga.hu)

Apart from the purely aesthetic function, these appetizing still lifes had also many hidden meanings. There are a lot of various interpretations but the most popular motifs included vanitas, i.e. “vanity” in Latin (rotten fruit, withered flowers, unfinished meals); and religious themes (chalice with wine, bread). I also learned that lemon symbolised a false friend because it's beautiful from the outside but bitter inside, and cheese was considered by some Dutch and Flemish doctors to be the source of all the diseases. ;)

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931 (source)

A presentation on edible beauty in Salvador Dalí's art also promised to be interesting. Though the speakers spent most of the time discussing Dalí's biography, they also mentioned some interesting connections between his art and food. I learned that his most famous painting “The Persistence of Memory” was inspired by Camembert cheese melting in the sun. Moreover, Dalí loved both his wife, Gala, and lamb chops so ardently that he decided to depict them together in one painting, placing raw chops on Gala's shoulder. Yummy. :P

Salvador Dali, Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder, 1933 (source)

I found a lecture on grotesque descriptions of food in literature exceptionally funny. The speaker presented a surreal menu: six pilgrims in a salad from “The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel,” sturgeon of the second freshness from “The Master and Margarita,” and some absurd dishes from Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's play “The Shoemakers,” as well as humorous poems by the Polish Nobel Laurate Wisława Szymborska.

Witkacy, Stworzenie świata, 1921-1922 (source)

For dessert, we were served a passionate speech on fat body of white men in crime novels. One of the examples was my favourite Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, whose plumpness and misleadingly benign looks often gave him an upper hand. By the way, did you know that Poirot's name has the same pronunciation as “poireau,” a French word meaning leek? :)

Hercule Poirot played by David Suchet in the ITV television series (source)

I'm really glad I could take part in the conference on food and culture. All the presentations were very well prepared and engaging. However, I think the topic of food in painting and literature is so broad that it deserves its own conference, not only one session. What do you think? 

Conference website: http://www.kn.psc.uj.edu.pl/ and facebook

Kultiwarium website: http://www.kultiwarium.pl/

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Titles of all the presentations in Polish:

PANEL XII - ARTYSTYCZNE I LITERACKIE OBLICZA KUCHNI

1. Cena non finita. Stoły, spiżarnie i wiktuały w siedemnastowiecznym malarstwie niderlandzkim – motywy i interpretacje - ALINA BARCZYK

2. Jadalne piękno – pierwiastki kulinarne w surrealistycznej twórczości Salvadora Dalego - ŁUKASZ KURP, IZABELA STĄPOR

3. Nie tylko magdalenki... Groteskowe obrazy kulinariów i ucztowania w literaturze - ANNA KUCHTA

4. Smaki literackiego stołu. Kulinarne preferencje bohaterów polskiej prozy najnowszej - ANNA FIGA

5. Jedzenie w powieści kryminalnej: co o detektywie i męskości mówi grube ciało? - MARTA USIEKNIEWICZ

PHOTOS FROM FOOD FESTIVAL - MAŁE NAJEDZENI FEST! KIPI KASZA, KIPI GROCH (KRAKÓW)

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?

This English nursery rhyme which can be a free translation of the polish name of the food festival Małe Najedzeni Fest! Kipi kasza, kipi groch, which took place today in Coffee Proficiency in Kraków. As its name suggests, the festival was dedicated to various grains, groats (kasza in Polish), and legumes: from beans, to peas and chickpeas, to buckwheat groats and more.

Coffee Proficiency is an interesting post-industrial building dominated by a steel mezzanine, metal walls, and mysterious coffee roasters. It definitely isn't a place for a romantic date but as a venue for a lively, energetic food festival, Coffee Proficiency turned our to be perfect. 

At the festival I met a few old acquaintances, including a blogging duo Gotowanie z Pasją. They served their delicious tarts, which were as always closely linked with the event's main theme. We bought a piece of tart with millet groats, chicken, and black olives, which was absolutely delicious, especially when we heated it up.

I also appreciate their strict adherence to health and safety rules. Paweł cut and served the food in special gloves, while Grzesiek took care of the money transactions. Consequently, no germ had a chance to sneak from dirty notes and coins to the food. :)

We also tried lovely hummus (paste made from chickpeas, tahini, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice) from Hummus Amamamusi.

It was arguably the best hummus I've ever eaten - delicate, creamy, with a distinct taste (could it be cumin?).

Another unusual dish I tried was vegan lard made from beans prepared by Jadalnia. It was slightly sweet but it went well with fresh bread and some pickled cucumber. 

Even sweets baked by Book me a Cookie were made from various groats, such as semolina, instead of flour. It was undoubtedly a tasty and healthy alternative to traditional cakes. :)

We washed it all down with excellent, aromatic coffee made by the hosts Coffee Proficiency. It had a rich taste bringing to mind dark chocolate. The photo below shows an artistic barista, who painted hearts with milk. ;)

Najedzeni Fest! as always proved to be an excellent festival, full of positive energy and delicious food. Hopefully we all now know how oats, peas, beans, and barley grow, or at least how they all taste. ;)

More photos! :)
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Website: tutaj

Event website: tutaj

BRUEGEL'S FIGHT BETWEEN CARNIVAL AND LENT – FOOD FIGHT

I'm happy to present another essay from my new series on food in art and literature. This time the cultural menu includes carnival waffles, Lenten fish, and a fashionable hat stuffed with meat. :)

This week marked the end of Carnival, a festive season of celebrations, revels and food, followed by the beginning of Lent, the time of penance, prayer and.... also food, or more specifically, Lenten dishes. The tension between these two seasons is brilliantly captured in the painting 'The Fight Between Carnival and Lent' by an imminent Flemish painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1559). 

The painting is divided into two sections: a cheerful carnival procession gathered around numerous inns, plays, and masquerades on the left side; and a more solemn crowd of parishioners leaving the church and giving alms to the poor – on the right. However, what these two sides have in common is food, especially dishes and culinary utensils grotesquely depicted as clothes or fashion accessories.  

The foreground is dominated by two fighting figures: chubby Carnival (Mardi Gras) and emaciated Lent wearing a nun's habit. Carnival sits astride a beer barrel decorated with a piece of meat, he wields a spit with a pig's head and sausages and wears a fashionable hat in the form of a meat pie. There's no doubt this man is a meat-lover, or even a butcher as the knife hanging from his belt may suggest.

Carnival's entourage is as elegant as its ringleader. Just behind him, there's a woman carrying on her head a tasteful table with biscuits and a traditional carnival dish - waffles. Another lady flaunts an egg necklace, while a man in the bottom left corner has three big waffles strapped to his hat. Undoubtedly, it's a great way to distract his gambling opponent. ;)

Thanks to Bruegel's painting we can also see how carnival waffles were prepared in the 16^th-century Low Countries. In the middle of the square there's a lady making the batter in a pot directly on the ground and baking the waffles over an open fire. I wonder what Health and Safety would say to all that...

Lent's procession is also equipped with food, though it doesn't look as appetizing as Carnival's. The figure leading the penitents wears a beehive on her (his?) head and has some Lenten 'delicacies' under her feet: hard tack, pretzels and mussels, which were once considered poor man's food. She's armed with a baker peal with two measly herrings and behind her back you can notice a stall selling Lenten fish.

Interestingly, Medieval believers tried to evade the ban on eating the meat during Lent, for example by claiming that birds are 'creatures of the sea' because they were created by God on the same day as fish. Even beavers were considered to be fish because of the scales on their tails. Apparently the term 'fish' was much broader in the Middle Ages than today.

Bruegel's painting depicts an allegoric fight between an urge to play and an urge to pray, between the flesh and the spirit. It also reflects a historic conflict between Catholics, who observed the Lent, and Protestants, who thought it was obsolete. But basically it's just a hilarious and grotesque glorification of food in all its aspects: from Lenten hard tack to delicious waffles.

Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) the Elder, The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 1559, oil on wood, 118 cm x 164 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Works cited:

Jennifer McGavin, Lent in the Middle Ages – Fastenzeit, 

http://germanfood.about.com/od/Winter-Spring/ss/Lent-In-The-Middle-Ages.htm

Andrew Graham-Dixon, ITP 150: The Fight Between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 02. 03. 2003, 

www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/130

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ITALIAN PASTA WORKSHOP IN PIRI PIRI (KRAKÓW)

Italian pasta is amazing. You need only 3-4 quality ingredients, 15 minutes of preparation and a delicious, wholesome meal is ready. That's why I was happy to take part in a free pasta workshop organized last week in Piri Piri restaurant in Kraków.

The workshop was lead by Maciej Wawryniuk, a culinary consultant of Kamis, a Polish company producing spices. Together with a few other chefs, he cooked various pasta dishes, at the same time giving us some culinary advice.  

Here are a few tips I remembered:

1. Shape and type of pasta have to complement the sauce. For example spaghetti, which is probably the most popular pasta in Poland, doesn't go well with all the flavours, so it's worth trying also other pasta types, such as penne ('feather' in Italian), fettuccine ('little ribbons') or farfalle (butterflies).

2. If you don't want your pasta to stick together, you should cook it in plenty of water. Don't add any oil as it's considered by many Italians as a grave sin against pasta (as I found out myself while sharing a room with an Italian girl ;)).

3. Add pasta to the sauce, not the other way round. The pasta can be slightly undercooked because it'll still cook in the hot sauce.

During the workshop we could try about 17 different dishes. The portions were on the small side and they had to be shared among 2 or more people at each table but because there were so many of them we didn't leave the restaurant hungry.

The workshop was actually a review of the most popular Italian pasta dishes that can be easily made at home. I especially liked squid ink pasta with shrimps, pasta with pesto alla genovese, and puttanesca, which I often cook myself, while the least palatable was butter sauce with asparagus and prosciutto crudo and homemade pasta, which tasted more like some kind of dumpling than real Italian pasta.  

Below you can find a few dishes which inspired me to start my own culinary experiments. :)

Spaghetti aglio e olio ('spaghetti with garlic and oil') – an Italian classic. It requires only 3 ingredients: olive oil, garlic and chilli or peperoncino peppers. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to try it but it looked quite nice.

Puttanesca (it means, well, 'a call girl' in Italian) – tomatoes, olive oil, olives, capers, anchovy, and garlic. You don't need any extra salt because the capers and anchovy are already salty. I usually add black olives, instead of the green ones. It's delicious! :)

Crème fraîche with wild mushrooms (porcino, prawdziwki) – the sauce smelled amazing but sadly our table didn't have a chance to taste it :/  

Primavera ('spring') – mixed vegetables with parmesan. Some recipes allow also crème fraîche or chicken.

Arrabbiata ('angry') – garlic, tomatoes, red hot chilli peppers. Very, very spicy, so we decided to skip it. Just in case. ;)

Squid ink pasta with shrimps - squid ink pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and crunchy shrimps. Definitely one of the best dishes we tried. :)  

Pasta alla Norma (named after the opera 'Norma' by Vincenzo Bellini) – tomatoes, aubergine (eggplant), ricotta salata cheese (replaced by Parmesan during the workshop), and basil. I really like the combination of tomatoes and aubergine.

Pasta with pesto alla genovese - pine nuts, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese – blend all ingredients and voilà! Homemade pesto can be quite expensive (pine nuts cost around PLN 100 / kg) but it's so much better than the store-bought. Simple and delicious! :)

Address: Piri Piri, Na Błoniach 7, Kraków

Website: piri.krakow.pl

Event website: here

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