Wo kommst du her? (= where do you come from?)

 

2022

Gustatory lecture, tablecloth with integrated napkins for 20 people, embroidered realistic map of the world, table 3,5 x1,5 m, foods, drinks, books, food maps by international center for tropical agriculture (ICTA), sculptures, texts, cutlery, tableware, water for communal hand washing, towel.

 

Gustatory lecture to question the history and geographical origin of our foods. Each dish represents a story, historical event, memory, or artistic work:

  1. Communal hand washing in warm water with sage and rosemary (disinfectant, from my mum‘s garden) as first action and reminder of table manners (civilizing process by Norber Elias). 
  2. A handful of blueberries (locally harvested by myself the day before) to talk about childhood memories and mothers who teach their children flavors by the example of Peter Kubelka‘s eatable metaphor. 
  3. Galette to represent one of the oldest foods (= bread) and courgettes which were surplus in my mum‘s garden, were passed around. 
  4. Sculpture of a chicken‘s stomach and food maps by the international center for tropical agriculture (ICTA) followed. 
  5. Cold Beetroot Soup with pickles and dill (ingredients in season in addition to personal story to dish which was shared by me).
  6. The audience had to trace the origins of potatoes and tomatoes.
  7. Kalter Krieg Salat (= Cold War Salad), text by Elena Sorokina on the metamorphosis of a Soviet dish was shared while ingredients (potatoes, peas, carrots, cucumber and mayonnaise) were each passed around. Everyone could create their own mixture of something which was inspired by Salad Olivier on their own plate.
  8. Sun dried tomatoes (from my mum‘s garden) in olive oil, locally grown lentils and mozzarella to refer to legumes as both, food of olden days and - for its resilience to heat - the future.
  9. Syrup from roses and mint (from my mum‘s garden) made with sugar to talk about the history of sugar cane and the triangular trade
    (= sugar triangle) plus the sugar boycott, colonial history, slave trade and buying power.
  10. Whipping cream (from a local producer).
  11. Listen to a jam-focused excerpt of Perrudja by Hans Henny Jahnn, read by actor and writer Niklas Bardeli.
  12. Two dessert of brioche with butter and jam and pavlova with cream and fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Throughout the whole evening, participants exchanged and contributed with their knowledge to the talk at the table. 

Images by Katharina Ritter, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken: