Feasting on Art

Dating all the way back to the 16th century, potato salad was brought by the Spanish from the Americas to Europe. Their version was made by boiling potatoes in vinegar or wine – giving the starchy and often stodgy food a light and sour twang. The German variety, also made with vinegar was Americanised in the early 20th century via a generous dressing of mayonnaise (1). With my recipe, I wanted to recall the original tart flavour of the dish layered with sweet and salty ingredients, taking this salad beyond typical cook-out fare. This is my go-to recipe, scrawled on a stained and creased recipe card, copied and saved years ago from a long-forgotten source. The use of fresh dill is a necessity – not only for the taste, but also the smell when it is tossed with the hot roasted spuds.

Cornelius Hankins, Still Life with Potatoes, 1902
oil on canvas, 50.8 x 76.2 cm, Cheekwood Museum of Art

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The mix of ordered fruit and a rustic, haphazard crust encapsulates the French term, galette. Typically, the crust is made with plenty of butter so when it is baked, it becomes flaky and extra crusty. In France, a galette can be made either sweet or savoury with ham, eggs and cheese, otherwise known as a galette complète. The galette des Rois is eaten on January 6, the Christian feast of Epiphany. To celebrate, a small trinket is hidden in the cake and the finder is named the ‘king’ for the remainder of the day. My galette is made sweet by a fragrant mixture of honey and wine that is first used to make the apples heady and boozy and then reduced to give the cake a beautiful glacé finish.

John Francis, Still Life with Yellow Apples, 1858
oil on canvas, 64.1 x 76.8 cm, Detroit Institute of Arts

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After a beautiful weekend in the Upper Peninsula visiting my mother’s side of the family we have returned to the humidity of the Lower Peninsula with a bucket of wild blackberries in tow. My aunt and uncle know of all the best berry picking locations and while I was asleep in my bed, my parents joined them for some early morning picking. I did do a tiny bit of thimbleberry picking (pictured below) and I  sat through the 7 hour car ride home thinking about what to make. It is too hot to bake and I just made a batch of jam so I settled on a frozen dessert. I seem to be a creature of habit – the last post I did about Raphaelle Peale was a recipe for orange & lemon ice cream and exactly one year ago I posted a recipe for a frozen watermelon margarita. For another cold treat check out my post about coconut milk ice cream.

Raphaelle Peale, Blackberries, c.1813
oil on wood panel, 18.4 x 26 cm, de Young Fine Art Museum

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I am excited to be writing from Michigan where I am on holiday for the next couple of weeks. Trading winter for summer has been wonderful, and last night I had the pleasure of testing out a few recipes in my aunt & uncle’s wood-fired pizza oven. It is a beautiful set-up (pictured below) and I am so impressed with his pizza handling skills. I tried to slide the pesto pizza into the oven and lost most of the cherry tomatoes to the fire in the process. The dough we used was purchased from Gordon’s – you could also make your own using this recipe, omitting the rosemary and lemon zest. The cooking times will vary depending on the thickness of the pizza crust but in a very hot, wood-fired oven it only took about three minutes.

Claes Oldenburg, Flying Pizza, 1964
lithograph, 43.2 x 56.2 cm, edition of 200

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In honour of the 4th of July, I put together a small selection of nostalgia inducing recipes. I am travelling back to the States in three short weeks and after two years away, I am feeling pretty sentimental! Sunday is the 4th of July and perhaps one (or all) of these recipes will inspire a few Independence Day menus. I will be celebrating with my closest ex-pat friend here in Sydney and if my oven was not still broken the chocolate chip cookies would be at the top of my ‘to make’ list. Happy 4th everyone!

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