Feasting on Art

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Last week my first curated exhibition titled Food & Art was hung at Eva Breuer Art Dealer where I work as a gallery associate. This is my first opportunity to bring my passion for food and art to a wider audience and to put together a collection of paintings and works on paper. Among the still lifes and banquet scenes a little oil on board by Weaver Hawkins of a pile of grapefruit can be found that I wrote about on this blog back in June 2009. If you are in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney please stop by to view Food & Art and to say hello!

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My favorite recipes are those that intertwine the idea of sweet and savory. When I mentioned to a friend that my next still life painting was titled Mound of Butter she suggested I make shortbread. Updating the typical sweet cookie recipe into a savory biscuit makes the perfect base for a roasted tomato or a slice of spicy chorizo. A baking note: the shortbread should be nearly white when fully baked, overcooking will result in a very dry biscuit. It can also be formed into one of three traditional shapes; fingers, rounds, or a Petticoat Tail (a large circle cut into pointed segments).

Antoine Vollon, Mound of Butter, 1875-1885
oil on canvas, 50.2 x 61 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

 
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The representation of food has always had a presence within the realm of the visual arts. The survey show, Taste: Food and Feasting in Art, explores the genre with an assortment of pieces from sculpture to painting to photography all from the Auckland Art Gallery collection. The usual suspects are all present – Warhol with his soup can, Brueghel’s festive village feast, and even Picasso makes an appearance in the cafe photographs of Brian Brake. Interspersed between the opulent banquets of the European still lifes and the delicate Japanese woodblocks are unique and interesting artworks by both Kiwi and indigenous artists. Take for example Cook Island Māori Ani O’Neill’s Fresh Eke (Eke nui and babies), a commanding sculpture of a giant octopus made from crocheted wool and filled with recycled plastic water bottles. The Eke is a common reef octopus from the Cook Island and a staple of the Māori diet. The sculpture not only celebrates the Māori culture but simultaneously draws attention to the human impact on the environment.

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Although Frida Kahlo is best known for her striking and emotionally revealing self portraits, she created about 40 still life paintings that provide just as much insight into her preoccupation with death and her overwhelming loneliness. I was recently given an anthology detailing Kahlo’s entire body of still life paintings and have become so enamored with her work that I will be completing a five part series of my favorite artworks. This is not the first time Kahlo’s art has appeared on this site and I hope by the end of this series you will adore her work like I do.

Frida Kahlo, Lágrimas de coco (Coconut Tears), 1951
Oil on masonite, 22.8 x 29.8 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Coconuts are a familiar foodstuff in many of Frida Kahlo’s still life paintings. The nut is differentiated in many of the works from the other fruits and vegetables because it has anthropomorphic eyes. In the painting Coconut Tears, the coconut weep and make eye contact with the viewer. The Spanish title Lágrimas de coco is a pun on the phrase lágrimas de cocodrilo, crocodile tears – meaning insincere tears because as the story goes, crocodiles cry to lure their prey closer or they shed tears as they consume them (1). This painting was completed as a companion painting to Coconuts (a work of a similar size and nature depicting a weeping coconut peeking out at the viewer from behind a large slice of watermelon) and was commissioned by physician friend of Kahlo’s who returned the work after picking up on the joke.

{Coconut Milk Ice Cream with Caramelized Papaya & Lime}

Adapted from Bon Appétit, July 2002

1 can (400ml) coconut milk
1/2 c thickened cream
1/2 c sugar
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 TB natural ginger uncrystallized, finely minced
pinch of salt

Papaya, sliced into wedges
1/2 lime, thinly sliced
1 TB butter
2 TB brown sugar

Combine all ingredients into a freezer safe container ensuring the salt and sugars have dissolved. Place in freezer and stir every 30 minutes to break up ice crystals to ensure the ice cream is smooth.

Once the ice cream has set, melt the butter in a skillet and add the brown sugar until melted. Place the sliced fruit on the hot skillet and flip after 30 seconds or once golden. Serve together immediately.

This is the first post in a five part series examining the still life paintings of Frida Kahlo.

In addition to decorating mountains of gingerbread and sugar cookies, a beloved Christmas tradition in my family was eating lefse on Christmas Eve. My Norwegian Great Grandmother would cook the thin potato pancakes every year in her tiny apartment on a piping hot griddle. As soon as the pancake was golden and toasted, we would slather on some salty butter and sprinkle a bit of crunchy sugar. I am so particularly fond of this dish that I searched for it on every restaurant menu I passed while travelling in Oslo. Later I found out that the dish, as I know it, is enjoyed by Norwegian-Americans living in the Midwest United States.

This post originally appeared as a holiday guest post on The Kitchn. You can view the entry here. Feasting on Art was nominated for a Homies award. Vote for us here!

3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 TB milk
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 c flour

Place the peeled and quartered potatoes in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and mash well until smooth. Place mashed potatoes in freezer until cooled.

Melt the butter and add the milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well and add to the chilled potatoes. Stir well and add flour until a thick dough is formed similar to a pie crust. On a very well floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out egg sized portions of the dough into very thin pancakes.

Place a griddle or frying pan on high heat but do not add any butter or oil. Place the pancake on the dry pan and cook for about one minute until golden spots appear. Flip and cook the other side for an additional minute. Continue this process with the rest of the dough.

Serve with butter and a sprinkling of sugar (also nice with a bit of cinnamon). Roll into a log and eat immediately.

Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!