Feasting on Art

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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I am of the mindset that cheese makes everything better. Each day, at least one of my meals will feature some form of cheese and I enjoy finding recipes that act as a supplement to my beloved fromage. The pear butter is sweet and rich and is perfect paired with knob of creamy blue cheese on a peppery cracker.

Louis Lozowick was a Russian born artist who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. He produced many lithographs during his 50-year career in his signature streamlined style. He was influenced by urban life, the Russian Constructivism movement, and de Stijl. De Stijl is a term given to a body of work produced in the early 20th century in the Netherlands. The subject is abstracted to it’s essential form and colour with emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines (1). Lozowick’s Still Life #2 was produced at the end of the de Stijl period (which ended in 1931). Many of the aesthetic values embodied by the Dutch artists are found in the lithograph. The tablecloth is a dizzying array of squares and lines with the sliced apple and napkin devoid of tonality. The contrast between black and white is pushed to the limit to produce patterns and forms of positive and negative space. It was through the balance of light and dark with linear forms that Lozowick sought to depict the urban geometry of the grand American cities he visited.

The next few posts have been carefully planned to coincide with my parents visiting from the States. I last saw them in June ’08 and I can hardly believe I will have them sitting here with me in my flat tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I am very happy and I decided to make this bread a ‘welcome to Australia’ treat for their arrival. I made it for my friend Cassie when she came to visit me in London and we decided that the lemon glaze is what makes this loaf so special.

Vincent van Gogh, Still Life: Red Poppies and Daisies, 1890
oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm, Private Collection

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Sometimes it is really nice to just have a box of cookies laying around the flat. There is no better snack and this cookie has everything I love, orange, chocolate, vanilla, almonds, and hint of spice through the addition of cinnamon and pink peppercorns. Did I mention they are in the shape of a moustache?? Could I possibly love them even more!?

My inspiration this week is from one of the most important contemporary sculptors, Jeff Koons. His sculpture Moustache is from the Serpentine Gallery show Popeye Series which encompasses many of the common themes in his work: consumerism, childhood, taste, and banality. The use of inflatable toys has appeared in his sculpture dating back to the late 1970s (1). One of his most famous works, Rabbit, is an inflated bunny made of stainless steel playing with the perceived notions of weight and density. Labeled as part of the Neo-Pop movement, Koons broke the auction record for a living artist when his Hanging Heart sold at Sotheby’s New York for $23.6 million (2).

The Italian mostaccioli cookie is a chocolate spiced cookie that is enjoyed all over Italy but is thought to have originated from Umbria (3). Traditionally the cookies are made from grape must which acted as both the sweetener and the liquid binding for the dough (4). The grape must variant derived from an old Latin cake called mustacea which was also the origin of the name of the cookie. Throughout my research I have found several ways to form the dough ranging from sliced slabs, to round patties. The more elaborate cookies demanded a chocolate frosting rather than chocolate chips but it was the s-shaped cookies made into a moustache that caught my attention (5)! The name mostaccioli appears to also refer to a small tubular pasta that translates to “small moustahces” (6).

{Mostaccioli (a.k.a. Moustache) Cookies}

1 3/4 c flour
1/4 c ground almonds
1 c vanilla sugar
2 TB butter
1/3 cc milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 tsp pink peppercorns
1 TB orange zest
1 egg
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond slivers

Mix the flour, vanilla sugar, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl. Blend in the butter with your fingers and then mix in the remaining ingredients. Place the dough in a cool place for 1 hour to rest.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add the cookies after forming them into a S-shape. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 180C until golden brown. Serve with coffee or cold milk.

Unintentionally the majority of the recipes on this blog have been vegetarian. I find that when I cook for myself I rarely eat meat but my partner is hungry an hour later if there is not a substantial amount of protein in the meal. With the exception of the spring onion crespelles, which contained bacon in the ragu as a flavoring, this the first recipe here on Feasting on Art to feature meat. The still life paintings depicting poultry and game are not the most attractive and I foresee a struggle with my photographic recreations. I managed to come up with a solution for the dead hen but I don’t always think it will be so easy. I hope you enjoy this warm and filling recipe.

Giacomo Ceruti, Still-Life with Hen, Onion, and Pot, c.1970s

Baroque artist Giacomo Ceruti was also known as Pitocchetto, Italian for little beggar, because of his numerous canvases featuring peasants begging. He is known for his realistic style of painting and often placed his still lifes and portraits in front of a dark background. He focused on genre paintings but also worked with still life and religious material. The simple composition of Still-Life with Hen, Onion, and Pot allows the viewer to read into the symbolism of each foodstuff place upon the canvas. Because Ceruti dabbled in religious art it is safe to assume his awareness of Christian symbolism. Typically in Renaissance art, game and poultry were used to represent Christ as a sacrificial victim. Renaissance scholars deduced that onions denoted the pain of causing sin and the corruption of the mind because they caused the eye to water. Within this context the hen paired with the onion tells the story of sin and sacrifice in the life of Jesus Christ.

Tetrazzini is a pasta dish of American origin although it is allegedly named after the Italian opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini It was invented in San Fransisco about 100 years ago by Ernest Arbogast when he was the chef at the Palace Hotel. The dish typically contains non-read meat ranging from poultry to seafood. There is no standard recipe for the dish and it has traditionally been known to contain onions, celery, mushroom and carrots and can be topped with parsley, lemon, almonds, or Parmesan. Some sources cite the origin as being the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City.

{Chicken Tetrazzini}
adapted from Gourmet

2 c chicken stock (recipe below)
6 TB butter
package of mushrooms, sliced
2 TB flour
1 c thick cream
1 TB rice vinegar
one large handful of spaghetti noodles
meat off of half of a chicken, shredded
1/2 c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat half of the butter (3 TB) in a large skillet and sauté the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep stirring until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated and they are a golden brown. Set aside.

Melt the rest of the butter (3TB) in a small sauce pan with the 2 TB of flour. Cook the roux continually whisking about three minutes. Then in a steady stream add the chicken broth while whisking. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream, rice vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti until al dente and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a baking dish and drain the pasta.

Toss the spaghetti, mushrooms, and half of the cream sauce together in a large bowl. Add to the baking dish. Make a small well in the center of the pasta and add the remaining sauce along with the shredded chicken. Top with shredded cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and golden on the top.

Serve immediately with additional shredded cheese and salt and pepper.

{Homemade Chicken Stock}

Bones from 5 chickens
2 large onions, quartered
1/2 head of celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 TB olive oil
salt & pepper
2 bay leaves
1/4 c pink peppercorns
1 bunch of parsley
6 sprigs of thyme

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Combine the chicken bones and vegetables with the oil in a large roasting dish. Roast until the bones and vegetables are a rich golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Transfer the bones and vegetables and any juices from the pan into a large pot. Add 14 cups of water and the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 4 hours occasionally skimming the surface to remove the scum.

Remove from the heat and strain. Place the liquid back on the stove over high heat to reduce by half.

When done let cool before refrigerating. Freeze in ice cube trays for a quick and easy way to add flavor to soups and pasta dishes. The flavour of this stock is very strong and I often mix it half and half with water to get to the desired measurement of stock. Otherwise all you taste is chicken.