Feasting on Art

The collage titled Stew by Elizabeth Willing constructed with imagery from vintage cookbooks, will be featured in the upcoming curated exhibition Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life at Brenda May Gallery in Sydney. The imagery is clipped from recipes of stews and casseroles which are then “seamlessly knitted together.  The casseroles array of textures and ingredients, made less enticing by the uninspiring food photography of the 70’s and 80’s, make for a revolting spew-like blob far removed from the pleasures of a home cooked meal.”

Elizabeth Willing, Stew, 2012
collage, 100 x 100cm, Courtesy the Artist and Brenda May Gallery, Sydney

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Recently I have been thinking a lot about meatballs. From Molly Wizenberg’s search for the perfect meatball for Bon Appétit to The Traveler’s Lunchbox’s adaption of Lynn Rosetto Kasper’s beguiling recipe featuring spinach, cinnamon, almonds and candied citron, I have been reading about delicious little orbs of meat in all of my favourite venues. Although the recipes certainly peaked my interest, I struggled to find a meal composed entirely of ground mince appetising, especially sans a generous portion of noodles. However, upon discovering an issue of Australian Good Food magazine nestled among the classifieds, I spotted a recipe for cabbage-wrapped meatballs and soon found myself in the kitchen rolling, wrapping and saucing. My grandmother affectionately calls this dish pigs in the blanket, a recipe she has made for as long as she can remember. The version my grandmother referred to has roots in Slovak cookery and is also known by the name gołąbk.

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Still Life with Vegetables, 1976
oil on board, 24 x 34 cm, Private collection

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I am very excited to introduce a new monthly feature to Feasting on Art – blogger recipe collaboration. It is a great way to highlight some of the writers and photographers that I follow and who influence my work. Each collaboration will focus on one painting and two recipes – one sweet and the other savory. This week you will have to visit Jamie’s post, Baked ‘Fried’ Apple Pie, for the sweet half of this autumnal German menu. With it being the first week of Oktoberfest I would recommend enjoying the meal with a big stein of lager. Although German cuisine is often thought of as heavy and stodgy, the sauerkraut (German for ‘sour cabbage’) balances the schnitzel, lightened through the inclusion of fresh apple in the breading. Side-note: due to a dust storm (see photo) all of the photographs were shot by candlelight.

Paul Klee, Still Life with Four Apples, 1909
oil and gouache on board, 34.3 x 28.2 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York City

This still life was requested by Liz at Zested and what a challenge it ended up being!! I had a very hard time figuring out how to work the cabbage into a recipe with the melon (not to mention stringing up the quince and cabbage for a photo!). I finally decided that although I like a bit of sweetness in a salad, the melon was a bit too sweet and by pickling it I was able to give the curtido an extra vinegary punch. It is not a traditional Spanish dish, its roots are in Latin America, but by including some typical Spanish flavors like lemon, oregano, and paprika I was able to give a Spanish feel to a fantastic dish.

Juan Sánchez Cotán, Still-life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, c. 1600
oil on Canvas, 69 x 85 cm, Museum of Art, San Diego

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