Feasting on Art

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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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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I have always been drawn to Frida Kahlo’s work but it was the trip to Mexico City with my History of Art peers that really solidified my adoration. After visiting the space where she worked and her paintings in the Mueso de Art Moderno I couldn’t stop thinking about her art. The colours and textures were what I wanted to capture in a recipe and so by combining a few of my favorite ingredients (chili, lime, coriander, papaya) I tried to create a fresh and interesting salad with multiple layers of flavor much like the depth and emotional layering of Kahlo’s paintings.

Frida Kahlo, Naturaleza Muerta Con Sandias (Still Life with Watermelon), 1953
oil on compressed wood, 40 x 60 cm, Museo de Arte Moderno, INBA, Mexico

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