Feasting on Art

Sometimes the lack of a complicated recipe puts a block on all of my writing efforts. I wonder if it is necessary to share a sandwich recipe so simple that essentially it reads, bread, butter and cucumber – assemble. These dainty finger sandwiches were first made by my friend Mel who lined them up on their edges to make a pattern of bread, bread, butter, cucumber, bread, bread, butter, cucumber…. The combination of fragrant butter and crunchy sour cucumbers was utter perfection. So simple yet so satisfying. I added flakes of sea salt to my sandwiches to give a bit more texture and found that if made in the evening and stored in the fridge overnight, become even better the next day.

Luis Meléndez, Still Life with Cucumbers and Tomatoes Together with a Knife and other Kitchen Utensils upon a Wooden Table, 35.5 x 48cm, oil on canvas, Private collection

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Although Piece of Salmon, Lemon and three Vessels is Meléndez’s best-known painting, I initially skipped over the small canvas when selecting the work for this post. The brown area within the oily flesh of the fish was a bother – it does not look particularly appetising which is an issue when it is intended to inspire a recipe. The image was fixed in my thoughts and I kept returning to the painting, even if I was slightly repulsed. My solution was to first not buy a rotting piece of fish, and second, cover the top of the fillet with a crust so that, if there happened to be an unsightly bit, it would be carefully concealed and hidden from view. The crust also enabled the creation of both visual and edible texture – a facet important to Meléndez’s art. The mustard crust appears rough against the smooth coral flesh and provides a bit of crunch among the flakes of fish. I portioned the recipe out for an indulgent dinner for one – the mustard sauce could easily cover two salmon fillets for a less pushy flavour.

Luis Meléndez, Piece of Salmon, Lemon and three Vessels, 1772
oil on canvas, 42 x 62 cm, Museo del Prado

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Although I have not been very adventurous with the ingredients in the original Daring Kitchen challenge recipe, I did take many liberties with the proportions and the processes. Octopus is a very finicky ingredient that is very easy to overcook and turn into a rubbery mess. If cooked correctly it is succulent and yielding to the bite and is the perfect accompaniment to the paella-like dish. The original recipe called for only 3TB of the sofregit sauce leaving a rather large portion that would not be used in the conceivable future. To remedy this, I added all of the sofregit and reduced the amount of stock required so the rice would not become soupy. It is a delicious but filling dish that had me craving a Spanish siesta.

Luis Meléndez, Still Life with Tomatoes, a Bowl of Aubergines and Onions, c. 1771-1774
Oil on canvas, 36.8 x 49 cm, framed Derek Johns, London

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