Feasting on Art

In the last few weeks of September and the first few of October, the city of Munich holds a festival called Oktoberfest. The calendar is adjusted each year so that the festival will end on the first Sunday of October and this year is the 200th jubilee of the event. Revellers gather and enjoy hearty dishes ranging from sausages to sauerkraut and copious amounts of bier. The event is so popular that cities around the world hold celebrations to mark the occasion. I find that this recipe is best suited for any type of beer and would recommend using your favourite drop, as you are predisposed to already prefer the taste of the soup. I made the version depicted below with a light beer, Pure Blonde to be exact, and instantly wish I had used a stout to capitalise upon it’s sweet caramely flavours. It is also possible to swap the lemon juice with a preferred white wine. I have read other recipes that suggest this is a good way to achieve the light touch from the acidity.

Heinrich Kühn, Still Life with Steins, c.1900
gum-bichromate pigment print, 29.8 x 39.7 cm

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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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Adriaen Coorte, A bundle of asparagus, 1703
30 x 23 cm, oil on canvas, Fitzwilliam Museum

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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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This recipe was a last minute addition to my Thanksgiving menu last year after landing in Brisbane during a heatwave and realizing that my butter-heavy winter dishes from the Midwest would not do. The salad was delightfully light and refreshing and was the only dish to be finished at dinner. It was not until making the recipe for this post that I was able to experience the pleasure of eating these beans as leftovers – the vinaigrette ever so slightly pickles the beans which gives them an entirely new flavor and texture. I am a glutton for all things pickled and I selfishly gobbled up all of the beans without sharing them with anyone!

Julian Opie, Still Life with Green Beans, Chilli Pepper and Carrots, 2001
lambda print with laminated onto canvas, with a gloss seal, mounted on stretcher, 39 x 65 cm

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