contained food: landscapes of quarantine
On Saturday and Sunday night, the Storefront space held a banquet in six courses exploring quarantine, containment, and nourishment, led by underground food mastermind Michael Cirino of A Razor, A Shiny Knife (with others from the small expeditionary force of the food collective); the afternoon prep drew frequent passersby, popping in to ask about the curious equipment, watch trout roe suspensions in petri dishes.
The Sunday night guests began to gather in the late afternoon for demonstrations by Michael (poster design by Demian, who also cooked quietly and gracefully),
and after trimming the meat,
Michael explained the dry ice in a cooler finishing the spheres for the night’s final course.
and I began to see edible landscapes of quarantine.
The sparkling bits were whisked away in egg cartons as a different sort of bubbly sprayed from canisters to begin the first course.
course 1: the proliferation
Mike and Jonny filled test tubes with effervescent vodka amid murmurs,
the cooks donned white suits,
the guests found their seats and talked excitedly,
and the cultivated petri dishes were sent out with steelhead trout roe, angelica, licorice, and juniper,
and a bit of Meyer lemon powder that dissolved.
course 2: the fumigation
While a Dr. Unger Ried Silberbugel 2004 Riesling was poured, the kitchen area was filled with flowers,
Hirame slices topped the mache, sliced lardo was added, then petals,
assembled on jar lids to be smoked,
on the busy Manhattan street,
and presented in the smoky jars,
that guests opened, looking sideways at each other, as their sense of smell was engaged.
course 3: the isolation
For a course with Keith Tulloch 2007 Semillion, guests scissored into sealed bags,
saucing their own ravioli and releasing a tiny sprig of thyme from its plastic pouch.
course 4: the passage
I do hope for wedges of salad in an emergency situation (especially topped with bacon and cleverly paired with a 2005 Gigondas Les Espalines Cuvee Romaine),
and for steak that has been contained, dry-aging for 24 days, seared to a crisp crust and plated next to creamed spinach and potatoes in an appropriate violins-on-the-Titanic sort of culinary stroke.
course 5: the frustration
Shifting to a less giving course of waxen bread, cheese, and grapes arranged like a still life,
one guest unpeeled parts, expressing the title of this course, to create a very different look for the plate.
course 6: the revelation
Jonny poured Appleton Rum, the careful pairing for the final course,
a dessert tray of drinks imagined in solid form including a Daiquiri, Old Fashioned, and my favorite, the Cuba Libre (in a wonderfully moist cake of Coke and rum).
Those who had cooked were introduced,
and everyone in the room smiled—I think we all wondered what Michael might come up with for the next event…
Thanks to all involved for letting me take part; it was an honor to cook beside you.
For even more, I really like Mike Lee of StudioFeast‘s timelapse of the entire event and see the ARASK site for upcoming events:
Related posts:
- cassoulet, brunch, and the underground food collective in brooklyn
- slow food miami dinner at creek 28
- spheres of influence
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010, 11:39 am * Filed in Design, Entertaining, Food, Photography. * Tags: kristen, kthread, landscapes, quarantine, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 15th, 2010 at 8:15 am
What a cool event! I love the combination of food, art, playtime, and social observation. You really find the neatest events, Kristen!
Also, I’m totally a sucker for a guy in a vest.
April 17th, 2010 at 6:12 am
Thanks, Mica; sometimes I think they find me. Michael is rocking that vest (all the guys were still wearing ties underneath the white suits).
And you should attend a future ARASK event! I’ll let you know the next few dates—