starter-recipes-2

Food is not only something we eat, it is a living record of the interconnectedness of our world through space and time. As we work with food, we are researching where recipes and ingredients come from. You can do this by looking up the history, talking to people who know how to cook the dishes, and trying it out yourself.

Spaces carry with them and embody not only what we can immediately see, touch and experience, but also the processes of formation that have brought them into being. They contain simultaneously various materials, the history of those materials, the history of those materials having been brought there and assembled by particular people in particular methods and in some cases for particular aims. You can explore the presence of the space and what it orients us towards by measuring the space, looking into its history and paying attention to how it enables or inhibits particular movements.

meals can not only be a space of physical nourishment; can also be a site of exchange, conversation, study and storytelling. How does a meal change if you eat together, or if you eat alone? How can you encourage people to have meaningful conversations? As part of the meal, you can design prompts, seating arrangements, games and conversation starters to consider sharing a meal to be a social event. As you share a meal, how can you reflect on the space you are in, who you are with and what you are eating? What do you want to talk about? How can you create a sense of being together?

Food as embodied knowledge

The kitchen assembly

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Each person in your group starts by thinking of a dish that is familiar to them. It can be related to your family, friends, or cultural background. Research where the dish comes from and find someone who knows how to make it to ask their advice. Then as a group, share these recipes with each other and try them out (in tandem with the spatial starter recipe below). From this, generate a selection of recipes and research that you give as a gift to the next group. Also consider how this food recipe relates to the spatial configuration and conversations (see below).

Each person in your group starts by exploring your kitchen. See if you can find out its history— when was it built and by whom? Then as a group interview each other about your personal kitchen histories and that of your parents and grandparents (if known). How was the spatial arrangement different across these kitchens? How do the practices of cooking, and with what tools and techniques, vary? Then as a group follow the food recipes gathered in the starter recipe above and record how the preparation and eating differed across your kitchens. From this, generate a recipe for cooking and eating movements to go along with a selection of research that you give as a gift to the next group. Think about how the movements and techniques in the kitchen can change our relation to food, sociality and the space— explore new, and collective, ways of moving.

(done while preparing your daily meal, which can include the completed curd as a part of the meal)

1. Trace your movements through the kitchen by tying or taping a piece of string each time you use an appliance, a cooking utensil or do a cooking action (such as cutting)
2. The string line should trace the movement from one space to another in the order that you moved
3. Repeat a line each time you move, even if you do the same path multiple times
4. Hang the hangop from one of these lines (think about how the line can become sturdy enough to hold the weight, add supporting strings if necessary.)

5. Measure the strings; their length, and their position relative to other strings in both horizontal (plan) and vertical (elevation) position
6. Record the measurements and the materials the strings touch
7. Make a drawing showing the view from above (plan) and a drawing showing the view from one side (elevation)
8. Point out on the drawing which parts are connected to which parts and which lines are the most frequent, the shortest and the longest

9. See if there is someone you can ask to find out how old your kitchen is; who built it and for what purpose? was it renovated? who designed it? was the design a part of a standard design process (similar to other houses) or was it a custom design?

10. Who does most of the cooking, cleaning and preparation in your kitchen? In your family kitchen? Ask about their personal history to cooking. What are both of your opinions/experiences of using the space?

Ingredients:
- 1 Litre of (normal) full fat yoghurt (or a non sweet soy version)
- A good quality olive oil
- A (organic) lemon
- Salt
- Freshly grounded pepper
- Good quality (sourdough) bread

Tools:
- A kitchen towel (rinsed to remove washing powder smell / taste)
- Cord
- Zesteur or grater
- Spoon
- Bowl

Time:
Active 10 min, passive 3 hours

1. Moisten your kitchen towel
2. Hang over a bowl and poor the yoghurt in the towel
3. Tie the towel with the cord ?? and hang it somewhere.
4. Put a bowl underneath
5. Wait for 3 hours
Outcome: hangop (what is in the towel) & whey (what is in your bowl)* Do not through this away, keep in in the fridge!
6. Wash and grate the lemon peel
7. Toast a thick slice of (sourdough) bread.
8. Put the hangop on top
9. Sparkle salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon zest on top.

* Whey:
Whey can be used as a starter culture to ferment vegetables and other things, including making ketchup. Use it within three days.

10. What are the origins of yogurt and how did it travel to the Netherlands?
11. How is yogurt formed? —draw happens to proteins and carbs during denaturalization and fermentation.
12. How does the structural transformation of the chemical process relate to specific regions and cultures and techniques of preperation?
12. What is the relation to lactose and pasteurization? What is the history of mass-production diary in this way?

13. Ask friends or family if they produce milk, yogurt, curds or cheese— how do they do it? What is their personal history and relation to that process?

Algerian cheese “Bouhezza”

Tools:
- String + Tape

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curdling process, protein structure

Nienke van Rijnswou, Lotje Heidingsfeld, Quinty Willems, Marionella Hanley, C/A 1st cycle

Kon Wajiro, Nishiyama Uzo Ethnographic Architecture 1910-1970

Gather around the kitchen table with the prepared meal using the hangop. This recipe is designed to bring together the findings and experiences from the previous two into an encounter with each other; a form of study through sociality of sharing a meal.

1. Together, write a series of ten short poems or stories. You only have 3 minutes to write each one.
2. Begin one with a title that you choose from something your eye falls on: for example glass, salt, water, light reflecting.
3. Without overthinking it, write three lines in three minutes. Pause a moment. Do another.
4. Continue in this way until that quick thinking is a rhythm and structure you can access.
5. Set a timer for each round.
6. At the end, each pick your favorites to share.

7. Repeat these steps, but this time pick a title (and a subject of the conversation) that follows from your research into yogurt and your kitchen.
8. Make a 'map' of your conversation together, which traces the course of your dialogue thematically and spatially.
9. Annotate the map with footnotes and references. (What thoughts lead to other thoughts, where did the influences come from? What is effecting and affecting you all during your meal?)

Gather together as a group (physically or digitally) to share your meals together that you have prepared. While eating share your experiences and reflections upon the process of creating and following each others recipes, getting to know each other and conducting research together. Create a way to format and structure your conversation— give it also a recipe. Think of the recipe as a way to begin, to initiate movement and dialogue, without controlling its course. How does the recipe act as a gift (how does one be a good host?)— what does it allow us to do? Find a way to map and annotate your collective discussion, as a way for you all to re-enter and process your discussion— and as a way for others to join your process. Gather your findings and create a recipe for a meal-event for the next group to partake in. Your turn to host!