FEAST
The Company of Wolves, Director: Neil Jordan (1984)
This whimsical tale was a take on the fairytale Red Riding Hood with wonderful imagery and special effects. The story centres around food, cannibalism and is very surreal.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Director: Peter Greenaway (1989)
"You cannot force a feast... A feast must present itself"
- quote from Hannibal, TV series
TRADITION
Chinese dumpling wars
Vinc from our class told us all about the story of his ancient family heritage; after being shunned from their town, where the ingredients essential for making dumplings were kept. After they resettled in a new region, they had to develop a new method for making them with alternate ingredients and this lead to the invention of an early form of Tofu!
Phone stacking
Another recent ritual with regard to meals, with the increased presence of technology in our daily lives, is the custom of 'phone stacking'. Each guest at the meal sets their phone in the centre of the table for the duration of the meal - this increases the social aspect of the experience and removes the distraction of phubbing and looking at your phones. The punishment for the first person looking at their phone is that they either have to pay for the whole meal or a round of drinks!
Tamales
Juliana told us about a food tradition from Columbia, where each Sunday they would have tamales for lunch. They were made by collecting a plantain leaf, filling it with rice and vegetables and sometimes meat.
PROCESSES
preparation ˌprɛpəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
the action or process of preparing or being prepared for use or consideration.
e.g. "the preparation of a grand feast"
synonyms: devising, putting together, thinking up, drawing up, construction, composing, composition, editing, fashioning, concocting, production, getting ready, making ready, arrangement, development, assembling, assembly
serving ˈsəːvɪŋ/
noun
a quantity of food suitable for or served to one person.
e.g. "a large serving of spaghetti"
synonyms: portion, helping, plateful, platter, plate, bowlful
indulge ɪnˈdʌldʒ/
verb
1. allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of.
e.g. "we indulged in a cream tea"
synonyms: wallow in, give oneself up to, give way to, yield to, abandon oneself to, give rein to, give free rein to
2. allow (someone) to enjoy something desired.
e.g. "a luxury service used to indulge the chief executive"
synonyms: pamper, spoil, overindulge, coddle, mollycoddle, cosset, nanny, nursemaid, mother, baby, pet, spoon-feed, feather-bed, wrap in cotton wool, overparent
Algaculture Symbiosis Suit, Michael Burton & Michiko Nitta (2014)
RITUAL
Ortolan Ritual
"For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets was the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God."
