It seems I’ve been seeing more and more theme cookbooks these days. I almost never look at them. And I’m not proposing that we create a compilation of “Favorite recipes from Art and Perception.” I am interested not so much in what you cook as in how you cook.
My question: Is there any connection between how you cook and how you do art?
I don’t mean to suppose that my plates have heaping mountains of textures while David’s meals are more flattened shapes like Chinese roadkill, or that Rex dines on charred tidbits while Sunil’s dishes are drenched in ketchup and mustard.
It’s more about approach, about your fundamental relation to your creations. Do your art and your cooking reveal two entirely different yous? Or is your life a seamless whole that reflects your intuitive grasp of the universe?
Are you always trying new dishes? Are they invented by you or from a cookbook? Do you follow recipes precisely? At all? Do you like to use exotic ingredients? Do specialized kitchen tools turn you on? How do you recharge your culinary batteries when you hit a slump?
I’ll provide some of my own answers, but first I have to go and make breakfast.
By the way, got any good recipes?
Hello Kitty cooks for me. We always eat something pink, although she has trouble with no mouth.
Ok, seriously, I like recipes but often deviate from them slightly. I like experimentation but often am more utlitarian about it – just cook soemthing simple and quick and get back to work. When I experiment I like to try Vietnamese, Indian or some other food from another country. I live near a great international grocery store so that makes it easier. I like making sushi without the fish. That is the closest to art making that cooking gets for me. When I don’t use a recipe it often fails miserably. My life is not a seamless whole and I will never have a grasp on the universe but thanks for asking =)
Steve,
I like that crack about ketchup and mustard… Have you considered being an art critic?
I like cooking – though I know that I will not blossom doing it on a daily basis. My wife rolls her eyes when I decide to step into the kitchen because of the mess I leave behind on completion. My painting goes pretty much the same way, (all of the basement save the canvas is a war zone when it is complete – but as long as the mess stays in the basement, I do not get the eye roll over…)
At least this way my painting and cooking are connected in a seamless whole… Nice post… (Especially after D. and Steve serenaded each other last night)…
No cooking this morning, just granola, toast and coffee. Mornings I’m a respecter of tradition. Lunchtime (at home, not far from the office) opens a wider range; lately I’ve made Italian style grilled vegies to have with bread and cheese. Dinners are where I go experimental, if I have time. I usually look for a recipe, get the gist, and improvise from there. Lately I’ve been riffing on Indian dishes from the Bombay Cafe, a great little cookbook. My favorites are the lentil dishes (dals). Watching chapatis cooked on a gas stove was inspirational, but I have to do it in a skillet on my electric stove. As with photography, I like to work in series, learning about this or that for a while, but overall fairly eclectic.
I love having racks of spices. If I were a painter, I’d grind and mix all my own paints from scratch (or at least I’d like to). But for utensils, the simpler the better, just like my single camera with two lenses (plus tripod).
Recently, my cooking has explored the use of curry powder. So far, I enjoyed it with sautéed chicken breast, lamb stews and in chicken soup. Curry powder contains curcumin, a polyphenol that is extracted from tumeric roots.
Curcumin, used in Ayurvedic medicine, is now studied in NIH clinical trials for its effect on cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.
Thus, it not just tastes good but it also may be good for you.
Yummm…I love cooking when I have time. Otherwise I like trying new things and will stoop to take out occasionally. I especially like grilling out side or cooking over an open fire. The utensils are pretty much the same and feel comfortable to me (ie. camera, lenses, tripod). I like to use colorful plates and dishes and many flavors and textures mixed.
I agree with Birgit about curry powder. It is good flavor and good for so many things, arthritis as well.
Now I’m hungry and I’m cold so soup day it is.
Birgit,
I am definitely going to look up the link between Curcumin and Alzheimer’s.
It’s funny, just yesterday I was listening to a neurologist from Johns Hopknis talk about the fact that 16 million people will have Alzheimer’s by 2025 and also to her explicitly stating that it is going to break the back of an already teetering healthcare system if we do not find a proper cure soon…
Could curry be king and save our souls?
I don’t cook.
I boil water for tea. I open cans of organic vegetarian soup. I put hummus on crackers.
But I don’t cook.
On the other hand, I can tell you a great deal about all the restaurants within walking distance of my house — at last count there were 75, although that number seems to change daily. I know where the best coffee is, where the best bean burritos are, where the best comfort food can be found, which Thai restaurant makes the best ginger creme brulee, and where the greasiest (and best) french fries can be obtained.
I love to eat. I just don’t cook. (insert snort).
Why make food when you can make art?
Why not make food art? My local cafe touts their “latte art,” the multi-colored swirls in the foam.
Is there any connection between how you cook and how you do art?
Yes, they are inversely proportional. I hardly ever cook, but end up in restaurants a lot on the way to and from the studio. (Now that I no longer have my studio, I suppose I could cook more, but I have a feeling I’ll have other things to occupy that time slot.)
When my wife and I cook together, we each have our specialties. I’m really good at cutting things up. My wife enjoys finding and trying new recipes, so she’s in charge of the cooking part. I’m also good at rinsing dishes and stacking them in the dishwasher.
Actually, I do make a killer pasta salad that’s very popular at potluck dinners.
Never the same way twice because there are infinite variations on basic techniques, just as in drawing an painting.
As in art, I am also semi professional in the field, so the correspondence goes even deeper.
I love to cook. I’ll try new recipes on guests. But most of my cooking is made up as I go along. Once you learn the basics, then you can try variations. I’ve probably become more creative since I live in Mexico and the menu of the night is based on what is available and looks good in the market that day.
Photography is my medium of choice, my passion….but my education lies in the field of culinary arts. Even though I take pictures everyday, and only really ‘create’ in the kitchen once a week or so (I have 3 kids, so hamburger helper, spaghetti, mac&cheese are fairly common) I’m probably a better chef than I am a photographer.
This is an interesting post, Steve, because I have often thought about integrating the two things that I love. I can get ‘in the zone’ so to speak while cooking….that sort of sub-conscious flow that I can achieve while photographing. It’s that place where everything just seems to work.
I only occasionally work from cookbooks and recipes, but more often than not, I find that I can improve the recipe by adding my own flair. My favorite thing to do is to create my own recipes, or my own spin on a traditional favorite. Cooking can often feel like 2nd nature…I rely on instinct. Any sort of dish as well, from Italian, to Indian, to BBQ.
Here is an example of me trying to integrate my two passions:
http://chantalstone.my-expressions.com/archives/6198_1110500388/221940
Chantal,
Yummy! your photo reminds me of Hanneke’s strawberries.
I like your quotation:
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new lands, but in having New Eyes.” ~~Marcel Proust
Rex,
Yes, the fun part is playing variations once you learn the basics. Can someone tell what mood you’re in by how the meal tastes?
Billie,
I also have a tendency to try new recipes on guests. It doesn’t always work out.
Chantal,
Give us your recipe, I adore key lime pie!
Steve,
Professional pride demands quality, mood or not (I’m usually in a good mood even when I seem sarcastic), but back in the day, sensitive people used to be able tell that I was sometimes a little drunk or stoned while I worked. Painting too. :)
I love the idea of cooking, but never seem to find the time. This is a timely post, just got a good bill of health from my dr. with one caution, I need to start to eat better, which means cut the Pasta, which made me instantly run home a have a plate of pasta, like it was my last meal. Maybe a cookbook for artist would be a wonderful treat and a big seller.
i don’t cook much, but i paint a lot. when i DO cook, it’s usually something really simple, like spaghetti, ______ & egg, chicken strips w/ _______, or just a yummy vegetable soup. i like following recipes, but i rarely have all the ingredients needed when i feel like making something. when i eat out, the place i pick depends on my mood. when i’m in a great mood , i’ll go for chinese, italian, or maybe even sushi; if i feel down and not too upbeat i can settle for a burger, a slice of pizza, or a baked potato!
i really prefer someone else cooking for me, and i can wash the dishes!! :)
like Bob, i think that a cookbook for artists would really be a big hit. i would definitely want to have it!
Bob, Berenice,
Maybe you’re on to something with the cookbook for artists. There doesn’t seem to be much out there, though there may be plenty of low-visibility stuff. What would make this a good concept? Would it be enough to just have a sample of the artist’s work along with their contributed recipe(s)? Should the artworks themselves relate to food? We’ve got a good start for a book of pear recipes…
I think this could be a collaboration/team effort. Each Artist could contribute a recipe, one that is designed to satisfy their personal issues, as an example, I am home by myself most days and will forget to eat if I am painting. I will make myself a pasta dish that includes everything I think I should eat (I don’t get it right, but it’s fast) and hope that it is ready to eat before I fall out from hunger. To go along with the recipe, there should also be a painting or photo of art work from that artist. Would make a great holiday gift. (All holidays)
i like that idea of recipes that ‘satisfy personal issues’. other artists could then relate to certain artists in the book. you could find recipes for artists with time to cook at different times of the day, or recipes according to the time it takes to prepare them. you could also have recipes for starving artists, and for those who can probably afford to make something more elaborate and/or exotic.
i would love to find recipes that i could make at home with simple ingredients, and then be able to take it to my studio and re-heat it there. maybe another painter with similar needs has a good recipe to share, and if you also show an example of their work you could maybe analize it and see if there’s any relation to the food!
just ideas… :)
I love the ideas! If we can get some contributions of recipes with artwork, we can eventually collect these in a convenient format. Images can be included in comments by placing them on the web somewhere (call it url/image.jpg) and then referencing them in the comment as
When I’m back in May I expect to have something for starving, dehydrated photographers in the desert. It better be easy to cook.
Sorry for getting this u so late for you, Steve (flu season hit my house). Here’s the Key Lime Pie recipe:
Start off with a shortbread crust—- prepare it the same way you would with graham cracker crumbs, but use crumbs from shortbread cookies—-I use Lorna Doone cookies (one sleeve plus about 5 or 6 extra cookies + about a half stick of melted butter + 1 tbs sugar)
For the pie:
3 whole eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup lime juice
2 tbs sugar
zest from 1 large lime (or 2 small ones)
Combine all ingredients, let sit for about 15-20 minutes and mixture will thicken a bit.
Pour into crust, and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it though, I wasn’t paying close attention to the time……just take it out before the crust gets too dark and the center seems semi-firm. Chill and serve.
I think a cookbook for artists is an excellent and inspired idea….count me in!
Made some antacids by mixing calcium oxide from my ceramic stash with sugar and some hard-candy flavoring. Came out as a vaguely Easter- colored, peanut brittle-kind-of-thing. It was something of an adventure to consume, what with it’s shapes and textures,but it sure did quell.
Words tend to influence our cooking. My wife came up with a concoction of squash and sausage which turned out mighty fine. We refer to the dish as “sausquash”.
Was thinking about “slaw of slaws”(SOS) ala the biblical “King of kings” and discovered perhaps ten different slaw recipes in Joy of Cooking. Combined as many of the recipes together as was possible, and threw in some trail mix for good measure. The bowl of “SOS” was emptied at Thanksgiving, with some exclamations as people found the odd and unexpected M&M or two. That said, I’m not sure that I have the green light to repeat the experiment this year.
Finally, I have made a party food composed of hollowed out pumpernickel with a spinach dip where the spinach is replaced with collard greens. It goes by the name “ring around the collard”.