Rewilding the Kitchen | Mastic Fizz by Salma Serry

Carrying a sense of place of the Khaleej, and meanings of the migrant experience, Mastic Fizz is a drink that combines Sharawi, a ubiquitous commercial chewing gum, that loses its taste quickly and is spat out. Created by Salma Serry, Mastic Fizz is a metaphor for the socio-economic systems of the Arabian Gulf which have relied on a temporary migrant body rendered useless. We invite you to consider how a single sip can bring about a conflicting sense of groundedness and futility, through the different ingredients included alongside the mastic flavoured gum: cardamom, amarena cherries and bitter orange slivers.

Rewilding the Kitchen is a programme exploring the practices of four artists—Salma Serry (Sufra Kitchen), Moza Al Matrooshi, Aya Shaban (Namliyeh) and Manal Abu Shmais (Namliyeh)— through the lens of food.

Consisting of three recipes and texts featured on alserkal.online, complemented, off-line, by dishes that pop up unexpectedly with a community partner in Alserkal Avenue, the programme lets ingredients tell their own authentic stories.

Each practitioner sensitively approaches what we call ‘rewilding’—ingredients and food become actors with agency, activating processes that unfold as the ingredients ‘intend.’

The outcome? We are beckoned to consider new readings for the kitchen, recipe writing, and the ways we eat.

Curated by Nahla Tabbaa, Rewilding the Kitchen will continue throughout the year in the form of digital conversations, updated recipes, happenings, and workshops with the artists.