Rewilding the Kitchen

Over April and May 2023, a cohort of selected artists, chefs and writers participated in a series of workshops as part of Rewilding the Kitchen, an intensive eight-week programme with Alserkal Arts Foundation guest resident Nahla Tabbaa. We offered spaces for members of the public to audit some of these very special sessions individually. Everyone was invited to join the cohort to explore research, fictional narratives and culinary processes through the lens of food.

Rewilding the Kitchen explored the intersections between art, writing, and the kitchen. To ‘rewild’ is to restore a material or environment to its natural state; participants were invited to embrace the rewilding of shared ingredients and food that are local and available within our daily life and surroundings.

Saturday 8 April | The Fictional Recipe with Moza Almatrooshi | 9:00-11:30pm

A writing and discussion workshop where participants carried out a number of different exercises to develop text that transports the recipe from being a functional document to a literary piece. The recipes can become manifestos, fiction, diaristic, documentary, etc. These exercises were framed within the discussion of how instituting practices of care and nourishment can exist for artists, writers, chefs, researchers, and cultural practitioners.

Thursday 13 April | Eating Colour with Nahla Tabbaa (The Alchemy of Dyeing) | 9:00-11:30pm

A demonstrational workshop that explores the different ways food can be disguised and painted through alchemy and natural dyeing. Using herbs, flowers and common pantry ingredients ubiquitous to the spice souk and supermarkets, the participants learnt how to further their knowledge of colour extraction, not to just be used on food, but to create inks and dyes for textiles in preparation for the dinner.

Sunday 16 April | Sharjah Biennial Excursion | 11:00am-4:00pm

An excursion to visit a select number of works that looked at the culinary, research, table, and botany as expanded forms of art practice. Participants observed modes of display, sensorial qualities and narratives of the works. This excursion was led by the education team at Sharjah Art Foundation.

Saturday 29 April | Making Tub Kim Krop with Chef Priyal ‘Dulce de Mirchi’ | 11:00am-3:00pm

A demonstrational workshop that deconstructed the process of making Tub Kim Krop, a traditional Thai dessert integral to Chef Priyal’s childhood spent in Bangkok. Using natural dyes, casting and layering, Chef Priyal assembled this traditional dessert, showed how to make ice cream and infuse pandan milk. Participants then pondered over how our favourite childhood desserts can continue to carry relevance.

Saturday 6 May | Egyptifying Petit Fours and Preserving Coptic Traditions with Andrew Riad | 11:00am-3:00pm

Part lecture performance, part making, part grieving, Riad and the cohort looked at the colonial legacy of the ‘Petit Four.’ Allowing it to depart from its origins in the French pastry school, and into the homes and hands of his mother, late grandmother and the Coptic church community preparing for Easter celebrations. Together, participant looked at how ingredients, or their absence, can symbolize grief, reclamation and decolonisation.