9 Recipes From Artists Who Are Getting Creative in the Kitchen to Spice Up Dining in the Era of Social Distancing

As much of the world hunkers down, practicing social distancing
and sheltering in place, everyday life is shifting dramatically.
And for artists, like the rest of us, that means preparing for an
extended stay at home by stocking up their larders.

In search of a little culinary inspiration, we turned to artists
who have worked with food in their practices, either as a material
or subject matter, to ask them what they’re cooking during these
unprecedented times.

Here are the dispatches they sent in from around the world—from
New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Italy, and Thailand—on their
favorite recipes, their strategies for stocking up for long
stretches, and advice special diets. So as we face this extended
period of home isolation, we hope their contributions get your own
creative culinary juices flowing.

Enjoy!

Dan Colen, Hudson Valley,
New York

I’m at my farm, Sky High Farm in the Hudson
Valley, with my girlfriend, baker, artist, and food advocate, Lexie
Smith. We’re baking, fermenting, dehydrating, and we are stocked up
on local grains and local meats from the farm. The diet and menu is
stuck somewhere between macrobiotic and grass-fed meat lovers.

At the farm, we are currently planting seeds in the veggie
garden and expecting births of cows, pigs, and lambs. All the food
raised and grown on the farm is 100 percent for donation to
underserved communities in New York state, which feels especially
necessary right now. Of particular note at this moment, and
something I feel really fortunate to get such close witness to, is
an initiative Lexie has started in response to the epidemic through
her project Bread on Earth.

She has offered her community a free sourdough starter kit,
sending out small portions of sourdough to anyone who requests it,
with instructions for use and further sharing. In her words, the
spirit is as follows:

“We’ve quickly become acutely aware of our ability to pass
things between us, even while living in an alienating and isolating
world. Spores making their way across a population can look like
solidarity and sustenance, too, not just fear and sickness. Even if
the starter stays with you, you’re now a point on the evolving map
of this living culture.”

I’m still trying to decide if art is on hold or more active then
ever.

Michael Rakowitz, Chicago

I wanted to make Iraqi dolma, which Iraqi Jews call
mhasha, but the local supermarket did not have any produce
other than bok choy. So, instead of stuffed vine leaves or onions
or cabbage, I decided to make do with what was there.

I have never really cooked with bok choy other than to steam it
and serve with an oyster sauce or soy sauce. I figured I would
challenge myself and give this a try. Also, my six-year-old son,
Jude, decided to become a pescatarian three months ago, and so I
had to make it without meat, which acts as an essential binder to
hold the hashwa, or stuffing, in place.

So, I decided to make the traditional Thursday night meal for
Iraqi Jews, which is kichree, an Iraqi version of the
Indian dish using basmati rice, red lentils, tomato paste, onions,
garlic, cumin, and olive oil. I made the kichree stickier than
normal, and then parboiled the bok choy for about 10 minutes to
make it easier to roll.

I then took a fistful of the kichree, placed it on the leafy end
of the bok choy and rolled it down to the stem. After doing this
with all 10 stalks of the bok choy, I pan seared each dolma in a
non-stick pan with olive oil and salt. I served it with a homemade
garlic yogurt and a Syrian tomato salad with our last tomatoes that
my friend Suhail taught me and my wife to make.

Paola Pivi, Aosta, Italy

In addition to her fanciful feathered polar bears,
Paola Pivi has also made many artworks of and with food, including
an early work, Pizza (1998), in
which she attempted to cook the largest pizza pie she could. (It
measured 91 inches across.)

“Every day”

Stack five KitKat bars on top of each other in front of you.

Preferably enjoy also with exciting TV program.

Gina Beavers, Newark

Gina Beavers’s 3-D paintings,
based on images she finds online, often depict food, from slabs of
raw meat to colorful soft-serve ice cream. 

I don’t cook, I really don’t. I do have a few
tried-and-true recipes for
potlucks but even those don’t require cooking!

Our go-to plan as this became real has been tons of snacks, like
just grazing on dips and spreads all day and then a more real
dinner, which usually is just warmed up pre-prepared stuff, usually
from Trader Joes.

Speaking of, we have a car, so we were able to drive to the TJs
in Millburn, New Jersey. Anyone in the city who has a car, highly
recommend checking out your suburban Trader Joes that are fully
stocked and only allowing like 20 people in at a time, it was the
most relaxed, spacious TJs shopping experience ever!

So, my recipes! These are both
no-bake and crowd pleasers, they should last a couple meals and all
of the ingredients are available at conventional supermarkets, like
a Key Food, C-Town, or Shop-Rite. One is my mom’s taco
salad recipe (sweet and salty!),
and the other is a classic Southern peanut butter pie from the time
my parents spent living in South Carolina a decade ago.

“Mailyn’s Taco Salad”

Ingredients:

head of iceberg lettuce
large tomato
12 oz. pack of shredded cheese (cheddar/Jack or the Mexican pack
made for tacos)
ground beef, turkey, or veggie substitute
1 pack of taco seasoning mix
I big bag of Doritos
bottle of Catalina dressing

Instructions:

Cook the ground meat or veggie meat with the taco seasoning
according to the directions on the packet.

Dice the tomato, wash and tear the lettuce, and crush the
Doritos into small pieces.

Let the meat (or substitute) cool somewhat.

Combine lettuce, tomato, Doritos, ground meat, and cheese.

Toss with dressing, I usually use a whole bottle.

Mix well and serve!

“Classic No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie”

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 oz cream cheese
8 oz frozen topping (cool whip in a tub)
1 store-bought graham cracker crust in pie tin

Instructions:

Cream ⅔ cup of peanut butter, all the cream cheese and ⅓ cup of
powdered sugar.

Spread mixture evenly over crust.

Spoon frozen topping over the peanut butter layer

Mix ⅓ cup of peanut butter and ⅔ cup of powdered sugar to make
crumbles.

Sprinkle crumbles evenly over frozen topping and the pie is
ready to serve!

Janine Antoni, New York

I made the call on Monday to move my whole studio to my home,
where my assistants would be able to walk and avoid the subway.
Relocated, we sat in my garden, putting final touches on a
sculpture. We stood in my kitchen, stewing chicken and slow-cooked
pulled pork. For a witchy potion, I dropped some garlic cloves in
my honey (to give my tea a boost).

Kader Attia

Kader Attia often uses couscous, a grain common in North
African diets, in his sculpture. The French-Algerian artist also opened
La Colonie, an art space
and restaurant, in Paris in 2016.

I decided to definitely stay home on Sunday, March 15.
Since then, I have tried to get as many vegetables as possible, to
stay healthy and help me and my family’s immune system. One of my
favorite recipes, which my mother taught me, is something very
simple and very healthy:

In a large salad bowl, mix together a lot of spinach leaves,
rice, chicken, garlic, onions, salt and pepper, and turmeric.

(Turmeric and black pepper each have health benefits, due to the
compounds curcumin and piperine. As piperine enhances curcumin
absorption in the body by up to 2,000 percent, combining the spices
magnifies their effects. They may reduce inflammation and improve
digestion, particularly in supplement form.)

Put the preparation in a steam cooker.

Wait until the rice is cooked (it has to remain a little bit
firm).

Add olive oil when it’s cold.

Eat.

Mary Kelly, Los Angeles

Soup, soup, and more soup. I find this to be the most comforting
kind of food in any crisis. I make generic French vegetable soup
often, just puréed mirepoix and good stock, or Italian spinach and
Arborio rice with broth and sautéed onions.

Then there are special soups like Alice Water’s chicken noodle—a
curative libation from the gods—or Thomas Keller’s lentil and sweet
potato—difficult, but worth it. And there’s my personal favorite,
celery root vichyssoise. This is how I make it. Live in the moment.
Keep well.

“Celery Root Vichyssoise”

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized celery root, peeled and chopped
1 small potato, chopped
1 leek, chopped
½ brown onion, chopped
1 glove garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped
Approximately 4 cups chicken stock
Squeeze of lemon
Pinch of salt and a lot of black pepper

Instructions:

Sauté onions, leek, garlic and celery. Add celery root and
potato, cover with stock and a squeeze of lemon. Simmer till soft
and purée. Serve with swirl of cream and parsley garnish.

Gabriel
Rico, Guadalajara

Lentil soup is very easy to prepare and it is a food that I
always ate at my parents’ house. Sometimes they added bacon or
chorizo. Personally, I like to add banana and epazote, a native
plant from Mexico. Yyou can substitute basil and complete with
baked bread.

I found this recipe on the
internet which is very similar to the one we prepared at home.

Rirkrit Tiravanija, Chiang
Mai, Thailand

I was introduced to this drink through Anette Aurell’s guru, Dr.
Jubb, who at the time had a small health shop, Jubb’s Longevity, on
East 12th Street [in New York].

Dr. Jubb is a breatharian, meaning he just survives on the
breath, or as he says “going without.”

The lemonade is a drink one could have continuously as
sustenance—but use a straw, as the citric acid does wear your
enamel thin. I drink it as a part of my 14-day detox (and 14-day
self-quarantine ), so a complete two-week diet just on lemonade and
homemade vegetable juices. I like the minimalism of how one could
sustain on very minimal cooking and production.

The vitamins from the lemon should fortify one for all the
attacks from the virus. The turmeric is very medicinal could be
good for inflammation, it’s also a good antioxidant and helps with
depression, the brain, and many many qualities.

The cayenne can boost metabolism, reduce hunger, lower blood
pressure, and aid digestive health.

The coconut oil can encourage the body to burn fat and provide
energy for body and brain. It also has good HDL (cholesterol in the
blood good for the heart), and may have antimicrobial effects which
can kill harmful pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and
fungi.

“Electroylyte Lemonade”

Ingredients:

3 lemons
1 pear (preferably the Bartlett, or the Williams)
5 tbsp coconut oil (cold press and organic would be best)
4 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne chili
3 cups water (I use Fiji water)

Instructions:

Combine using a very powerful blender; I use a Vitamix
blender.

PS: You can charge the water with electrolyte, hence the
electrolyte in the recipe.

The post 9 Recipes From Artists Who Are Getting Creative in
the Kitchen to Spice Up Dining in the Era of Social Distancing
appeared first on artnet News.