September 2013 – Kristen Baumlier

Month: September 2013

There It Is—Take It! A Car Audio Tour about the Los Angeles Aqueduct System and Owen Valley

Posted on September 27, 2013September 28, 2013 by Kbaumlier

California has one of the world’s largest, most productive, and most controversial water system. It manages over 40,000,000 acre feet of water per year. serves over 30 million people and irrigates over 5,680,000 acres (2,300,000 ha) of farmland.

To create this water system, there were many disagreements between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists. By the 1920s, so much water was diverted from the Owens Valley that farming became difficult to do in this area. By 1926, Owens Lake at the bottom of Owens Valley was completely dry due to water diversion.

The story about how this water system came to be is chronicled in the movie Chinatown, and the book and documentary series Cadillac Desert. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the construction of the original aqueduct designed by William Mulholland, the Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) first superintendent and head engineer of the project. There It Is—Take It!, is a free, 90-minute long downloadable audio program that seeks to shed light on the mutual past, present, and possible future of Los Angeles and Owens Valley.

The project combines interviews, field recordings, music, and archival audio and presents the historic physical source of drinking water for the Los Angeles municipality while simultaneously revealing the relationship these two seemingly polar regions of California. The audio program is meant to be played while experiencing the Owens Valley landscape along U.S. Route 395.

Stories of the one hundred year old system are told from various perspectives and viewpoints by historians, biologists, activists, native speakers, environmentalists, litigators, LADWP employees, and residents from both Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.

The 90-minute long downloadable audio program, There It Is—Take It! Is available free online. Next time I am in los Angeles, I plan to check out the Owens Valley, and play the tour. The project was created by Kim Stringfellow, who is an artist and educator living in Joshua Tree, California.

Links and Image Sources:

Listen to the There It Is – Take It! program online

thereitistakeit.org/

Roy Choi –Challenging Chefs Do Something Different and Make Food More Accessible

Posted on September 25, 2013September 28, 2013 by Kbaumlier

I recently heard about the MAD Symposium, an annual gathering of few hundred writers, chefs, scientists, historians and fermentation activists in Copenhagen which is dedicated to exploring and sharing new and forgotten food knowledge. The third MAD, which took place on August 25-26^th 2013, was dedicated to the topic of “guts.” With the theme, the organizers wanted to invoke a sense of courage and urgency in the speakers, enabling chefs and attendees to reflect on the stories and ideas that no one usually dares or gets an opportunity to tell, both literal and metaphorical. MAD was organized by chef René Redzepi and was co-curated by Momofuku chef and restaurateur David Chang and food magazine Lucky Peach.

At MAD, chefs from around the world gather and discuss the challenges and responsibilities that go beyond cooking. Talks and discussions center on new questions to ask, and how to become more imaginative and inquisitive. One talk by Roy Choi, a chef who revolutionized food truck culture with his food trucks in L.A., was recently posted on MAD’s blog and has been getting lots of mentions on food and culture blogs.

Back in 2008, Choi and his partners, Mark Manguera and Caroline Shin-Manguera, launched a fleet of Korean-Mexican taco trucks, known as Kogi BBQ. In his talk Choi talked about his restaurant practice, and challenged chefs to address the fact that they are mostly much only feeding privileged communities.

Choi started by talking about the 5 million people in California are hungry. Where he lives, 65% of children live in poverty. An additional 17% live in extreme poverty. He went on to share stasistics about how in his neighborhood where he lives and works, low academic performance, unemployment, single parent homes are the norm, and up to 90% of residents have witnessed or been involved with violence.

He continued on to talk about food and about the unseen hunger crisis in Los Angeles.

“With so many paved roads, the nice weather, restaurants, farmer markets – it is hard to see that in many parts of the city food is supplied by liquor stores, and there are no chef-driven restaurants. There are few supermarkets and little or no organics. The stores that do exist have second rate or end of life produce. The restaurants that do exist are fast food.

In life, we all have an ability to make a choice. Why can’t all these residents just drive over to the next town to get to Whole Foods and shop? It is the fundamental belief that we all think we have these equal choices, and accessibility to have a great meal is a fallacy. If all you see growing up is junk food processed meat, and fast food (and no vegetables and fruits), this becomes your normal food and way of eating.

Why am I saying this at a food conference with the best chefs in the world? I believe that chefs can do anything. We are not the richest people, but what we do and say, people follow. We revel what makes up the super duper food world. We are all connected of the food world, but what if there is a whole population of people right under your nose who can not eat?

We have the internet, and hyper awareness. Things can be communicated quickly. The food world has never been more active. But has it changed? Are we feeding the people who can’t afford it? The audience has gotten younger. We talk about food all the time more than ever.

Our prison systems have terrible food, and these are places to rehabilitate others. In 6^th generations from now, the children are not even born yet will have the same division that exists.

Do we have the guts to do something different? What if every chef also balanced that by making food more accessible? And not just feeding the hood, but also challenging fast food. Imagine every chef in every city was doing their restaurant but also creating a kiosk in a working-class neighborhood, working with the purveyors to bring the prices down—so, instead of fast food, there would be chef-driven fast food.”

Choi worked to create a cafe at Jefferson High School in L.A., selling fruit cups and fresh drinks. Today the project has become a cafe, and he sees it as a start to making change in his neighborhood. You can watch his talk on the MAD blog here.

Links and Image Sources:

Roy Choi MAD Talk

Roy Choi –Kogi BBQ

Roy Choi’s Upcoming Book – L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food

Historic Stagville Site and Chef Michael Twitty

Posted on September 22, 2013September 27, 2013 by Kbaumlier

A few weeks ago, I attended an event at the Stagville Historic Site, a historical site of one of the largest plantations of the pre-Civil War South. As part of a fundraiser, the site had an afternoon of events which included demonstrations of outdoor cooking methods of African Americans of the 18th and 19th century.

At the event, historian and chef Michael Twitty participated in a panel discussion about Southern food. Twitty is dedicated to preparing, preserving and promoting African American food and its connection and legacy to Africa and other countries that influenced the food culture of the South. He is interested in his family history, and in his work as the Antebellum Chef and his blog Afroculinaria, he investigates the large number of unknown Black cooks across the Americas that were essential in the creation of the creole cuisines of Atlantic world. He also is interested in the responsible exploration of Southern food heritage, and that “the cooks of colonial, federal era and antebellum kitchens and enslaved people’s cabins be honored for their unique role in giving the Southland her mother cuisine. It is important that we not only honor the Ancestors but provide a lifeline to contemporary communities and people of color looking for a better life in the new economy, a way out of the health and chronic illness crisis, and a way to reduce the vast food deserts that plague many of our communities.”

In the panel discussion, which was held outside under a tree, Twitty talked about how “culinary justice” is an act of honoring the food past and providing for the food future.” He shared stories about his grandmother cooking, and how he learned about food by being a “taster” in the kitchen.

The event was part The Southern Discomfort Tour, which is Twitty’s current project where he visits sites of cultural memory, does presentations on his journey, and visits places critical to his family history while conducting genealogical and genetic research to discover his roots and food heritage.

So far the tour has gone from Maryland to Louisiana, and you can read more about it on his blog “The Cooking Gene,” which documents the tour.

Twitty has had recent fame due to a tweet and letter that he wrote after a scandal erupted over Paula Dean’s use of a raciel epithet. His “Open Letter to Deen” was published on The Huffington Post ( huff.to/14sIyEE) anad addressed the little-acknowledged black role in creating Southern cuisine, and with reconciliation, and closed with the invitation for Deen to come cook with him at Stagville.

I can report that Deen was not at the event at the Stagville site.

Links:

Historic Stagville Site

The Cooking Gene – the Southern Discomfort Tour

Afroculinaria Blog – Michael Twitty

Special Meal – Serving the Last Meals of Death Row Prisoners

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Kbaumlier

If you could choose your last meal, what would you choose? Would you choose a family favorite, most indulgent food, or a comfort food? Most of us do not know when our life will end, or when our last meal will be.

One group that does have this choice is individuals who are scheduled to die as part of their prison sentence, and on death row. Prisoners are allowed to choose their last meal, which is often called a “special meal.” According to the artist Jason Metcalf, “in most cases, prisoners have been served whatever they request. However, some have chosen to decline their last meal, while other requests such as “a cup of dirt” or “Justice, Equality, World Peace” have been denied or left unfulfilled.”

Last month, at the experimental food and art space, Thankyou For Coming, Jason Metcalf prepared, fulfilled, and served the special meal requests of death row prisoners. Some of the meals are from well-known individuals, and some of the meals were never served, and were denied. The artist did the project hoping to prompt guests to think about the significance of food in their lives. The artist Metcalf states that, “I am not looking to promote a specific agenda or perspective surrounding the death penalty or the prison system, although I am definitely interested in a dialogue happening as the project unfolds – and it no doubt will.”

During August, visitors to the space could choose a special meal from the Special Meal menu.

For the first week of the project, here are some of the selections that were served, listed with the prisoners’ names:

James Russell – An Apple
Gerald Lee Mitchell – 1 bag of assorted Jolly Ranchers
Charles Rumbaugh – One flour tortilla and water
Velma Barfield – Declined. Had Cheez Doodles and a can of Coca-Cola instead
Karla Faye Tucker – Banana, peach, and garden salad with ranch dressing
Victor Feguer – A single olive with the pit still in it
Gary Michael Heidnik – Two slices of cheese pizza and two cups of black coffee
Phillip Workman – A large vegetarian pizza to be given to a homeless person
Mario Marquez – Fried chicken, baked potato, cinnamon roll
Perry Smith – Shrimp, french fries, garlic bread, ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream

You can read more about how the project went at the Thankyou For Coming website.

Image Source and Links:

Thankyou For Coming – Jason Metclaf Special Meal

Flying Buffet: Sonja Alhaüser’s Fantastic Food Event

Posted on September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art was an exhibition that focused on the act of sharing food and drink in order “to advance aesthetic goals and to foster critical engagement with the culture of their moment.” The show premiered at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, and presented more than 30 artists works that explored the shared meal as an artistic medium. Feast featured gallery works, and also many participatory projects, meals, and performances. I recently read about the show again, since it recently traveled to The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston.

One of the artists in the show includes German artist Sonja Sonja Alhaüser, who created a “catering performance” for the show when it was at the SMART Museum. The piece, entitled Flying Buffet, had servers wearing silver outfits and wearing white wigs who moved through the space like a “flying buffet”, serving food. “The piece moved through the lobby and had lots of movement, like flying,” the artist says in the online video created by the Smart Museum.

The performers would carry trays of food that included skewers of fruit, cheese with Marzipan figures; small canopies with signature drawings posted on toothpicks, and large sculptural elements. On the trays, and also on tables were angels, animals such as fish and cows, and figures out created out of margarine, which gave the food a baroque look, and pushed the edge of buffet food.

The artist says about the piece, “All together it is a big picture, or a landscape of food. All who want to come and eat are able to eat. I wanted to have all kinds of foods: meat, bread, cheese, fruit and others, so that all foods are in the buffet.”

Her planning for the process involved creating large recipe drawings, which were large wall-sized detailed sketches made in pencil and watercolor. The drawings featured images of ingredients, and also sketches of the sculptural elements, and the overall piece. The recipe drawings look fantastic, but when you see the video of the piece, you realize that the artist was able to realize her vision. The flying buffet comes alive.

The video and images of the piece can be seen in the Flying Buffet Vimeo video. Make sure you don’t want it hungry.

Image Source and Links:

Flying Buffet Vimeo video.

Feast Exhibition- Smart Museum

Sonja alhaeuser – Website

Feast Exhibition at the Blaffer Museum, Houston, TX