Forgotten Greens and Healing Powers

In the 21st century the perception and knowledge about our food, where it comes from, how it is prepared, hence the way we eat has changed dramatically within no time. Ironically, the food we are generally used to and tend to call a "normal diet" is completely artificial. Gathering food from the wild, neither cultured nor farmed, has become something strange.

The knowledge and experience about natural food is doomed to wither: the rich, intense and very satisfying flavors and textures are being more and more substituted by man-made breeds and products deprived of flavor and nutrition.

We tend to forget that food should not only feed our bellies, but also our mind and soul, it should provide us strength and health, even be our medicine. However, nowadays things have been turned vice versa, and instead of providing healing powers the average daily diet of a modern person has become a health hazard. Good food needs to be carefully searched for.

Meat, once a status symbol of wealth and considered to be essential for a healthy diet, has become a cheap and mass-produced product available for everyone everyday, turning rather into a hazard for both, the health of mankind and our planet. How does this affect the way we eat in the future? Does our body need meat? What are sustainable sources? Which role does culture play? Will plants be able to provide us with all the nutrients we need?

We dedicated one evening to take a step back, calm down and breath. We designed a holistic eating experience about what it means to taste real flavors and learn about the healing powers of natural produce. In the heart of the city, we found shelter in the green oasis of Prinzessinnengarten, offering the perfect location to question the old and the new, traditional and modern, forgotten and reborn in the context of the most essential material in life: FOOD.

Forgotten Greens and Healing Powers was a dining experience and workshop: We took our guests on an experimental culinary journey about forgotten flavors and healing powers expressed by means of a modern cuisine and an interactive experience.

........

MENU

Apero | wild meadow
welcome. herbal aperitif. blossoms and herbs. learning and understanding.

First | trees and hedges
harvest. fingerfood. fruits and berries. searching and picking.

Main | roots and fire
feast. digging roots. fire and glory. community and sharing.

Sweet | milk and honey
honour. bees and goats. terroir. celebrating moments.

........

This project was conceptualized for Berlin Food Art Week. The theme of Food Art Week 2017 was “Vs. Meat” approaching topics such as human and animal rights, feminism, conscious consumption, environmental issues and sustainability. It called attention to the political, social, and technological aspects of the meat industry. Food Art Week initiates important conversations about contemporary issues using the power of art and sensory experiences with food. Selected artists, activists, filmmakers, chefs and scientists present diverse perspectives which ask the viewer to reimagine a different and better world.

We would like to thank Food Art Week, Prinzessinnengarten, Preussen Quelle and Weingut Karl Schaefer for supporting this event.

Skills: