ACT-Issue 1-FOOD-Spring 2012 by Jennifer Gilligan

Editor Letter

“Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.” William Blake Things seem so simple, put like that by the great English poet. However, we at ACT know that everyday life is not so straightforward. Every single day, each one different, is full of accidents, desires, commitments and thoughts that make the hours more complicated than they need to be. Nevertheless, there are some rituals and habits that help us to keep some form of order in our lives. For this reason, we have decided to dedicate the first issue to a topic so broad and humanly vital, which shapes each and everyday: Food. Food is part of life for everyone on the planet, but it influences and affects each person in such different ways that we could have filled a thousand pages, but fortunately for you, time and resources have contained this first issue to 100. It all starts from ‘Me, My Lunch Box’. Going around the main canteen of our University, seeing how many people ate from packed lunches, there was in me an instinctive curiosity to peek inside them. Even a simple and ordinary lunch box can be a very important affair and shows more information about the owner than an in-depth interview. Even the articles, ‘The First Thing in the Morning’, ‘Last Supper’ and ‘The Flavours of my Past’, are born from the same type of interest in the common person, their lives and their customs. In this time of media overdose with celebrities and sensational headings, to speak just about normal people and their lives can be something beneficial and really enjoyable. At the same time, we have been delighted by the close connections between food and film, music, travel, art and literature. As will be usual, you will find a creative melting pot in each issue. We were lucky enough to get stimulating external contributors. With: Gianluca Sales in ‘All you feed is love’ presenting us with a personal theory about how it is important to do things with love to succeed; Natasha Piper tells about an Israel dinner organised during a winter evening in London, proving that to create a good meal it can be enough to just have good ingredients and nice company to share it with. However, we have also dealt with the dark side of food not only the joy. Sonia Lapaire has entered into a mind of a food addict, while in the dissertation work by Megan Addison you can find out how chocolate advertising plays on your feeling of nostalgia. And now, the final result of our strains is out for all to pick up and, hopefully, enjoy. The cockerel on the cover marks the beginning a new day and issue, and we hope that we will see many more. I would like to thank all of our talented contributors for their efforts to help produce this first issue. Anna Vallarino, Editor- in-chief ACT Magazine

RSA:NC I

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES 17MARCH - 11 APRIL 2012

PRESENTING 62 OF SCOTLAND’S FINEST EMERGING ARTISTS & ARCHITECTS

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Contents

FOOD Spring 2012

MORNING

NIGHT

8. First Thing in the Morning

66. Last Supper by Costantina Boubouka

14. Street Encounters

72. The Flavours of my Past by Joseph Kern

24. The Morning After by Anna Vallarino

76. Choco Nostalgia by Megan Addison

AFTERNOON

82. Craving in Hard Times by Sonia Lapaire

28. Me, my Lunch Box 39. Diets

OUT OF TIME

42. Not Just a Drink by Giulia Leali

88. Food Metamorphosis by Costantina Boubouka

44. Tea in the World by Giulia Leali

98. Foodstuffs by Julie Gilligan

46 Don’t Waste Food by Joseph Kern

100. Songs

EVENING 50. All You Feed is Love by Gianluca Sales 52. Tel Aviv Mon Amour by Natasha Piper 56. Lights, Camera, Action! It’s Time to Eat by Anna Vallarino 3

I am a creative advertiser. I love art, travel and learning about people, culture and the world. I also have a slight obsession with elephants.

Free lance journalist, Italian teacher, student. Hopefully in the future, fiction editor. Firstly, a passionate reader.

A curious mind always looking for new visual inspirations. Music and films hunter, I live in a borderline space, where my creativity is the bridge between reality and wonderland.

daniela_savoca@hotmail.it

jenniferrosegilligan@gmail.com

annina.vallarino@gmail.com

Daniela Savoca Creative Director Marketing Manager

Jennifer Gilligan

Publisher Sub Editor Production & Finance Manager

Editor in Chief Photography Manager

Anna Vallarino

AUTHORS

Colophon

Born in Italy but partially raised in Greece, lived in Miami for two years. I have a tattoo on my neck, love swimming and collecting frogs.

kostycina@hotmail.it

Features Editor Photo Researcher & Production Assistant

Costantina Boubouka

Charmed by cultures, love to travel and capture atmospheres of the places. I like when people call me by name also if they are just passing by quickly.

pace4peace@yahoo.com

Editor Translator

Giulia Leali

PHOTOGRAPHERS Javier M. de la Varga, Bruno Rondinelli Monica Silva Tessa Battisti Federico Bin Giulia Valenti Natasha Piper

Sonia Lapaire Natasha Piper Gianluca Sales Julie Gilligan Joseph Kern Megan Addison

CONTRIBUTORS

1. Milk and cereal 2. Gratin scallops 3. Rose petals 4. Cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper and corn 5. Savory 6. White Martini or White russian

WRITERS

1. Porridge with a various fruit, nuts on top. 2. Salmon, cream cheese with homemade dessert 3. Eating crickets in Vietnam 4. Very spicy hot food 5. Always sweet. 6. Red wine or Gin & Tonic.

Mar Abad Galarraga Vicky Manuel Flora Chang

ILLUSTRATORS

1. Milk, cereal and a fruit 2. Pasta alla carbonara 3. Kangaroo meat in Australia 4. Lentils 5. Extremely sweet 6. Mojito

1. Coffee - pan brioche, ginger jam 2. Melanzane alla parmigiana 3. Natto 4. Cucumber- tumeric 5. Sweet 6. Sambuca with a coffee seed

4-5

1 White coffee, bread and marmalade 2. Italian raw ham and my grandmother’s cooking 3. A hardly identifiable animal in Tanzania. 4. Liver and tongue 5. Sweet 6. Pint of Guinness

1. WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL BREAKFAST? 2. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DISH? 3. WHAT IS THE STRANGEST THING YOU HAVE EATEN? 4. WHAT FOOD DO YOU HATE? 5. SWEET OR SAVORY? 6. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR LAST EVER DRINK?

The first thing in the morning

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Morning brings back the heroic ages. [...] There was something cosmical about it; a standing advertisement, till forbidden, of the everlasting vigor and fertility of the world. The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.â&#x20AC;?

THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

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Henry David Thoreau

Article by Anna Vallarino, Photography coutesy of Bruno Santes

World The first thing in the morning

FIRST THING IN

How boundaries aff

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The first thing in the morning

THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING Article by Anna Vallarino, Photography coutesy of Bruno Santes

N THE MORNING

ffect our eating habits.

cultural identity. Many of us have been having the same breakfast since we were little. as brought us closer and closer. As a result, having a fresh croissant or an espresso everywhere eam anymore. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa

World

Brazil Soy milk with cereal , Brazilian nuts, coffee and persimmon

Chile Crepes with milk, jam and red tea

Bulgaria Princessa with bulgarian cheese and lucanca

Canada Yogurt with strawberries and bluberries

Italy Yogurt with fruit and granola, green tea, water with cucumber

Portugal Bread toast with butter and milk with coffee (Galao)

Spain Toast with butter and jam, coffee

USA French toast, grapes and tea

Nigeria Massa and strew

Germany Bread, milk with cereal, olives, cheese, salami and sausage

Thailand Boiled rice with minced pork with fried garlic oil 9

UK Toast with jam and white americano

First thing in the morning

World

Firt thing in the morning

UK Porridge, poached plums, toasted hazelnuts and demerera sugar

Greece Toast with honey, boiled egg, biscuits and orange juice

France Digestive biscuits and apple puree

Colombia Coffee and toast with marmalade

China Rice with vegetables

Spain Toast with jam, biscuits, orange juice and coffee

Turkey Sukuk, honey, olives, cheese, bread, tomatoes, boiled eggs

Hong Kong Bread and eggs

Brazil Papaya, cranberry juice, cheese, bread and eggs

Hungary Toast with peanut butter

Philippines Bulacan prawns, tapa and garlic rice 12

Sweden Oat porridge with lingomberries and milk

The first thing in the morning

STREET ENCOUNTERS Historic or futuristic, tiny or massive, rural or urban, one of the coolest things about travel is wandering about street markets wherever you go. You can find products that contain symbols of the local community, but not only, behind a stall you can find faces that tell you a story. You need an open mind and an empty stomach to Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing appreciate this melting pot of tastes and cultures inside elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et out.ad minim veniam, quis dolore magna aliqua.and Ut enim nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod PHOTO CREDITS tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim Pg. 15 Giulia Leali veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea Pg. 16 17 Javier M. de la Varga commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate - 21 nulla Brunopariatur. Rondinelli velit esse cillum dolorePg. eu18 fugiat Excepteur sint occaecat Pg. in 22culpa Monica cupidatat non proident, sunt quiSilva officia deserunt mollit anim id 23 sit Giulia Leali est laborum. Lorem ipsumPg. dolor amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum 3

World

Shangri-la, China Shangri-la is a Tibetan word, which means â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;land of sacredness and peaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The city is a gateway for travellers into Tibet. In the rural areas, the street markets are the centre of the economy. For the locals it is not only a supply of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats and fish, but also a social occasion.

Street Encounters

In the following two pages: Cuzco, Perù ‘The Butcher’ is one section of the big market in Cuzco, which has a wide selection of the freshest street produce available. Seeing the large collection of unusual animal body parts, you would not ever say that meat is not a large part of the Peruvian diet. There are no ‘spare parts’ in Cusquenan cooking. A plate of Ceviche with rice and sweet potatoes costs 5 soles, around £1.20.

MORNING

World

Street encounters

MORNING

World

MORNING

Bologna – Italy by Monica Silva

Bologna, Italy In the core of the old city, there is a narrow medieval street called Via Delle Pescherie – or rather ‘Street of the Old Fisheries’. For people of a city it is called “The Fat”, as is it normal to take food seriously. The fish, fruit and vegetables are presented with such careful consideration that by the end, the compositions look like artistic masterpieces.

Street Encounters

Tokyo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Japan by Giulia Leali

MORNING

Tokyo, Japan Tsukiji Market - The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest fish market. The activities of the market take place when it is still pitch black outside, and then finishes at 6:30 in the morning. The most popular event at Tsukiji is the tuna auction. If you go at the early hours of the day you can have breakfast with the freshest sushi ever.

The first thing in the morning

THE MORNING AFTER Words: Anna Vallarino Photography: Federico Bin

THE MOMENT OF USELESS REMORSE

all it hangover or ‘Veisalgia’- the scientific term – at least once almost everybody has gone though the terrible and unpleasant physiological effects following a not so moderate consumption of alcohol. There are many ways to help cure a hangover, although experts say that despite the several folk beliefs, a true hangover cure remains a mystery. We could say, that they have not dedicated enough attention to find a solution to this social pathology. One of the easiest cures is, to preventatively avoid binge drinking. Knowing that, for some of you, this cure is quite impossible. Nevertheless, we are going to present to you the most useless remedies, with some exceptions, for your terrible ‘Veisalgia’. THE HAIR OF THE DOG. This seems to be an urban legend. In the morning, you won’t be in the mood to have another beer, pretending that it makes you feel better. The alcohol is toxic for your body, and you need to give your body a chance to recover and rehydrate. Consequently, better a tomato juice than a Bloody Mary. OR THE HAIR OF THE EGG. This English, terrible, alcohol-free mix is just for the brave, and it is rather masochistic: 1 part olive oil, 1 raw egg yolk, ¼ ounce Worcestershire sauce, ¼ ounce Tabasco. And if you want to combine two things at once, you can put a left over raw egg on your hair. An egg mask should make your mane smooth, shiny and soft. EVERY COUNTRY HAS IT’S FATTY TRADITIONS. If you have a piece of beef tripe, red chilli, lime, onions, peppers, cilantro, crushed oregano and peppers in your kitchen, you can prepare Menudo, a traditional Mexican dish. According to myth, Menudo is the perfect remedy for a night spent drinking. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that fatty, high-calorie foods are a cure for hangovers. PAINKILLERS. They can certainly help ease hangover headaches. However, they are not the key to recover from the unpleasant symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and body aches, but they do help ease the self-inflicted agony. Take in moderation, always read the label. COFFEE. Caffeine is a vasocontrictor, meaning it reduces the size of blood vessels. This counteracts the effect of alcohol, which makes them swell, generating a headache in the first place. Unfortunately, caffeine is also a diuretic like alcohol and can make a drinker even more dehydrated than before, thereby increasing the severity of the hangover. Overall, coffee, as well as Coca Cola, isn’t a good hangover cure, only a lack of sleep cure. WATER, SLEEP AND WAIT. This is the only wise and banal cure that we feel to suggest to you. There is no choice. You have to accept the reality: your body needs to be fully rehydrated, and to rest. A Vitamin C tablet or a multi-vitamin is also a good thing as alcohol lowers your immune system as well as reduces the level of minerals and salts in the blood. So every little helps to a speedy recovery. “A real hangover is not a good excuse to experiment family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death” Robert Benchley, American Humorist

Lin Yutang

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.â&#x20AC;?

The first thing in the morning

ME, MY LU

Every day, hundreds of students, visitors, office workers and teachers enter i large part of their day there, some bringing lunch in from their home such a a packed lunch but each one has a personal story and specific reason behind i open the door to their lunch. We now i

1-F 2-E 3-B 4-C

The first thing in the morning

UNCH BOX

into The London College of Communication. Many of these people will spend a as pasta, rice, sandwiches, vegetables, and couscous. There are so many options for it. Bruno Rondinelli has photographed some of the LCC people, asking them to invite you to discover who brought what...

C 5-H 6-G 7-D 8-A

The first thing in the morning

Diets

Strict food regimes for people that have to succeed in particular occupations

ASTRONAUT

During their trips around Space, astronauts use a lot of energy because they are under a lot of stress and the job is very physically demanding. Astronauts typically have four meals a day, as this is better for the assimilation of food by their bodies. The daily consumption in terms of calories is 3,200. Currently, NASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food laboratory has 185 different menu items with a 16-day menu cycle. Sometimes NASA sends up extra: special things like birthday cakes. Illustration: Vicky Manuel

World

SUMO WRESTLER

A typical sumo wrestler eats a daily diet of 15,000 calories, (the recommended daily intake for a healthy, active male is 2,500). A sumo wrestlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day begins around 5 am with morning training. Working out on an empty stomach has its advantages in the effort to gain weight, and this helps slow down the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s metabolism, as well as making burning calories more difficult. Illustration: Jennifer Gilligan

Diets

JOCKEY Professional jockeys are under pressure to maintain a low body weight in order to participate in their sport of horse racing. Failure to maintain their weight for a given race can lead to suspensions, or simply missing races. Because of this strain, some studies have suggested that there is a greater risk of disordered eating in this group of athletes. Illustration: Flora Chang

Habits

NEVER JUST A DRINK

After water, tea could be considered the oldest drink ever. It is drunk worldwide, but the ways to enjoy it may vary from country to country, from culture to culture or simply, from person to person. Different photographers coming from different backgrounds have tried to capture what the ritual of tea means to them and, of course, they have tried to do so by using their expert way of expression: photography. Words: Giulia Leali

Drinking tea, for me, is this essential link that keeps me attached to the world around me whenever I am trying to reach ideas beyond the limits of my imagination. Being a designer, I am constantly seeking new creative ideas and ways to realize them. Tea is that warm pleasure that helps me, as a mediator, during this process of creation. It is like a friend who is not there, like my home when I am far away. I chose warm but at the same time relaxing colours, because drinking tea is not just a daily action; I would rather like to think of it as a moment of meditation, a moment when my body warms up and ideas are generated.

Inessa Davidova

Tea for me represents a quiet communication, an action that speaks more than words. It is a daily ritual, which makes me feel the warmth of home. The fragrance hugs my thoughts and the aesthetics satisfy my eyes. I usually drink green tea, because it is sophisticated but at the same time the simple flavour gives me enough charge for a long day. Most days I usually carry tea around with me in a thermos, so that wherever I go, I can sip it. In addition, tea also helps me to digest, keeping my body in harmony! Fifi Yang

The very act of making a cup of tea, for me, is a chance to slow down and suspend time for a while. The water has to be freshly boiled, the tea strong and mahogany in colour with a drop of milk then added. I have to drink Barry’s red label, an Irish blend treasured all the more when travelling or living abroad. With the addition of two sugars, it acts like medicine to relieve a headache and wash away the stress of city life. A cup of tea symbolises the very intangible feeling of ‘home’ and contentedness that I experienced in my life. Each day for me is bookended with this ritual. Giulia Valenti

TEA IN THE WORLD

Chai, tea, te. Whatever you call it, tea is an age-old delight across the world. From China to England to The Netherlands, there are several ways to drink tea. All with the same aim: to enjoy a moment of relaxation. Words: Giulia Leali

CHINA Before the 8th century, Chinese tea preparation was complicated and consisted of many detailed steps. At first, tealeaves were steamed, then broken and made into a loaf. This loaf was seasoned and toasted on a fire, then ground between fine paper sheets. Afterwards, the loaf and a spoonful of cold water were added to boiling salted water. Once this process was completed, the Chinese used to pour the drink into cups and flavour it with milk and onions. TIBET Traditional Tibetan tea generally consists of brewed tea, to which butter, milk, and salt are added. Everything then is churned to form a hot drink called Po Cha. Tibetan tea drinking has many rules. First, one requires an invitation to a house for tea drinking. The host will then first pour some highland barley wine. The guest must dip his finger in the wine and flick some away three times to show respect for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Only after this is is the tea then drunk. JAPAN When one thinks of Japan you have to think of the famous tea ceremony. Traditionally, the tea ceremony is a custom performed by geishas or maiko - the descendants of the old tea masters. For the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, tea powder (Matcha) is used. This powder is then beaten up with hot water until it foams. What results from this is then placed in a special bowl and poured to guests. The Japanese never sweeten or flavour their tea despite the traditional Matcha being incredibly bitter. THAILAND Thai tea is also known as Thai iced tea or “cha-yen” and it is a drink made from strongly brewed red tea. In addition, Thai iced tea usually contains added anise, red and yellow food colouring, and sometimes other spices. This tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk and served chilled. In Thailand, it is served in a traditional tall glass.

RUSSIA When it comes to the preparation of tea, Russians traditionally use samovars, which are large decorated containers. The condensed tea, previously prepared and kept warm in a dish on the top of the samovar, is poured and served into a cup. The tea is then diluted to the required thickness using the boiling water from the samovar. TURKEY The traditional Turkish tea is prepared using a double teapot. Water is boiled in the lower, larger pot and the loose-leaf tea is steeped in the top, smaller pot. This method allows each person to drink the tea as they desire. Turkish tea is generally served in small tulip-shaped glasses, usually white and blue or white and red in colour. MOROCCO Typical Moroccan tea is mint tea! Moroccan style mint tea is now commonly served across the whole of North Africa and all through the Arab World. Yet, it is served not only as a beverage to offer to guests to sip while chatting, but it is also the most common drink of mealtimes. Unlike Moroccan food, cooked by women, Moroccan tea is traditionally a man’s affair. If desired, fresh mint leaves can be added to the teapot or directly to the cup. ENGLAND When one thinks of England, Tea is defiantly considered the national drink. Indeed, it is since the 18th century, when the British started to import tea from China and India, that Britain has been the largest per capita, tea consumers in the world. Traditionally, tea in England is served from a tea-pot into cups and saucers. The tea is usually black tea served with milk, typically served in the afternoon accompanied by scones with jams and clotted cream. There is also the stereotypical ‘Builder’s Tea’, which is strong, served with lots of milk and two teaspoons of sugar, usually in a mug.

Thinking

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T WASTE FOOD Food For Good: when social issues become a concrete project, with the aim to create a better environment for everybody. Words: Joseph Kern

hree students from London College of Communication (LCC) have come up with a generous way of putting food waste from London’s shops and restaurants to good use, with also the hope to raise a critical awareness about these social issues. Martina Giulianelli, 25 and Chiara Astuti, 24, both BA Media & Graphic Design students and Anna Cennamo, 30, a graduate from the same course, describe themselves as passionate students who care about the environment, society in all its forms and people in need. Martina used to work for food related businesses in London and witnessed how much unsold food was thrown away every day. “I would bring the wasted food home and share it with my friends”, she said “but then I think that, as much as we might appreciate it, there are people who might not even have access to food who would need it. That is the inspiration”. She hence discussed this issue with the other two girls, and they decided to undertake an initiative, with the aim to make an impact on a wider audience. THE PROJECT “Food For Good is our idea, our passion!” said Martina. The core aim of this project is to reduce the amount of food waste by donating it to charities. If you are wondering how these girls are planning to actually undergo this, the answer is pretty easy. They are going to transport this wasted food from local restaurants to local charity hostels. By doing so, they won’t only avoid food going to landfill ites, but they will also help charities in reaching homeless people and involving them to be part of a community. Yet, their passion for the project is demonstrated in their mission statement: “Food waste is not only a social issue, but an environmental one: it effects everybody.” The girls hope that donating the food to charity hostels will mean more than just a meal for those staying there: “We don’t want to give the food out, on the street because that would not solve the problem.” On the contrary, “If we give it to a kitchen, there will be people there who will talk and try to help homeless people, by creating a better environment for them”, Astuti told Arts London News (ALN). By now, already two restaurants and two charities have signed up to the project and the first dropoff should take place within the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the girls were unable to name the restaurants involved before the start of the scheme. We got to say that the project was made possible also thanks to a grant the three girls received last year, when their initiative won a £2,000 from UnLtd, a charity that supports social entrepreneurs. The grant allowed Food For Good to afford the first food collection containers and the cost of renting a van for transportation. The co-founders were shortlisted for the Enterprising Project Award at the University of the Arts London’s Creative Enterprise Awards 2011. Although the girls are unsure about how long the project will last, Astuti says they do look forward to “at least another year running it”. What can we add? We wish them the best of luck with this engaging and indeed challenging project, hoping it will also help society to be more critically conscious about food waste and more involved in the problems of people in need.

The first thing in the morning

Christopher Marlowe

“O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.”

The first thing in the morning

Food

ALL YOU FEED IS LOVE

To do something with care is the key to success. This is true for a kitchen environment. Through a delicious plate, you can communicate love for a person and for life. Gianluca Sales tell us his not so scientific, but full of taste, theory.

ave you ever had a dish that you have prepared all your life sometimes come out delicious and then something unexplained happens and sometimes it is not so delicious? Well, it must have happened to you at least once, and I believe it is a matter of love. Love, the willingness to surprise or to cheer someone up, this is what makes the difference between a well cooked dish and a taste-less dish. In order to explain this theory of mine, I need to tell you about my momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s omelette. My mom is practically the Queen of omelettes. She knows how to cook them in all the possible ways one could imagine, with potatoes, onions, spinach, zucchini, mozzarella cheese and with salami. Most of the times, the result is just astonishing. Yet sometimes, when I used to go home to find dinner on the table waiting for me, and my mother lying on the sofa, something strange used to happen. In those nights, if I asked her to cook for me her special omelette, because maybe I was not in the mood for what she had prepared, she used to snort, saying before preparing me the omelette that the omelette was always terrible. How could it be possible that the omelette I used to love so much was so tasteless in her mind? And yet, that is how it was. By preparing the dinner I did not like, my mother satisfied her natural duty: she fed me. Then while preparing, without any pleasure, an omelette I asked her to make for me; the result could not be anything but a tasteless dish. Hence, I thought if feeding is a maternal instinct, in which the mother puts all her love towards the child, the success of a dish is deeply and directly proportioned to the amount of love one puts in the preparation of the dish itself. Of course, I am aware that my theory does not

have any scientific evidence, as it is based only on personal experience and on the sensations of my taste buds, but if there were such a scientific theory, I would certainly be one of its followers! As I like to believe that love always makes good products, and if this is the case, life itself has better taste! So go ahead, add as much pepper, spices and herbs you want. When you are at the supermarket, look carefully for the primal sources for your dishes, try to smell, touch and feel the consistence of any product you might put into your basket. Moreover, aesthetics also play a role, in matter of food presentation. That is why imagination is an important ingredient when cooking. Sometimes, even just a basil leaf, a little thyme or two drops of oil show care and attention. In other words, it is not a matter of how much you paid for the bottle of wine you are serving, the important thing is how you are pouring it. Taste is what matters. One should be smart enough to be able to hear what the palate is asking for. Care, attention, imagination, willingness to surprise and an honest desire to satisfy the otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs, this is what I mean by love and this is what I mean by feeding love.

World

TEL AVIV MON AMOUR A genuine little piece of The Middle East in a tiny East London kitchen: Natasha Piper’s attempt turns out well, although with some little accidents along the way. Photography: Tessa Battisti, Natasha Piper

n a restaurant called Yaffo, the old city of Tel Aviv, I plunged huge chunks of white bread into a thick scarlet sauce with two perky and still-wobbly egg yolks winking at me. We had barely sat on the higgledy-piggledy plastic chairs before bowls of pickled cucumber and cabbage were flung our way, keeping any hunger cravings at bay. Although we needn’t have worried too much,

ninety seconds later we are faced with a steaming meal, served straight out of the frying pan. Perhaps I am too European in my attitude – Israelis don’t like to be made to wait, especially not for this type of no-nonsense cuisine, especially when it’s so damn good. My London attempt and fail number one: I have forgotten to buy parsley for tonight, a vital

ingredient that features in so many dishes eaten in Israel. An Israeli salad in my eyes is just incomplete without it. My local Bangladeshi grocer piles coriander and spinach into big boxes on the street, their fragrances wafting well into the evening. But parsley rarely makes a feature in this type of Asian cooking. Fail number two: cucumber. A normal size one would have worked, baby ones would have been closer to authentic. But no cucumber at all, is a nono. I am hoping that my friend, who has never eaten Israeli food, will forgive me/ not notice. On the menu tonight, minus cucumber and parsley, is a staple, and an all-time favourite. It’s easy and cheap to make, vegetarian, nutritious and just a comforting all-rounder. And the variations are endless. Shakshuka originates from north Africa, brought over to Israel by Tunisian Jews. In Israel, one of my favourite restaurants serves variations with spinach, aubergine and goats cheese toppings. But seeing as I am a greedy one (or let’s say, gourmande) and locals will agree with me, one dish is simply not enough. An Israeli meal would not be complete without three staples: hummus, tahini, and fresh chopped salad. Typically in the Middle East hummus is eaten out of a large bowl and is considered a main meal, often topped with hot beans and hard-boiled eggs. So some may argue that serving it as a side dish is a little British. Although let’s be clear – this is certainly not a dip, and certainly not supermarket-bought! Itip rinsed cooked chickpeas into a food processor with garlic, lemon juice, tahini (sesame seed paste), salt, pretend parsley and a bit of water and whizz to a smooth paste. A couple of years ago I had a legendary meal in Jerusalem prepared by a couple of talented chefs and performance artists, in their home. They were notorious for preparing outstanding homemade hummus and I got a sneak peek at their process. It was nothing quite like what I had tasted before. The chickpeas are soaked for at least 48 hours, and then cooked in a pressure cooker at a very low heat over a long time, before being crushed and ground several times with seasoning to

achieve the perfect paste. With just moments to go before my guests arrive, and a rumbling tummy, I skip the soaking and steaming part. If there’s anything I love more than hummus – a lot more even – it’s tahini. You can buy this concentrated paste in large supermarkets now, although most Greek and Cypriot imports simply don’t meet with my snobbish palette for this liquid gold. To make the tahini ‘dip’ or often used as a salad dressing in Israel, mix some of the concentrated paste with water – the mix will go frighteningly stiff and lumpy, then add plenty of lemon juice. Keep stirring and you’ll see the paste change consistency to turn nice and smooth. Add more lemon juice and water until you have reached a consistency you like, then season generously and add crushed garlic and parsley. Or, if you’re me, you’ll just scoff the stuff straight out of the jar. For a perfect chopped Israeli salad (and I really can’t understand why it seems so hard to recreate in Europe) make sure you have the best possible quality vegetables you can get your hands on really flavoursome tomatoes, baby cucumbers, red onion and a mix of fresh herbs: parsley, coriander and mint are my personal favourites. Chop everything very finely, discarding most of the pips and juices from the vegetables. You can jazz up this salad with some finely chopped red pepper, crumbled feta cheese or mixed seeds. All it needs now is the simplest and best dressing: a glug of quality extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest for extra fragrance, and salt. The tomato base for the Shakshuka can be made well in advance and just needs to be reheated. The eggs should be free range and as fresh as they can get. You can also customise this dish by adding some of your preferred vegetables, cured meats, cheeses, herbs etc. Typically, all you need to serve with it is some bog standard white bread torn into chunks, although I do tend to go for the overpriced farmers market-bought sourdough variety. As they say in Israel: Beteavon!

World

â&#x20AC;&#x153;White City is the nickname for Tel Aviv. I return to Tel Aviv at least once a year and can never resist photographing the beautiful buildings, people, meals and food shop windowsâ&#x20AC;?

Tel Aviv Mon Amour

“Groceries in Tel Aviv are exactly what it says on the shop window: Paradise…Especially the endless piles of nuts, dried fruit, seeds and pulses. A must-buy is almond paste, dates, sugared pecans & almonds, and wholemeal couscous”

Thinking

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TIME TO EAT! Cine-gastronomic travel made of ingredients that are not always well-balanced. Words: Anna Vallarino

Thinking

“

I’m Julia Child. Bon appétit!”, says the most famous chef of American TV. In the early sixties, she showed housewives that another world outside hamburgers and apple-pies was possible, all with the flavour of high French cuisine. The start of Julia Child’s career in the cooking profession is portrayed in the American 2009 movie, Julie & Julia, where Meryl Streep plays the character of a bored Californian lady, who after attending a French cooking course, becomes the pioneer of TV cooking shows. 58

Food can be of primary importance in the imagination behind a film. To find a movie where food is not shown in any way is quite difficult. Actually many movies have food as the main concept: it is often not only seen as a necessary to life but, as a symbol or expression of a specific culture as well as tool to bring people together. A recent movie with food at the heart of it, is Soul Kitchen, by the German director Fath Akin. It is a bittersweet comedy about a restaurant in Hamburg that goes through some difficult

Lights, Camera, Action! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Eat!

hardships. The owner, named Zinos, is a young â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;chef â&#x20AC;&#x2122; of Greek origin. The restaurant has habitually rough customers, and the lowest quality dishes on offer. The situation changes when Zinos gets sick, and he is forced to acquire a new chef. A difficult and crusty expert of haute cuisine arrives, leading the restaurant to become a success supplying good dishes accompanied by soul music. The protagonist in Soul Kitchen is the human genre with its primary and instinctive needs: food, sex, alcohol and dance. The movie is a pleasure to

praise, hedonistic and convivial. The restaurant environment is a global microcosm and the happy ending helps to imagine a world where, thanks to music and food, everybody can find serenity. Restaurants that open and that close symbolises the challenge against the change of the common taste that the majority impose. As the American Big Night of 1986, perfect representative of a hypothetical culinary cinematography: like in Soul Kitchen, there is a restaurant in financial straits, in American Fifties. The restaurant, The Paradise, 59

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managed by two Italian brothers, has only few customers. Primo, the chef, cooks very traditional Italian dishes, without adapting them to the taste of American customers who want for example spaghetti and meatballs, or rice as side order. Primo is inflexible. Down and out, they decide to organize a great dinner in honour of a famous musician. For this occasion, they invite many friends and more well-know people. The amazing dinner happens, but the musician doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t arrive. In compensation, the audience watch an enjoyable show of courses

with a high Italian tradition. Instead, in the English movie The cook, The thief, His wife and Her lover (1989) a restaurant is the perfect set for a story made of food, colour coding, sex, torture and cannibalism. Another classic is Babetteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Feast, Academy Award winner in 1987, it is one of the best lunches in the whole of cinema. Through the way they share the meal experience and the description of their habits, an interpretation of the cultural value of the food is depicted, showing that through eating we 60

Lights, Camera, Action! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Eat!

make our culture. Based on a Karen Blixen tale, the film is focused on the Babette character, angel of good cooking with a revolutionary past, the movie reaches its maximum expression in the lunch moment when there is a parade of grand courses and vintage wines. This scene makes not only the spectatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouth water, but also it leads him to a philosophic consideration about life and the pleasure to live it with taste. Family relationships and food are the leitmotiv in Eat, Drink, Man, Woman by the director Ang Lee.

The chef Ipei Chu keeps cooking while the camera shows what is happening in his family. The cookery tradition is the bridge between the different generations; at the table the family shares food and feelings. In Chocolat (2000) the food is the metaphor of a fight of wider significance. Vianne, Juliette Binoche, a single mother of a daughter, goes to live in a small French village and opens, during the Lent period, a chocolate shop. The chocolate symbolizes both temptation and a way to break 61

Thinking

the rules of a society, which lost the sense of the pleasure and of the lightness. Italian-French cuisine is depicted in the German film Bella Martha, set in an autumnal Hamburg. We see the difficult days of a keen chef called Martha unfold. She is full of gastronomic talent, but she is terrible at dish presentation. In addition, she is not able to build sane and positive relationships up. Then suddenly, in the restaurant where she works, an Italian chef called Mario arrives. They work together, and the chef, full of energy and happiness, is able to improve both Marthaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dishes by embellishing them, and her days. No Reservation, with Catherine Zeta Jones, is the American remake of Bella Martha. Food in romantic comedies is associated to love: it is the material expression of pleasure, and a symbol of love and full satisfaction.

We see a non-stop preparation and consumption of tasty and elaborate courses such as boar, cockerels, oysters, kidneys, lobster, massive cakes, and chocolate. This meal becomes a nightmare that can only lead to death. In this movie, the obsessive act of feeding is a way to criticize our consumption in society, used to satisfy any need, without discerning the useful from the superfluous. Cinema, food and sex: a question of ingredients: In making Eat Drink Man Woman, the director Ang Lee affirms that he prepared the movie as a cook would have prepared a huge meal; sometimes the ingredients are in conflict, but this only temporarily happens. The lot will be able to mix in a harmonious creation. However, as his main character Chu says, it is never the same thing: we are not always able to find the right ingredients in the life. Whereas in the kitchen, we can. At least in the kitchens of Babette, Primo Maggi, Chu, and Soul Kitchen...

Nevertheless, food can be a nightmare, when we go over the limit and the hunger easily becomes eagerness. In this abyss, we can find Super Size Me (1994), a life made of hamburgers, fizzy drink and French fries, and The Big Feast (1973). The latter, by the Italian director Marco Ferreri, speaks about a group of men who hire some prostitutes and go to a villa in the countryside. There, they engage in group sex and resolve to eat themselves to death.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the Chu family, the ritual is the Sunday dinner... At each dinner the family comes together and then something happens that pushes them farther apart.â&#x20AC;? Ang Lee, writer/director of Eat Drink Man Woman

Lights, Camera, Action! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Eat!

The first thing in the morning

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.”

The first thing in the morning

Food

LAST SUPPER

Imagine you were given a death sentence. Consider yourself lucky enough to choose your last meal before dying. What would you eat? Would you dare to try something you have never eaten or would you go for the dish that has been your favourite since you were little? Last question. Last supper. Words: Costantina Boubouka Illustrations: Mar Abad Galarraga

1. What is your favourite food? 2. What would your last supper be? 3. What does that food represent to you? 4. If you think about that dish, what comes to mind? 5. If you had to choose an alternative what would it be?

Veronique, 46 1. Mixed fish salad 2. Raw fish starter 3. It reminds me of my youth and my trips around the world 4. The colour of the sea and the feeling of salty water on the skin 5. Mash potato

Food

Francine, 18 1. Dark chocolate 2. Tortelli with mushroom sauce 3. A pleasure 4. Warm dishes made by my mother 5. Potato and meatballs with ham

Jean, 45 1. Pizza 2. A mixed salad 3. Something that satisfies me 4. Something very healthy 5. I would choose not to eat

Last Supper

Fabrizio, 50 1. Meat 2. A Fiorentina steak 3. Being healthy 4. Hunger 5. I would eat a hamburger

Jessy, 24 1. Thai 2. Mussaman beef curry 3. Family and friends. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a social thing 4. The first time I had it, was at my Dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house when we ordered in Thai food 5. Red duck curry, but still so tasty

Food

Leonardo, 27 1. Pizza 2. Sliced raw beef 3. It represents something I really enjoy eating 4. A nice restaurant 5. The sfingione, a typical Sicilian kind of bread

Nikos, 33 1. Macaroni with minced meat 2. Macaroni with minced meat 3. Home 4. My family dinner table 5. Rice with minced meat

Art, debate & diversity

Social Fabric

Sudhir Patwardhan, Lower Parel, 2001, ÂŠ the artist

The first thing in the morning

textiles colonialism labour capital industry

19 January â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10 March 2012

An exhibition presented by Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) Supported by

Free admission www.rivingtonplace.org

THE FLAVOURS OF MY PAST Food is not only a primary need to survive, it is also a life partner in what could be addressed as a memory book, where we can associate food to specific moments of our lives. Words: Joseph Kern We could tell the story of our life through our food experience. Most people have a particular dish or taste that recalls a significant moment. In many occasions the smell or taste of a certain food is capable of transporting us back to a moment in the past, more vividly than a picture ever could. In Search of Lost Time, Proust speaks about the architecture of a memory, where the smell and the taste of things are the last but still powerful elements able to remind us the past: “poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of everything else”. His famous ‘Madeleine’ captures the power of food to evoke some of his deepest memories. Following in the French writer’s footsteps, we have asked few people to remember some specific moments in their lives that are associated to specific food, flavours or smells.

1. Which food has a relation to a traumatic event of your childhood and why is that? 2. If you had to associate the most exciting moment or event of your life, to a food or a drink, what would it be? 3. As people are all different and unique, food is perceived in a very subjective way. Have you ever tried anything once that you did not like, that maybe was because you tried it at the wrong time? 4. When you are away from home for a long time, what is the food that reminds you of your country, which you feel nostalgic about? 5. Have you ever eaten anything just because you are missing someone you associate with that food? If yes, what? And did you feel better afterwards? 6. What is the food or smell that comes up in your mind when you think about one of your best travel experiences? 7. Relate a food to your 18th birthday, to your latest holiday, to your saddest moment, and to your grandparents?

YUKA

CAMILLA

1. Strawberries. When I as 4 years old it was my favourite food ever, but after I had so many of them on my birthday, I ended up vomiting them all back up and since then I cannot get close to strawberry at all.

1. At primary school, I was forced to eat a persimmon during break time, stuck at my desk. I missed the entire break, because I did not like it and the teacher wouldn’t let me go out. Since then, I have never eaten a persimmon ever again.

2. Starbucks coffee. When I received my first job offer I was so happy I could barely believe what just happened, so I felt I needed some realism to contrast the excitement of the event. So I got a coffee to remind myself about my daily ordinary life.

2. A Belgium beer drunk with my Uncle at any celebration.

3. Maccha (Green tea) ice-cream. I was 7 years old and I think the flavour was too bitter and maybe too sophisticated for a child.

4. Meatballs at La Vedova restaurant, Venetian typical Carnival sweets and manzo all’olio.

3. Pasta prepared by students, because I felt I was supposed to eat it as a way of being part of the group.

5. Muesli and milk with some fig jam; this was the breakfast prepared with love from a love, I have never loved back. I sometimes prepare this breakfast thinking of him taking care of me. It makes me feel better but it still has a nostalgic aftertaste.

4. Udon (wheat flour Japanese noodles). 5. Limoncello. It reminds me of 2 years ago when I spent Christmas as at my Italian friend’s place, with her family. I did feel better despite the Limoncello not being as good as the one I had in Italy.

6. Home made mango jam in Cuba. The flavour was so intense and warm it made me feel like I had found a new home.

6. Sweden. Pineapple. It was the first time I saw pineapple cooked in that way to be prepared as a dessert.

7. At sad times I used to get a soluble tea from the vending machine at school, trying to seek some kind of comfort when I have lots of work to do or when I cannot sleep.

7. Champagne, Viennetta ice cream, Miso Shiro soup and sushi.

MRIDU

MARIAM

1. Food has always been associated with happy memories for me. Apart from once as a child, when I reached out for a bottle of jam it was filled with ants. It was pretty disgusting. But I never stopped loving jam so I would not really call it a traumatic experience.

1. Dogs food! When I was 6 years old I tried to feed my Uncle’s dog but he was so aggressive and bite me!

2. I would say a chicken and rice dish called Wachippa, which is our most traditional food and also one of my favourites. We eat Wachippa at every festive occasion so when I think of a celebratory food that is what comes to mind.

3. Sushi. I tried it the first time in a very bad restaurant so I hated it. Now after trying the good sushi I don’t mind eating it but without the raw fish.

2. I’m not really sure. Watermelon juice maybe. But I don’t know.

4. Good and I mean really good home cooked food from my country like our traditional rice and meat topped with its particular sauce, nuts and potato. This dish is made normally for big feasts.

3. I had just watched this extremely gory movie with my cousin, which was absolutely repulsive. That same day for dinner I had tomato soup and just could not bring myself to eat it. I guess the red colour reminded me of the blood in the movie! Even today, I try to avoid tomato soup.

5. Yes, all the time. When I miss my mother I make Arabian coffee with cardamom or a chai latte also with cardamom. It smells so good and I remember home.

4. Right now, the food that I miss most is Choley Bhaturey- Choley is a chickpea curry and Bhaturey is an Indian flour bread. There was a small kiosk on my way home in Delhi, where you can get the most amazing Choley Bhaturey and this was my lunch everyday.

6. I had the best ravioli in Las Vegas. Amazing! 7. 18th Birthday cake in Geneva with friends. I have never forgotten that because every summer after, I have celebrated my birthday in Geneva with just my family.

5. Some food has always had special memories of someone for me but I don’t think I have ever eaten it just because I missed that person. 6. On my last trip to Manali in North India, I had the most amazing stuffed baked trout. This was one of the most memorable holidays I have ever had, an incredibly adventurous and gastronomic trip. 7. 18th birthday: I was in a boarding school and we used to get this huge chocolate cake especially made in our school bakery for all our birthdays. It was delicious and since it was so big lasted for a good couple of days!

Thinking

CHOCO NOSTALGIA Whenever we have midnight cravings or get that slump in energy late in the evening, to most of us turn to chocolate. Apart from the amazing taste and the hit of energy, how much of our desire for chocolate is emotional? Linked to feeling comfort and warmth? And of our child hood maybe? Advertisers have been selling us chocolate in all manner of ways for decades, but one method that they always come back to, that always works is Nostalgia: the contented feeling and memory of chocolate from when you where young. Extracts Taken from: ‘Nostalgia’s Past and Advertisings Future: How the advertising industry uses nostalgia’ By Megan Addison (2010) BA Creative Advertising, The University of Lincoln UK. Edited by Jennifer Gilligan

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Choco Nostalgia

ADVERTISING NOSTALGIA Nostalgia is longing for a past that is not and was not ever real. It is a rose tinted editing of the past that makes previous experiences all positive ones. It is a real sensation, which medical experiments have proved is caused by an instant physical reaction. The public are easy to fool when it comes to this distorted emotion because the audience themselves create something that they believe once happened, by using only scraps of their own or even someone else’s memories. It is obvious to see why advertisers use nostalgia. However advertisers have now caught on to the fact that established ‘classic’ brands trigger memories because they are from the past. In understanding this, they have gone on to take things a step further, using the positive feelings that nostalgia calls to mind and manipulating them so that these happy sensations are attached and from then on associated to their brand. What is interesting is that in everyday life the things that set off this feeling are actually involuntary negative emotions like loneliness. So a negative moment, sparks nostalgia, which then leads to a positive feeling. This illustrates the human ability to adapt memories to create nostalgia and because of the good feeling it may even be seen as a ‘natural anti-depressant’ and it affects everyone! There are three main ways in which nostalgia can appear in an advertisement. The first way, in which images are revisited and just re-shown with maybe a few changes, comes with the danger that the audience may get bored of what they are viewing. The purpose of this way is to blatantly just remind viewers of a product and to link the product to positive memories around when they first saw that advert. The second approach is where the creative takes ideas from their own childhood memories and reflects them in an advert hoping the audience will identify with universal concepts and signifiers – here they will seek to reference and imitate many of the icons of the age. The final way is where nostalgia is triggered by a small part of an advert – a tune, a prop in the background, a catchphrase – which then plays into the memories of the viewer. Inherently different types of adverts use different types of nostalgia, with food advertising- particularly chocolate- using nostalgia significantly. CONCEALED NOSTALGIA: CADBURYS ‘99’ FLAKE The Flake was introduced in 1922 supposedly after a Cadbury’s factory worker noticed excess chocolate from moulds flowing down the sides of the machine in a liquid sheet folding over in rippled layers. The Flake was successful for the next 40 odd years, but mainly as a treat inserted into an ice cream cone. Smaller versions were produced and when someone asked for an ice cream with a Cadbury flake it they asked for a ‘99’, as they do. Unfortunately the origins of the name are still unclear, but this has not hindered the recognition of the brand. Flake became more popular in 1959, when it was re-launched in its now familiar yellow wrapper. It was the 1960s TV advert that was its defining moment, with a series of young girls unwrapping and eating the chocolate; with the line now so well known; “Only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before”. The ad evolved a persona of it’s own, by using the promise of sexual fulfilment from eating a flake. However after three decades of this concept, it was outdated and subsequently dropped. In 2007 the idea resurfaced and girls were once more used but were made less suggestive to give it a modern twist. In 2008 Joss Stone was recruited and in this advert she gets Flake

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crumbs on her top and wipes them off. This employs nostalgia by using a ‘teasing girl’ similar to the past campaign but in a more subtle way, while resurrecting the line “Only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before”. Many from older generations will remember this; there is a subtle hint of the past without simply re-showing exactly the same ideas and without throwing it straight in one’s face. As a result the older audience is reminded through these signs of the past that Flake is a sexy chocolate bar which can bring sexual gratification, whilst also communicating to a new audience and moving the brand on. MILKY WAY- RED CAR VS BLUE CAR The new version of this advert is basically a copy of the original from 1989 except for a few changes, instead of ‘smart old blue’ it is now ‘good old blue’, and instead of it ‘not ruining his appetite’ it now ‘tastes just right’. And of course the whole advert is now shorter and more neatly put together. At the end it now says ‘lighten up and play’. The point should be made that the good old days aren’t quite how we remember; perhaps the advert has been re-released because of the recession? ‘Lighten up and play’ as a cheery line that defiantly shows simpler times and those who remember it will think of ‘simpler times’. The original advert from 1989 was an obvious success otherwise it wouldn’t have been re-launched. The Suits at Milky Way digging this advert out of the vaults has been generally viewed as marketing genius. Even if the advert wasn’t seen as amazing when it first came out there is something special and heart warming about hearing that tune again and seeing the ‘smart old blue‘ win the race. The message is clear, although rather untrue and silly: eating chocolate bars is the best way to stay thin, and fat kids should watch out for ditches. Re-releasing this advert is only about nostalgia, and doubt that it is actually saying to the public ‘lighten up and play now’ more ‘play like you did in the ideal past’. ‘Remember your childhood because it was fun, so remember and buy Milky Way, because it is fun and makes you happy’. NESTLÉ ‘MILKY BARS ARE ON ME’ The milky bar kid was introduced in 1961. He was a pale, blond haired child who lived in the wild west and always said the famous line ‘The milky bars are on me’ followed by an almighty cheer. He was the face for one of the world’s most well known white chocolate bars by Nestle. Generations of children have grown up with one of the milky bar kids (if they had continued using the same child he would be the milky bar grandpa by now). “The Milky Bar Kid is a hugely popular and memorable character which resonates with our target audience - mums and grandparents - who have happy memories of growing up with him,” (David Rennie http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news). The Milky bar kid has provided much entertainment, along with his trademark glasses, he usually went about rescuing his friends from various situations before handing out the white chocolate bars to other children. The famous song that went along side him that has been used over and over to evoke the nostalgia of the brand is, ‘The Milky Bar Kid is strong and tough, and only the best is good enough, the creamiest white, the milkiest bar, the goodness that’s in Milky Bar!’ Nestle reintroduced the milky bar kid to their advertising, because the public can remember how old they were when they first saw the milky bar kid, what they thought of him, and this then links with the past being a simpler time and again ones childhood. The viewer can relate to this and hopefully agree that their own childhood was simpler and happier.

Choco Nostalgia

MALTESERS 75TH ANNIVERSARY Owned by Mars, Maltesers were first sold in 1937 under an alternative name. The current Maltesers’ slogan is “The lighter way to enjoy chocolate”, with earlier slogans such as: “The chocolates with the less fattening centre”, “No ordinary chocolate” and “Nothing pleases like Maltesers”. Maltesers are currently (March 2012) running a campaign to celebrate there 75th Birthday. They are using a historical form of nostalgia used by other historical brands in the past, where a montage of all of the past advertising is collected together to show the development of the brand though it’s life. This method of execution creates nostalgia from the negative feeling of ‘time flying by’ and passing too quickly into the positive feeling of remembering the first time you ever ate Maltesers, probably as a child, and the joy you felt from a chocolate treat on a Friday after school, for example. So similarly to most nostalgia advertising, most chocolate advertising, all tries to take you back to when you where a child to sell it to you; when you where more impressionable and when chocolate was a guilt free pleasure!

The first thing in the morning

CRAVING IN HARD TIMES If a craving is not a modern phenomenon why is that we feel so bad after satisfying it? It is often when the sun goes down and the night settles in that we are caught in to it. Sonia Lapaire takes us through some cravings and regrets. Photography: Giulia Valenti

his evening on my way home I was brave enough to walk past the bakery, which was probably cooking the last batch of some savoury bread. Not that I crave bread all the time but the smell was nice and tempting. I have to say though that my determination not to walk in was reinforced by the lack of money in my purse. For quite sometime now I have been, like so many, counting my pennies to avoid using one of my credit cards. The first time I used one to pay for a cappuccino, a few years back, there was embarrassment on my part and a frowning face behind the till. But that feeling is long gone, as we appear to have got used to small card transactions. In a way, I am used to the comfort of using a card and the discomfort of paying for it later on. Seeing from all my balance transfers I still owe a breakfast or two from a couple of years ago, not to mention the expensive pair of shoes needing a serious heel repair. Having spent many years yoyo dieting and splashing money uncontrollably, I wonder which would be the best approach to control my cravings for food and clothes, both culprit of the bulk of the debt piling onto my cards at the same pace as the unwanted weight on my hips. It is extraordinary how quickly things add up even when a balanced diet takes pounds away from our body it ends up taking pounds from our pockets too. What an equation. By spending more on targeted food and smaller clothes I wait to get to my ideal imagined size, from inside out while the owing balance on my cards get bigger and bigger. The only diet that cost little is not eating at all but at the expenses of our health with the risk of a massive outburst of some sort of craving in its most ravaging form. A week or two into a good diet discipline and the forbidden food would hunt my dreams during the night. I once woke up in the dead of night, and on my way to the loo I passed the kitchen still with the aroma of the fresh cooked dinner I prepared for my companion. On my way back to bed just by the kitchen door it felt that the big beef stew was calling me with its sensuous texture and tempting taste. Just as it hit my will power, my good table manners were left behind as I dug into the pot with a voracious appetite. Yet, not long before while I was munching a salad leaf with delicate grace, in my best attempt to mimic a skinny celebrity, he was savouring the stew with delight.

Habits

It is true that it is much harder to diet as a couple. We used to enjoy food so much that the two of us put on weight. Yet, over time the feeling of some physical discomfort from eating too much together became a burden. That was when my guilt for all the romantic feasts settled in as we no longer shared the small table in the kitchen let alone our bedroom. As I found myself alone again, I was in yet another crusade to recover some pride from my previous slimmer body and from another unfulfilled relationship. I tried my best to resist the craving for his attention via imagined long love emails and for sweet and greasy food, as a revenge for my lost love and still empty mail inbox. It is often in those cases that I am ready to eat some muffins as I love the consistency of those dark brown delights and the chocolate melting in my mouth. But it is sad to think about excluded foods compulsively after starting the latest fad diet. When on the Atkinson I found myself dreaming of carbohydrates, when braving a jungle of vegetables, I miss meat dearly, or fantasize about wine and beer when only water is to pass through my mouth for days on end. I also have been in a virtual night relationship with Dukan when during sleepless nights I asked questions about my protein intakes and subsequent craving for chocolate. Dukan understands and comforts me with his experience in dealing with other virtual sinners during his diet t stabilisation period. Then after a reasonable period of emotional balance brought by the feel good factor after standing up against tempting threats, sometimes I wonder if all the fuss was about nothing as I have an average weight and height. In a time of serious health issues affecting both the supersize and superskinny and belt tightening for most of us, it is good to put our issues with food, money and relationships into context. Now already in my pyjamas with the 8 o’clock news on am eating a small portion of food as part of my calorie counting diet. I like the variety of choice when counting calories at the click of a button on my Iphone app. Since I can eat anything my craving for different foods can be satisfied albeit in smaller portions. Yes, like any other craving I fantasise about larger portions, a better economic output and love and attention when the dusk and a craving settles in.

Craving in Hard Times

The first thing in the morning

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The first thing in the morning

“Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.”

THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

William Faulkner

Article by Anna Vallarino, Photography coutesy of Bruno Santes

Food

FOOD METAMORPHOSIS

Eating healthy is not about strict nutrition regimes, staying un-naturally thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. It does not even mean avoiding carbohydrates. According to good sense, it is not just important what you eat but how you eat it. Going out for a pizza? We don’t want you to be the black sheep eating a salad. Order a pizza but make sure it is a Margherita. It is lighter but still very tasty and easy to digest. A balanced diet is all about choosing the right ingredients. This is why we like to call it food metamorphosis. Not a ‘crave’ but a new way to behave. Words and photography: Costantina Boubouka

Home made Margherita pizza, 305 kcal

Sweet chilli chicken pizza, 846 kcal

Food

Mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, 320 kcal

Food Metamorphosis

Fried mozzarella, 527 kcal

Food

Cold pasta salad, 378 kcal

Food Metamorphosis

Pasta alla Carbonara, 524 kcal

Food

Oat and sunflower seed crisp bread, 280 kcal

Food Metamorphosis

White bread, 360 kcal

Food

Cod fish with potatoes and chickpeas, 269 kcal

Food Metamorphosis

Fish fingers and chips, 595 kcal

Thinking

Foodstuffs Poems: Julie Gilligan

FOOD STUFF Foodstuffs? Food stuff. Stuff and nonsense Stuff the food. No, stuff the bird Stuff the what? You heard Stuff your face you … pudding face. I beg your pardon… pudding face. Or I’ll … What? I’ll knock the stuffing Out of you. Who? Me? You and who? Yoo hoo! Chicken. You’re chicken Chicken feed. Life’s too short For stuffing stuff in foodstuffs We might as well just stuff Ourselves with food

CUPBOARD LOVE Boiled eggs and little soldiers Steamed fish with processed peas Comfort memories to console us When ill and difficult to please. Pastry, cake and Christmas pud We stirred them with a wish And now that wish, recalled, Repeats with every dish.

CONDIMENTS OF THE SEASON Why must I eat my beef with mustard, the sauce of habit so ingrained Or horseradish relish mustered, takes skin from mouth and tongue enflames. Most of our dishes have been paired with condiments through history But in this global market place we could try a taste of mystery Like custard on our cornflakes or yoghurt with poached egg Or a curried raspberry shortcake or jam upon our veg. Pica pica is the Magpie, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s known to steal bright shiny things To decorate the family nest while other birds just sing. But pica in a pregnancy, when taste is sublimated For things, like coal and pickled onions, the weirdest things are mated Like herrings with a liquorice dip or chocolate sauce on porridge On second thoughts that does sound good though the former could be horrid. Bacon, egg and mushrooms, fried - in such a dish we take our pride But let us swap the ketchup pot for pickle or parsnip wine Now that would surely make you cry Or not, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly worth a try.

Songs David Bowie - Looking for Water (0 Kcal)

Julia Lee - The Spinach Song (23 Kcal)

Led Zeppelin - The Lemon Song (28 Kcal)

Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk (88 Kcal)

Carole King - Chicken Soup with Rice (250 Kcal)

The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar (350 Kcal)

Ween - Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese (400 kcal)

Sir Mix-A-Lot - Buttermilk Biscuits (460 Kcal)

The Beatles - Savoy Truffle (500 kcal)

Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonnaise (688 kcal)

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