Les Diners de Gala - Salvador Dali 1971

I can't remember how I first came across this gem of a book but I've been eyeing it for quite some time now. Art of food? Food of art? It's gotta be love!!! By some probable misguided intervention of the divine, I lucked out for once and found that Strand had a copy in good shape and at a very reasonable price, so I went for it! It really wasn't in my power to resist such a beautifully designed large hardcover art book, lavished with a striking gold-foiled embossed jacket – generously showcasing Dali's unadulterated obsession with his food and his woman.

It's the stunning combination of gaudy 1970s opulence, abundance of ornate silverware and cutlery, extravagantly tacky table settings, morbid usage of taxidermy, and over-the-top sculpturing and plating of some of the most bizarre/frightening/delicious collages of foods, that allows for this spectacular glorification of one man's gastronomical insanity.

It's over 300 pages of a literal smorgasbord! Full of paintings, drawings, photos, collages, sculptures, philosophies, recipes and food! The shamelessly bad photographs I threw together honestly can't even begin to depict the variety of wackiness you will recoil from or laugh at or drool over.

Stuffed Artichokes? Yes, we are gonna stuff the hell out of these artichokes and stack them atop each other like a phallic monument. Then we're gonna erect (ha!) it inside this grandiose silver trophy cup filled with a cement of mashed peas, peeled avocados and pate de foie!

Calf Kidney in a Shell? Ooh, brandy marinated kidney goes into a soft quiche dough, then baked in its own marinade juices. Simple and delicious – just don't forget to shape your quiche dough into a, what else, kidney! Crucial step in full enjoyment of this kidney-kidney pie!

Dali, Dali, Dali...
Oh, such fruits borne of overindulging a hungry madness!

 

I especially dig the section titles of the meats and the aphrodisiacs

 

Dali & Co.

 

The other good death to die

 

Anatomy of our brains here at Death by Drone

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy chicken dinner

 

"Oasis Leek Pie"

 

 

"Bush of crayfish in Viking herbs"

 

"Veal cutlets stuffed with snails" and "Frog Pasties"

 "The Breast of Venus"

 Eat on! Eat strong!

Avec Eric!

Been on a marathon of Avec Eric!

Beautifully shot with great food, wine, places and excursions! Love his easy humor and how he describes food, nature, life, spirituality with such grounded passion.

Anyway, there's something really really really special waiting at the Strand bookstore relating to...

Dali – artist, visionaire, food obsessed, awesome titler

Average French Bread with Two Eggs on the Plate without the Plate, on Horseback, Attempting to Sodomize a Crumb of Portugese Bread 1932

Image obtained from Salvador Dali Catalog

Retrospective Bust of a Woman 1933

Image obtained from Moma

In the country

I recently spent some time up in boston visiting my dear friend W. Besides bringing me around to her favorite new (and old) places to eat, satisfying my lobster fix, getting drunk together at a scrumptious dinner party by a wonderful host, hitting up the thrift stores with me, and entertaining me with fascinating tidbits of her life as a medical researcher (growing human ears on mice, slicing cadavers and hairy dead knee parts, sitting in on haitian voodoo healing rituals, medical journals that reveal the horrors of laundromat hygiene pertaining to the human sperm, etc),

we also spent some time in the Massachusetts countryside and visited a vegetable farm. It was one of those anomalies in the fall weather where it was warm enough for us to scurry about the farm grounds wearing just a single layer of clothing. It felt amazing to be out in the countryside under such clear blue skies with no buildings or traffic or anything, feeling both the warmth of the sun and the crisp cool fall air tingling against your skin. Running around, scampering about and digging amongst the different patches to see what surprises laid beneath. Pumpkin, squash, carrots, turnips, leeks, lettuces, collards and other various leafy greens, herbs - fresh cilantro!!!! yummmmmmm.......... Too bad I had to leave before we got around to cooking them up. Though W did use the produce as part of the cooking school tutorials she posts.

She made pumpkin sweetened by boiling with dashi, salt, mirin (Japanese sweet wine) and sugar. Delicious stuff!










W mid drunken prance on the T


I cannot stress enough how much I love cilantro! Perhaps this photo helps.




Lettuce Patch


Lettuce Galore - romaine, butter, mesclun!


My life forever

I shall leave you with Sleepy Sun - if they come to your town, you HAVE to see them. This is one of the slower mellower songs off the album.

Play "Lord" by Sleepy Sun
From the album Embrace - 2009 - 5:39