SOUPER III took place at In De Ruimte, Ghent, 17-18/07/2018
Le Maga, Brussels, 24/11/2018
Come Di, Heusden, 25/05/2019
SOUPER III, a diner performance in eight courses.
As usual TAFEL questions the relation between word and thing – what you see isn’t always what you get. The third edition is one of a surrealist mind and follows the rhythm of the dreamlike movie The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1968).
This is an attempt to expand the moving image into taste and aroma and therefore a lucidity of all senses. How will vision, sound and movement influence and mislead the flavors of our menu?
In a set space and time, you’ll float through the orchestrated menu from dawn till dusk, from youth to matured.
The menu below is meant to be a synesthetic experience, a confusion, a clash. It fools with expectations based on color, sound and smells. The dinner copies the gestures of the actors, their sounds, their clothes and the objects they manipulate… but in a-chronological order.
course one, transparency
homemade gin with lychee and sparkling water
gin infused with juniper, red pepper, pink grapefruit, rose petals, maple syrup
rice crackers
pour the water in the glass, keep on pouring and spill on the table to produce the sound of streaming water, serve the rice crackers by cracking and crumbling the cracker on the table
course two, red
cashew nut cheese ball with tomato paste
crust of puffed amaranth and smoked paprika
offer the balls on a tray hanging and swinging on a stick
course three, white
cauliflower banana leaf wrap with macadamia sauce
check the recipe here
make the first cut in the blackened grilled wrap in front of the guest, serve the sauce on top of the wrap
course four, gold
golden line seed crackers, edible yellow flowers, chickpea tofu, physalis, peach, yellow courgette, yellow tomato, yellow beetroot, corn, sesame
the sound of pomegranates eaters, the smell of chamomile
the dish is a landscape hidden behind a carpet
guests have to move to another space and everyone eats from the same table
course five, black
marinated mushroom carpaccio, carbon, black olives, beluga lentils, black garlic, black sesame and a saus of nigella seeds and dates
the smell of smoked kardemom
course six, various colors
maple cotton candy, fluffy vanilla merengue sauce and a almond and dried fruits cake (goji, mango, kiwi, pineapple, blue berry)
check the recipe here
give the cake to the first guest, let him/her rip off a piece and pass on to the person next to him/her
external hand principle
serve the sauce on top of the cake, serve the candy on a stick
course seven, variegated
dried sour cherry and dark chocolate bonbons with coffee kombucha
serve the bonbon by throwing it in a metal bowl and offering the bowl to the guest
ask the guest to close his/her eyes
check the recipe here
course eight, black and mature
miso ice cream, plums flambé in saké, umeboshi and baked moshi, a touch of basil
serve quickly before the film is finished
thanks to nadine vzw, Brussels, Wandering Arts Biennial and In De Ruimte, Ghent
image © The Color of Pomegranates, S. Parajanov, 1968