Wednesday, July 22

The Food Of Love

In Real Life I’m a cook, these days I take short cooking jobs and fit them around the work going on at the production house. In my early cooking days I catered for pop stars and I still do quite lot of work with children, but it tends to be non-musical events. I am therefore, really excited, about  my job this weekend at WOMAD, a music festival set in a vast parkland strewn with people performing songs and dancing, I'm especially looking forward to seeing these people.






One of the performance tents has a stage set with a kitchen – artists, who are also performing on the larger stages, come here and cook something for the public who come to watch the spectacle - it’s like Food Art with music.


My role in all this? I am The Girl Who Shops; I get sent details of what the musicians want to make, I buy the ingredients, make sure they have enough of the right sorts of pots, and when the cooking gets going I might end up stirring a sauce while they toss pancakes.

My shopping list includes ‘crumbs of salt cod’, chorizo, smoked ham and ‘moong divide', the Food Events start with Cuban Chicken on Friday and end with a rock ‘n’ roll breakfast on Sunday evening (Kalua and Coco pops and a demonstration of the sort of meals you can make inside a hotel kettle).

the musicians often send accompanying notes, placing their choice of dish in context. Many WOMAD performers are in some way exiled from their homeland, Mariam Hassan is currently resident in Spain, she will be making a lamb dish from the Sahara, to finish she will serve 3 different sorts of tea, the first will be As Bitter as Life, the second will be As Sweet as Love and the third will be As Soft as Death.

22 comments:

  1. You are just full of surprises.

    And, I can see the linkage between prepping for cooking and doing similar prep work for a video production.

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  2. jeebusgod!
    please
    please can i be your assistant??

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  3. y'all are the most fascinating woman i know, sugar! ;~D xoxoxo

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  4. What a wonderful gig. Have fun!


    PS: I really like the sound of the 17 HIPPIES. Thank you for that tip.

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  5. Wow, what a job - and the Skatalites too! I used to love WOMAD, I even performed there once, though have preferred to forget the experience.

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  6. You have to be the coolest person in blogland - everything you do is just so unusual and interesting - I'm quite jealous (but in a good way)

    Have fun at Womad and I hope the heat stays away and you keep cool in the kitchen. I could never prep stuff with lots of people watching - you knock 'em out!

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  7. Bill - Surprises are Good

    TP - I would love you to be my assistant, can you be here by 10?

    Sav - Thank you

    xl - Thanks - I am really looking forward to seeing the hippies but from past experience, there will be at least 10 other bands even more amazing.

    Gadj - I want to hear about your performance at WOMAD.

    Frenchie - Thank you. I'm more worried about rain at the moment, but you're right, heat in the kitchen is exhausting.

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  8. What is 'moong divide'?
    I wish I could cook!
    Sx

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  9. "Crumbs of salt codfish"- at All Souls they make that into a sauce (merluche) for turbot; do let us know how it turns out.

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  10. Sounds like a hell of a good time to me...except for the work of course.

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  11. I volunteer to be your official Kahlua taster.

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  12. Sounds like fun - exciting. Looking forward to the details.

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  13. Scarlet - 'moong divide' = split mung beans of course!


    Inky - Your interest in All Souls might be considered excessive, I'll report back on what the Spaniards decide to do with it.


    BB - it is my idea of a good time but might nt suit everyone


    MJ - I plan to start Kalua/Coco Pop parties - will you come?


    alphawoman - Okey Dokey!

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  14. But I've never seen a mung bean..
    Sx

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  15. Well, I'm suitably impressed.

    Do we get the leftovers?

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  16. Scarls - apparently they're easily confused with opium

    Kev - I get to eat all the leftovers and MJ gets the end of the Kalua - sorry!

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  17. Yup, you are cool, the very essence of cool. I am now officially envious of your abilities. Can you make my tea tonight?

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  18. I love food. Still never had a Vindaloo, though. Not ever, apart from one out the tin in Slovakia, but it was one by name only.

    Will there be guacomole at your gig. I love that too.

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  19. Madame Def - I may start a Meals on Wheels service for Elegantly Distressed Gentlewomen.

    Mr Marks - Isn't Vindaloo a song by footballers?

    No Guac this year but you'd have loved the rock n roll breakfast.

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  20. Oh Lulu it sounds great. It could however become a nightmare if you need to get weird ingredients at short notice. Bonne chance. (You can probably tell I'm slightly envious too.)

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  21. I did have a Pancetta Panic mid-weekend

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  22. Fascinating.

    (Retiring to snack on crumbs of cod)

    Moo!

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