contemporary pirate cuisine

[rai]

dear friends,

i am a curator of contemporary arts (in vilnius, lithuania) and my practice includes programming of various events. one of them is a series of dinners of ethnic food of imaginary countries that i am goint to host in Puerto Rico next month. i enclose you a very brief description of the project below. and my question is the following: would anyone be interested to contribute (or refer to someone who might do it) a recipes of food of imaginary countries or sort of deterritorialised Pirate cousine nouvelle? it would be fantastic and i would be happy to credit as authors or collaborators of the project. thanks a lot for any response in advance.

easy,

raimundas

Dinners with Rai

Certain imaginary or fantasy countries fit neither to the category of Utopia nor to Distopia. By retaining their free status they occupy a parallel dimension which is a rather a part of everyday life instead of something external to it. Imaginary countries are fluid and pervasive, however they also occupy certain genres: travelogue, Cold War political detective of 60s and 70s, animation films, etc.

In order (a) to push the domains of real and fictional into the most empiric convergence, i.e. food; (b) to play with the culture of exoticism and gastronomic tourism; © to revision the impulse for imaginary geography; (d) to learn more about the possible ways of life; (e) to create a supportive and healthy environment for a conversation about the topic above I propose to examine a set of selected imaginary countries via gastronomic perspective.

Cinema and literature are the main sources of imaginary countries (like Zimlia of Doriss Lessing or Kostaricon of Stanislav Lem). A close examining of a text of a particular country would lead to a collection of data which would be given to professional chefs to be asked to design the traditional food recipes of the country (or a city).

[mongo_jones]

certainly pirates would eat a lot of aar maach...(a type of bengali carp).

[bleudauvergne]

I know for a personal fact that the Tinkies on the island of Cambyration ate flowers and that the Bodoes were known for eating the buttons off the Whisper's typewriter. Since this was an island nation, but one that was not visited by outside creatures for a span of the 8 generations in which Cambyration's history was documented, I could not give you any tips on what visitng pirates may have eaten. Sorry.

Edited May 6, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[alacarte]

Lotus eaters?

[aliwaks]

Contemporary pirates, hmm in movies the pirate Captain always haws these fabulous feasts with grapes and roasted fowl and hunks of meat and bread, and in pirates of the Caribean (sigh Johnny & Orlando) it seemed the had food animals on board the ship but you are talking about a pirate society on land rather than on boats I would imagine that they would have all sorts of fabulous things that they had stolen from other imaginary lands, and almost not agriculture of their own.

I would imagine something very festive and ornate filled with saffron and other exotic spices.

Roasted capons stuffed with dates and cous cous garnished with pomengrates

Legs of lamb with saffron, mint & sumac

Rum glazed whole pig with sugar cane

Huge platter of shellfish

Whole fish roasted in seaweed

Bowls of grapes, pineapple, fresh dates and mangoes

Hunks of bread

a whole wheel of cheese

I don't see lots of vegetables in pirate cuisine though I suppose they must have some, maybe wild greens , dandelion greens with salt pork or watercress

Jugs of wine

Jugs of rum

sticky pastries & candies

I see a meal with no forks, everyone just has a knife and a plate.

[naguere]

Boloney!

Pirates would love boloney on a bed of kimchee .

I love boloney

[bleudauvergne]

Rai, I would like to note that Aliwaks is in synch with the universe (just take a look at the amazing posts and ponder on the mind that could create such poetry) and know that as such, she is the expert on all things fanciful. Following her advice is a good idea.

Edited May 6, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Stigand]

Didn't pirates invent barbeque?

Even if they didn't, eating it is no great sacrifice...

[PopsicleToze]

Pirates would need to eat a lot of limes to prevent scurvy -- so ceviche would certainly make an appearance on the menu.

Maybe rum-butt chicken would work, too Instead of stuffing the chicken with a beer can, it could be a vessel full of rum

[Mabelline]

SWORDFISH!!!

[mongo_jones]

i have to ask you all if you've heard about the latest pirate movie. i hear it is going to be rated...wait for it...AAR!

[Mabelline]

Pirates would need to eat a lot of limes to prevent scurvy -- so ceviche would certainly make an appearance on the menu.

Maybe rum-butt chicken would work, too Instead of stuffing the chicken with a beer can, it could be a vessel full of rum

YO HO HO and a butt full o' Rum might work...

Pearl oysters...booty of some sort...chicken-walk- the-planks...Jolly Roger(Rancher) candies in vodka a la Herbicidal...

[marlena spieler]

Two things:

1. the fabulous aliwaks is indeed a poet of all foodie things!

2. in my clan whenever we really reallyl really love a food, we make "pirate noises" that is: groans, and aaarrrrrrr, and ggghhhhrrrrr,

and well we also threaten to roll around naked on the floor, but i doubt that pirates would do that! too busy ransacking and pillaging.

[Suzanne F]

Planked salmon.

[aliwaks]

Rai, I would like to note that Aliwaks is in synch with the universe (just take a look at the amazing posts and ponder on the mind that could create such poetry) and know that as such, she is the expert on all things fanciful. Following her advice is a good idea.

well shiver me timbers!! oh gosh , blush blush, and of course to Marlena!!!! btw have eaten with the Spieler clan and can attest to the pirate noise...there was this cheese this one time in London

[rai]

guys, your tips are great and hilarious - it's my reading no. 1 today...

[enrevanche]

Pirates would want to take advantage of the opportunity to resupply their larders from any handy nearby tropical island. Thus...

roast suckling pig (wild boar seems to enjoy a wide geographic distribution), sliced with a saber

whole saltwater fish, broiled or poached or fried, eaten with fingers

tropical fruits: pineapple, breadfruit, papaya, etc.

citrus fruits (as noted above, proof against scurvy) to be eaten whole or juiced for drinking or for use as an ingredient in other dishes

Of course, pirates also live to board and plunder other boats. Assuming that they might happen upon, say, a yachtload of wealthy boaters, you could incorporate seized booty into pirate cuisine:

good French champagne

top-shelf liquor (yo ho ho and a bottle of ultra-premium rum)

caviar

foie gras

truffles

Belgian chocolate

...all of which should be consumed indiscriminately and lustily, especially the alcohol.

[Jason Perlow]

You guys are forgetting the obvious - Brazilian Rodizio. I mean come on, its traditionally served on a huge spike or saber for crying out loud.

[eunny jang]

Pirates eat ramen in their pajamas while using their school's T1 line to download movies that are still in the theatres.

Heh heh

[Mabelline]

And for the lighter eating little pirates: shish-kabobs !

[John Braise]

I see a meal with no forks, everyone just has a knife and a plate.

And nothing matches. If you were stuck with a shard of pottery and a nail, you adapt or steal someone else's stuff. It'd be great fun.

[rai]

thanks all for great suggestions! it's a great type of gastronomic poetics, a genre of imagination. easy, rai

[Mabelline]

And don't forget Chinese 7 Treasures for dessert!

[srhcb]

Boloney!

Pirates would love boloney on a bed of kimchee .

My late Grandfather knew a lot of old vaudeville tunes, which he could belt out in a quite passable baritone voice. I remember one song about "The Biggest Liar to Ever Sail On the Ocean" which contained a verse about pirates coming aboard.

It contained a line, probably quite risque for its day, about the pirate captain being hit "in the pants" with "an ossified big baloney".

Edited May 11, 2004 by srhcb (log)

[Okbrewer]

Except for the oblique references to rum, noone has yet mentioned with what to wash all this glorious food down! Might I suggest, BEER! And specifically, a unique beer made with spruce tips or some other exotic ingredient such as hibiscus flowers! Spruce beer was traditionally made for sea voyages as the spruce tips are high is sugar content and vitamin C, helping with the scurvy problem. Brewing such a beer would be easy, a pale ale base with lots of hops and the addition of spruce tips. however, given your short lead time you might have to find a commercially available beer. Alaska Brewing Co., in Juneau, makes a beer with spruce added. But, being from Lithuania, you could probably find a locally produce SAHTI beer, made with spruce. Whatever food you decide on, make sure you pair it with BEER!