Chefs and artists alike have a knack for the use of texture, color, and presentation in their varying art forms.
These professions are more similar than what meets the eye, both with the same end goal in mind — making sure all components of a dish or art piece are working together.
Where they differ is whether they use a palette or palate for their art.
Toledo Museum of Art
For executive chef Joe Felix at the Toledo Museum of Art, 2445 Monroe St., food and art go hand in hand.
“People tend to eat with their eyes first,” he noted. “So you want to have [the dish] be visually appealing right away.”
The chef has had a career at the museum for going on 18 years, he said, adding that there’s been many ways he’s tied his culinary creations to the art pieces displayed at the TMA.
From playing off of Dutch impressionists to creating recipes that reflect stained-glass art, chef Felix has connected several of the museum’s exhibitions to the food that he serves.
“We’ve had community artists that did Peruvian work. … We had an Nigerian exhibition a couple of years ago,” the executive chef continued. “I’ve done Australian food that’s all tied into the exhibition series. It’s a lot of fun getting a chance to learn [about] different cultures and cuisines at the same time.”
These creative takes are often served at private events, specialty brunches, dinners, and more, he added, sharing that the TMA’s cafe menu is more your standard lunch, offering soups, salads, and sandwiches.
Chef Felix finds that guests have a chance to immerse themselves in the artwork at the TMA through its exhibitions and classes; by having food coincide with an exhibition’s respective themes, this gives people another outlet to experience the art.
Color is something the chef keeps in mind when making recipes, along with how the different components of a dish go together. This combination makes for a cohesive plate that reflects the art surrounding chef Felix’s day to day at the museum.
“This is a great spot for me to be able to challenge myself all the time,” the executive chef added. “Because we grow as we go.”
Starting Aug. 17 through Nov. 10, the TMA will be hosting an Ethiopia at the Crossroads exhibition, where chef Felix plans to have a menu themed around Ethiopian food, with recipes featured like a fermented sourdough flatbread.
“Food has been and will continue to be a wonderful medium to communicate the history and livelihood of many people and cultures across the globe.”
Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center
At the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center, 1222 Broadway St., its culinary artist Veronica Reynaga, agreed to chef Felix’s sentiment that food and art naturally compliment one another.
By itself, cooking is “definitely an art form,” the culinary artist added, and can be amplified when art surrounds it — just like efforts made by the SQACC.
Many of the exhibits at the SQACC are planned around different countries, chef Reynaga explained, and when she hosts events like cooking classes at the center, she takes inspiration from the flavors and techniques of the various places.
“I'm Mexican and Cuban, and although we use a lot of just a lot of similar ingredients, flavor profiles and techniques are really different,” she continued. “For example, if I'm making something that's more of a fusion, like a mix between the two, presenting it on the plate definitely is an art form because you have to make sure it flows. … With artwork, like paintings or sculptures, you have to make sure it's cohesive.”
Chef Reynaga said she loves to experiment with textures in her cooking, just like artists do in their work, which is seen throughout the art and cultural center.
The SQACC’s current exhibit, Bailes , celebrates traditional Latin folkloric dancing, she noted, adding that the dresses shown display different textiles and patterns, nodding to her point about how contrast is utilized in both food and art.
Admission to the exhibition is free for guests, chef Reynaga said, sharing that the center is looking forward to its Dia De Los Muertos festivities later this fall.
A local director’s take
Art is seen in paintings, drawings, and sculptures, but local director Matthew Johns showcases his artwork in a different sense: from behind a camera lens.
Before his current career path as a filmmaker at Communica, the Toledo native spent roughly a decade working in the food-service industry — both in Toledo and around the United States — which he said has influenced how he looks at both art and food today.
“Probably the most fun I ever had on the job was [at] Union Lodge No. 1 [in Denver],” Johns said. “I still think it’s one of the best cocktail bars in the country. I was very lucky to work with the people who worked at this bar.”
The drinks served at this venue were “pre-prohibition with a twist of contemporary,” he added, mentioning that the drinks were elaborate, yet approachable, and eye-catching to guests.
“When you’re developing your cocktail, make sure you’re aware of the angle in which a person is going to see it visually,” Johns continued, “and then arrange it so that they're kind of mesmerized and have to take it all in.”
As food photography goes, “I would advise someone to light [the food] really well,” Johns continued. “Make it shine, give it some dimensions. … Show them what they’re eating.”
His experience in the food industry has trained him to stay on his toes, he said; it’s the same in directing, adding that today he follows the rule that “If you’re directing somebody, you have to be able to switch on a dime.”
Although he hasn’t done food photography professionally, he added that “there is a lot of effort, thought, and research that goes into most of the food and drinks we consume, all the way down to their presentation.”
From plate to canvas
This week’s featured recipes are intended to reflect how an art can be presented on a canvas or through a lens, and how concepts of the work can be extended to a chef’s plate as well.
Starting with an Argentinian cheese bread called Chipa from chef Felix that he prepared for a wine tasting at the TMA featuring South American wines.
“I have absolutely adored these little rolls of deliciousness since,” he said. “The recipe uses ingredients native to the area that gives these rolls a nice hard crust and a soft gooey center.
“This contrast in textures pairs well with barbecued meats, which are prolific in South America, and stews, such as carbonada. They helped complete an experience for our guests where we want to take their thoughts away from where they are and have them immersed in a new experience using cuisine.”
When someone is introduced to a new cuisine or dish that our palette isn’t used to, the executive chef added that “we tend to do the same thing we do when we visually see a work of art for the first time, and that is to describe to ourselves and others how it makes us feel.”
At the SQACC, chef Reynaga prepared Strawberry Tamales for the center’s May fund-raiser which celebrated the Bailes exhibit’s debut.
Johns’ experience in fine cocktail bars has inspired the recipe he shared, which appreciates the seasonal summer raspberry, pairing it with herbaceous mint, all while utilizing local gin.
A Raspberry Southside takes a good quality gin — Johns prefers East Side Gin from Toledo Spirit Co. — and blends it with fresh and ideally locally-sourced raspberries, infusing the liquor with notes of the summertime.
Raspberry gin is shaken with simple syrup and gently muddled mint and lemon juice, and can be topped with soda water if desired.
The drink is simple, yet artistic in its presentation that highlights the use of the seasonal berry, lemon peel, and sprigs of mint, speaking to the flavor notes in the drink that fills the glass.
This recipe showcases how food and art become one, along with demonstrating how food and art have been cornerstones in Johns’ life, too.
Chipa Rolls
Yield 40 rolls, approximately
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups tapioca flour or tapioca starch
4 eggs
¾ cup butter, cold
2 teaspoons salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
8 ounces grated parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
8 ounces Manchego cheese (chopped into small squares), or any other hard cheese
Directions:
Place the tapioca in a large bowl along with cold butter (chopped roughly), the mozzarella or any semi-soft cheese (also roughly cut to make the process easier), the grated parmesan cheese, and the eggs.
Start mixing the ingredients by hand until the dough is somewhat formed.
Add the hard cheese cut into small squares to the dough and keep kneading until you have a homogeneous dough (except for the hard cheese squares, which are not supposed to blend in).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. This step can be skipped if in a hurry and they´ll still come out great.
Take small pieces of dough and form into little balls.
Cook in a 400 degree oven for around 15 mins, checking every 5 mins or so. The result should be crunchy outside and softer inside.
Source: Chef Joe Felix, Toledo Museum of Art, adapted by Maddie Coppel
SQACC’s Strawberry Tamales
Yield: 2 dozen
Time: Approximately 2 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pack (16 ounces) dried corn husks for tamales
4 cups harina masa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ ground salt
1 cup butter or vegetable shortening
1 ½ cups cane sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
1 cup strawberry puree (helps with color) plus more for dipping
½ cup milk or dairy free milk alternative
1 cup frozen mixed berries (optional)
Directions:
Separate the dried corn husks and soak them in a large bowl of boiling water for at least 30 minutes. Drain the husks and pat dry with kitchen towels.
In a small bowl, combine the harina masa, baking powder, and salt.
In a blender, puree the strawberries and milk until smooth.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the harina masa mixture, beating until well combined and crumbly. Add the strawberry puree and beat for 1 minute. Fold in the frozen berries.
Fill a steamer pot with water to just below the rack. Add 6 husks to the rack.
To assemble the tamales, take a large corn husk with the widest part facing up. Place 3 tablespoons of dough in the center of the husk, leaving ¼ inch free at the top and at least 3 inches free at the bottom.
Roll up the tamale, folding it in half twice. Fold the bottom of each tamale upwards. Place the tamales upright, with the wide side down, in the steamer pot. Cover the pot.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, adding more water if necessary, until the dough is fluffy. Let the tamales cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Source: Veronica Reynaga the culinary artist at SQACC, adapted by Maddie Coppel
Raspberry Southside
Yield: 1 cocktail
Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
5 mint leaves
1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 ounces raspberry-infused gin (Preferably local gin)
A drop of apple cider vinegar
1 ounce simple syrup
Additional mint, lemon, and raspberry to garnish, optional
Directions:
Start by infusing a bottle of gin with raspberries. To do this, blend your gin of choice with about 6 ounces of fresh raspberries. Strain out the fruit with a fine mesh sieve, and add a drop of apple cider vinegar to the infused gin. Set to the side until ready to use.
Add the mint leaves and freshly squeezed lemon juice into a shaker and gently muddle.
Add the gin and simple syrup with ice to the shaker, and shake until well-chilled.
Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Note: You can serve the cocktail up, on the rocks, or tall as a spritz topped with soda water.
If desired, garnish with a mint sprig, lemon peel, and/or raspberries, and serve.
Source: Matthew Johns, adapted by Maddie Coppel
Contact Maddie Coppel at: mcoppel@theblade.com.
Most Popular
Comments / 0