Ocular Lab & Jason Workman

Food hosting for ‘The Brunswick Project’ 

@ the Counihan Gallery, Brunswick

sixteenth of july two thousand and eleven

a meal for 50 give or take 10 or so

Ocular Lab has a history of hosting, a setting that facilitates a dialogue between participants, where an exchange may or may not happen, where art becomes a discussion.

tahina dip

3 cups of sesame paste (tahina – raw if possible)

6 gloves of garlic

juice of 6 lemons – you may need more – check the flavour

2 teaspoons of cumin

mix all ingredients well – add water to create a cream like texture

chickpea and vegetable tangine

2 garlic heads

1 piece of ginger

8 onions roughly chopped

1 kg of cooked chickpeas

3 hot chillies

2 teaspoon of cumin

2 bay leaves

1 cup of olive oil

1 white wine

½ tsp black pepper

2 tsp of smoked paprika

2.5kg  tins of tomatoes

700 gm of tomato paste

750 gm raisins

1 kg turnips

2 kg carrots

2 kg potatoes

1 kg green beans

2 kg pumpkins

2 bunches of coriander

2 tbs of pomegranate syrup

6 lemons

fry onions, garlic and ginger in olive oil. add  spices and brown. deglaze with wine. add tomatoes. cook for 1 hour.

rinse and soak chickpeas  and cook until tender, drain.

divide the onion mixture into 3 large pots and add cooked chickpeas, carrot, potatoes and turnips and cook for 45 mins.

add raisins, beans, pumpkin and zucchini and cook for 20 minutes

add coriander and the juice from 6 lemons just before serving

to taste add salt, pepper, chillies and cumin.

steamed rice

4 cups of long grain rice

800 ml of water  

measurements for a rice cooker – you may need a second serve.

serve with flat bread, marinated olives, fetta, harissa and a collection of favourite pickles.

strawberry guava jelly

2 kg of firm strawberry guavas

2 limes chopped

sugar

soak the fruit over night then boil for 1hour

strain through a sterilized jelly bag for 2-3 hours

for every 500 ml of juice add 325g of sugar

cook slowly for 30minutes and then rapidly for 15mins – use pectin if it does not set

pour into a lightly oiled tray and cool for 24hours – cut and serve

fruit, nut and seed balls

½ cup of the following ingredients

dates, apricots, peanut butte, tahina, honey,

(almonds, pumpkin, sunflower) need to be lightly roasted.

blend all ingredients well in a food processor

mould into small balls and roll in roasted black and white sesame seeds. (1 cup)

mandarins – albert street organic

Dandelion Leaf Pickle

Ingredients

A quantity of young healthy dandelion leaves

1ltr water

20g salt

Method

1. Rinse and soak dandelion leaves.

2. Strain leaves.

3. Mix salt and water to make brine.

4. Pack leaves into a sterilized jar.

5. Cover with brine, place lid on jar.

6. Leave in the sun for 3-6 days.

7. Intermittently push down on the leaves with a clean finger to keep leaves submerged below the brine.

8. If too salty for your taste after 3-4 days, change brine to a 10% salt (1ltr water to 10g salt)

Chickweed Pesto

Ingredients

3 cups fresh chickweed

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

fresh ground pepper

zest from 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Method

1.Blend all ingredients in a magic mix

2. Place in a jar and cover with olive oil

Lemon Ginger Pickle

Ingredients

Lemons

¼ cup salt

½ tsp Tumeric powder

½ tsp Ajwain (carom seeds)

whole and ground chilies

50mm piece of Ginger cut into juliennes

Method

1. Wash lemons thoroughly.

2. Cut 4 lemons into halves and squeeze juice. Keep juice and skins aside separately.

3. Cut 4 slits on each of the remaining lemons. Place all the lemons and lemon skins in a sterilized jar.

4. Combine lemon juice, salt, turmeric powder, chilies, ginger, mix well.

5. Pour this mixture over the lemons, press down on the lemons in the jar with a spoon. Top up with water if required.

6. Cover with a lid and keep in the sun for 8 to 10 days or until the skins are soft and the skins give way under the pressure of your thumb.

7. Toss the ingredients in the jar occasionally.

(recipe by Sumagabdlur)