Tag: On Food and Cooking

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An Anatomical Theater With Chopped Chicken Liver On Toast (Part 2 Of A Meal)

I’m teaching a class this Spring semester called The Anatomical Theater. On Tuesdays we’ll discuss Western Art, the Classical Age, and the finer points of beauty and ugliness (thank you Bottichelli and Metsys); then, on Thursdays we’ll view the human body cut open, organs removed and replaced, invisible stitches making all whole again. Once and … Continue reading An Anatomical Theater With Chopped Chicken Liver On Toast (Part 2 Of A Meal)

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Thoughts of Gallows, Ossuaries, Bourdain, Zombies and Cézanne As I Once Again Prepare Roasted Bone Marrow (Part One Of A Meal)

To further my French studies, Natalie Holstein-Charron has lent me Alistair Horne’s Seven Ages of Paris.  I truly admire the tenacity the Parisians display in executing each other from the time of Philippe Auguste in the twelfth century to the notorious Cardinal Richelieu in the sixteenth.  And I haven’t yet reached the Revolution!  Here is … Continue reading Thoughts of Gallows, Ossuaries, Bourdain, Zombies and Cézanne As I Once Again Prepare Roasted Bone Marrow (Part One Of A Meal)

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Protein Of The Soul

Francisco Goya’s still-life, A Butcher’s Counter.  A sheep’s head and sides of mutton.  Painted between 1810 and 1812.  Painted during the ano del hambre in Madrid when thousands starved to death.  This was the time of Napoleon’s invasion, time of Desastres de la Guerra. In our featured painting, protein is the key molecule, movement.  In … Continue reading Protein Of The Soul

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Bowls Of Sugar And Cocaine, While Reciting The Song Of Songs With Odysseus, Penelope And Neil deGrasse Tyson In Bed.

Growing up in the 70’s in middle America, breakfast cereal provided me with a philosophy of pleasure.  Of course the sugar, but also the sweet beauty of packaging captivated me and schooled my budding aesthetic sense on not what’s in the box, but on the bright colors, solid lettering, and promotional pitches.  A “Glow in … Continue reading Bowls Of Sugar And Cocaine, While Reciting The Song Of Songs With Odysseus, Penelope And Neil deGrasse Tyson In Bed.