We gained access to the GGGarden site in May of 2024. We were encouraged by our neighbor art-gardeners de Onkruidenier to be okay with spending a lot of time observing (and not intervening) the first season.
This was good advice, especially since May is a bit late in the growing season to make any extensive plans for going crazy with annuals from seeds or perennials. We decided to put a few plants in the soil, build out some infrastructure (raised beds, a willow dome, etc.) and get to know the conditions, rhythms and patterns of the site.
The beans grew well along the fence despite the pretty poor soil conditions, and hopefully their nitrogen fixing is one small step forward for that section of the land.
We started to identify the range of volunteer plants that had inhabited what was overall a very marginal site in terms of soil health with lots of recent disturbance. We also started to notice how much plastic there was in the soil, and document that as well.
We tidied up the artificial pond early on, and when it warmed up, got to see frogs and salamander and a range of water insects.
Most of the frogs looked pretty healthy and happy, but last week (THU OCT. 10, 2024) we managed to take a photo and noticed something in or on the frogs mouth. Did the frog manage to find some food or was this some kind of massive growth on its face? Perhaps it was a very small bird hatchling? Otherwise, maybe it was some kind of growth or infection? If anyone knows frogs and can identify this situation, let us know.
Right around the large tree, and near the treeline in the rear of the site, the soil was slightly richer, but towards the entry the soil consisted of a a lot of white sand and shells, a remnant of its use as a seal enclosure, and possibly because we had heard (unconfirmed) rumors that the initial site infill was dredged from the North Sea.
At our most recent public workshop on Saturday Oct. 5, 2024 we did a few kinds of DIY soil testing including using pH paper and counting worms. The site pH was neutral to slightly alkaline. However, much more concerning was the lack of worms and insects in the soil. Two of our test spots yielded no worms, while a third spot had only 1 worm.
Now that the season is coming to a close, we have begun a process of soil remediation in preparation for next year. In 3 locations we dug trenches, added leaves from offsite and covered this in hay (which was stored in the shed on site), and possibly used by the Wallabies which used to be housed here until 3 years ago.
We are also making some plans to plant some cover crops in the new year, and perhaps revisit our research into “Cover Crop Cuisine” that we conducted in Ireland back in 2016.
On TUE July 16, 2024 we had a chance to visit the Voedselbos Thuishaven in Flevoland. Our studio has previously procured and cooked with their ingredients, but this was our first time to visit in-person.
We visited 3 areas of the landscape: the romantic food forest (2018), the production food forest (2021/2022) and a wild garden. The surrounding landscape and context, the landscape of Flevoland agriculture, and large windmills is quite unique in terms of our ongoing Food Forest research. More on that in future research into the MOCK WILD + FRACTAL FOOD FUTURES.
But for now onto some field notes:
PRESERVED DUTCH PLUMS: We had a chance to taste salted-preserved green plums which were delicious. (Here is one recipe in english.) Definitley an ingredient we will use in future Food Forest Taste Tests.
INGREDIENT LIST: In addition the 20+ plants that we tested in the kitchen in May 2024, there were additional possibilities for our next test kitchen in September 2024.
MAY 2024 INGREDIENTS
OTHER INGREDIENTS
Black Currants
Red Currants
Plums
Rhubarb
Hawthorn Berry (Wild & Bred Cultivars)
Oaks (but the ones planted here might be too high-tannin)
—
SUPPLY CHAINS: The farm is already selling to a co-op in Almere, and selling some processed ingredients (mint, lemon balm, Alexanders[Smyrnium olusatrum] ) to others. (In the past they tried juiced apples, and now have frozen berries, etc.) Lots of low-powered preservation techniques, but a freezer has its uses for sure. * Speaking of our good friend Nicola Twilley has a new book out about the history of refrigeration called FROST BITE.
FOOD FROM THE FOREST ASSOCIATION: We spoke to Anje about her work with https://voedseluithetbos.nl/en/ An amazing project and look forward to learning more.
PLANT BREEDERS & NURSERIES: One question we wanted to learn more about was the landscape of contemporary plant breeders and nurseries who are acting as the suppliers for Food Forests or permaculture projects. Are there public plant breeders who are creating improved varieties for traits that are preferable in the context of food forests? Are there nurseries who specialize in perennial or wild species? One nursery near Utrecht we were pointed to was https://kwekerijstekkers.nl/
CAT TAIL PANCAKES: While walking through one of the designed wetlands on site, Anje mentioned that there is a recipe for Cattail (Typha) Pancakes. Here is one (https://www.natureoutside.com/how-to-make-cattail-pancakes/). However, this left us reflecting on our thoughts about resilience, (in)convenience, taste, sustinence etc. when it comes to eating wild or food forest ingredients.
WIND PARK FLEVOLAND: We learned a bit about the recent history of wind energy production in Flevoland. Originally there were about 200 windmills in the area, each owned and cited by individual farmers, but more recently newer windmills have been put up that are more efficient and generate much more energy. The number has been reduced to 80, the farmers are members of the corporation, and they are installed in straight lines. (The Dutch love their straight lines and grids!). As per the Flevoland website “As few mills as possible that generate as much energy as possible. Placed in lines that strengthen the open character of the landscape.” (https://www.flevoland.nl/wat-doen-we/energie/wind).
AGRICULTURAL CONTEXT: The farms in the neighborhood mostly grow products such as potato, onion, sugar beet and corn.
A NEIGHBORHOOD TASTE TEST FEST / or FOOD FOREST BANQUET: Since Thuishaven is somewhat unique in its approach to landuse and agroecology in its neighborhood, we thought that a really important future intervention might be to create a large meal or food festival on site, and specifically inviting neighbors to taste and experience the landscape with fresh eyes and open taste buds.
This project has been selected for a development contribution as part of the Open Call: Fresh Perspectives by the Creative Industries Fund NL 2024.
Join us from 12:00-15:00 on May 25, 2024 at Zone2Source in the Amstelpark for the very first Mock Wild Picnic, where we will be tasting a combination of food forest ingredients and alternative proteins.
The MOCK WILD Picnic series takes two very different visions of the future of food and sticks them in a blender to see what happens.
Register ahead of time to reserve your picnic basket for 2-5 eaters, which you can pick up at the Orangerie and enjoy anywhere in the Amstelpark. Tell us how many eaters to pack the picnic basket for (2-5) when you register and make a €2 deposit secure your basket before they run out.
All the recipes will be created by the MVP x FFF Food Computer, an AI-assisted thinking and tinkering tool for harmonizing the rhythms and culinary possibilities of Minimum Viable Proteins (MVPs) and Food Forest Flavours (FFFs).
This project is developed as part of the Hungry EcoCities S+T+ARTS Residency which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.
For the past week I have been tinkering in the kitchen to put chat GPT to the test and test cook a variety of AI generated recipes as part of the Center’s MVP X FFF project.
The work explores if and how digital tools and AI can aid in the creation of viable and desirable recipes from novel ingredient combinations. It features the MVP x FFF food computer that harmonizes the rhythms and flavors of alternative protein products (MVPs) and food forest produce (FFFs). The computer remixes MVPs and FFFs based on user preferences, creating novel and delicious recipes that are nutritionally-complete and ecologically-minded.
I was curious to see if the current prompts we had fed Chat GPT were working, and if the AI had already developed the culinary expertise and creativity to create great dishes, or if we needed to prompt and support it some more…
Dish 1: “Cluck ‘n Chestnut Surprise Bites: Savory Candyland Delight!”
Playing with the food computer menu options, I selected red berries and chestnuts as my food forrest foods in season, and the vegetarian butchers ‘what the cluck’ chicken pieces as my alternative protein. I was curious to see how chat GPT would taste pair the three and how many other surprising and complimenting ingredients it would combine them with.
I chose a mixed salad for my typology – which seemed to give ample room and opportunity for an array of different flavours, and I chose it to be ‘in the style of’ savoury pick-n—mix finger food to bring a new experiential element to how the dish is consumed.
The first few salad recipes chat GPT gave me sounded tasty but pretty safe – perfect for the suspicious eater, but I felt like I wanted to be surprised and inspired. So I gave Chat GPT a little nudge by adding ‘something surprising and fun’ to the prompt which seemed to do the trick! an array of options from wonton candy land salad parcels, to feta and raisin sprinkled Caesars arose. Finally I landed on “Cluck ‘n Chestnut Surprise Bites: Savory Candyland Delight!”
I managed to find everything in my local supermarket, and set to work. The salad was easy and simple to put together (mainly chopping) However, I did allow myself a little creative autonomy during the process where I felt the recipe needed tweaking. Chat GPT hadn’t told me how to prep the Kale. I didn’t really fancy ribbons of raw kale in my salad so I massaged it with olive oil and salt and put it in the air fryer to add a satisfying umami crisp to the affair.
Although advertised as such, I was still surprised by the similarity of what the cluck chicken strips to chicken. fried up much the same as chicken breast, about 5 mins on each side – until they were nicely golden brown, they possessed a very similar textual experience.
The tricky bit was assembling the parcels. I feel like this is heavily dependant on the type of salad leaves you have. Large, soft, yet not too fragile seems the way to go. In retrospect I think baked or boiled cabbage leaves could have been the one here.
The result was pretty much as promised: Surprising savoury candyland bites. The the tart ‘pop’ of the berries worked really well to cut through the grease of the’ what the cluck’ chicken and the soft, sweet nutty texture of the chestnuts. The mint leaves and snap of the watery lettuce really freshened it up, as the crispy fried kale added a salty twist.
This particular dish was what I was hoping the role of chat GPT would deliver. Something that was rooted in an understanding of the existing salad format and taste paring data – yet offering something unexpected and beyond my cultural imagination. Having the specific list of seasonal food forrest ingredients, and Alternative proteins to chose from also gave me some interesting boundaries in which to play with new taste combinations.
So was this just a lucky dish, or does is Chat GPT generally a success in the kitchen? I thought Dish 2 would be a good opportunity to find out.
This time I wanted to the try red berries with something sweet. Combining them with oatly oatgurt and Veggs (egg substitute), I put Chat GPT to the culinary test with some vegan pastry baking, and homemade ice cream.
I was pretty dubious about this dish, as vegan pastry is an art form. Having thousands of years of experience around the way that egg behaves – vegan baking is relatively new. Since my mum is a chef that has experimented in that field I have seen that it takes trial and error, especially around the structural integrity of things – which was causing me concern around the ice cream cone – for which chat GPT simply instructed me to bake a pancake and wrap it around a cone shape until it was cool.
I found all the ingredients at my local supermarket – with one substitution – ‘oggs’ instead of ‘veggs’ (which seemed very similar).
The ice cream itself was pretty successful! The Oatgurt was creamy and rich – a perfect base to mix the vanilla extract and maple syrup. The red berries were fresh and tart which complimented the sweet syrup nicely. I would have probably gone for nuts over pretzels, but the salty element was exciting.
The cone however was extremely tricky and time consuming. Although relatively easy to get into the right shape it didnt hold it’s structural integrity when the support came out. I experimented with various thicknesses of the pancake at various temperature, for varying time-frames, and even tried putting it in the freezer once set. Vegan baking is quite a fine art that it seems in this case chat gpt still needs to finesse. Back to the prompt board with that one I think!
I really enjoyed the creative process of pairing the seasonal forrest food flavours with the list of alternative proteins and was inspired by the new flavour combinations – even those I was weary of! Chat GPT was fun to work with in this arena and encouraged me to try new things, although It definitely has its oversights! These seemed to be more around the cooking and structural integrity of things rather than the flavour pairing itself. Although I found Chat GPT to be pretty impressive in creative writing, I feel it still needs a little more support and lots of clear prompts in the kitchen for now.
This project is developed as part of the Hungry EcoCities S+T+ARTS Residency which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.
In honor of @wendys embrace of surge pricing (rechristened as discounts during down times due to backlash)…we wanted to share a very short food fiction we made in the winter of 2023: ECOSYSTEM SERVICE SURGE PRICING.
In the world of “Ecosystem Service Surge Pricing,” a revolutionary economic system transforms consumer habits. Here, the cost of every item dynamically reflects the ecosystem services it either supports or hinders. This shift profoundly impacts food and farming, where the cost of a menu perpetually oscillates based on the environmental impact of its offerings.
In a bustling urban eatery, patrons scan digital menus, their eyes widening as prices update in real-time. The once-favored beef burger now carries a premium, its cost elevated due to its substantial environmental footprint. In contrast, dishes made from locally sourced vegetables and sustainable grains are surprisingly affordable.
Amid this economic metamorphosis, consumers find their tastes evolving. Dishes once overlooked, like a salad of wild greens or a stew of ancient grains, become culinary trends. People start to savor flavors they never considered, guided by prices that nudge them towards environmentally benign choices.
Farmers, too, adapt. They shift from resource-intensive crops to diverse, eco-friendly farming practices, finding new markets ready to embrace their sustainable produce. This new economic paradigm fosters a symbiotic relationship between consumer choice and environmental stewardship, reshaping the culinary landscape.
In this world, every purchase is a vote for the planet, and eaters, guided by fluctuating prices, unwittingly become guardians of the earth, their palates expanding in harmony with nature’s needs.
For the last few months we have been participating in the Musae S+T+ARTS Residency. We are one of ten artists in this program, and for the first half of the residency have been asked to follow “Design Futures Art-Driven (DFA) methodology” in the process of developing a future scenario related to food and technology.
In this project we are actively encouraged to use generative AI tools, so this is the first time Genomic Gastronomy has experimented with AI image generation, using DALL-E in Chat GPT 4. While we also played around with ChatGPT for text generation in earlier phases, we decided to write our own script for the final submission, because the prompt engineering for text was more trouble than it was worth for the lengths of text we were generating. We had fun experimenting with image generation and tested out several different tones and aesthetics to tell our stories within stories.
Below you can see and read the scenario we presented in December to mark the halfway point of the project. Our next step is to take this scenario as inspiration for creating an artwork that will be shown in Barcelona in April.
The Scenario
In 2033 the buzzword in every part of the food system is biodiversity. Attempts earlier in the 21st century for food systems to be chemical free or carbon neutral, had limited uptake and impact.
After the quite radical Maximizing Biodiversity legislation was approved by the European Commission in 2028, the increase in agricultural and wild biodiversity has had a big impact on the food system, with tangible and measurable changes and impacts, both good and bad.
Meet the Journalist
A journalist named Max travels around Europe to write an article. His assignment is to describe how various stakeholders in the food system are adapting to the new EU agricultural rules which tie payments to demonstrated increases in agricultural and wild biodiversity.
From radical fringe groups in remote areas, to the largest ag-tech corporations, everyone is looking for ways to make kitchens, farms, and rural landscapes more biodiverse.
He is particularly interested in talking to the farmers and citizens that feel left behind by the new focus, and the network of regenerative farmers and food producers who work to heal agricultural landscapes. On his journey he will interview four people and attend two events. Below is a map of his journey.
Stop 1:
Where: Portugal Who: Inês What: Food Forest Technician.
His first stop was Portugal where he interviewed Inês – a pioneer in optimizing emerging technologies for biodiversity & environmental healing; transforming neglected landscapes into thriving ecosystems through a unique blend of traditional wisdom and cutting-edge technology. With a background as a certified drone technician, Ines has evolved into a visionary farmer and environmentalist, fusing traditional agricultural practices with modern technology and community engagement.
“I started out as a certified drone technician but now I consider myself a pioneer farmer, especially for the coastal landscapes of northern Portugal. In the early 2010s, I was working with satellites, sensors and drones. At the time, the obvious application for these technologies was in the military, but I soon saw a different opportunity.
I had inherited a neglected plot of land, so I began using technology to help me grow and monitor trees, plants and medicinal herbs. I thought it would be fun to mix traditional wisdom, modern technology, and community involvement to boost the biodiversity of our local food system.
I used drones to take multi-spectral images in order to assess the health of the landscape.
I developed an algorithm for helping with the complex task of timing and coordination when planting and harvesting a food forest. The land is now a thriving food forest where we cultivate crops. I grow 200 species: all adapted to the changing climate conditions of the region.
Recently, I built bespoke technologies to measure the ecosystem services this landscape provides. This includes sensors for soil, water and carbon storage.
Now I’m even using an AI-enabled audio ecology monitoring system, to track biodiversity.
The data these tools collect and process is used to qualify for financial incentives, so I can afford to hire local people to do the delicate harvesting that robots can’t achieve.” Inês Santos
Stop 2:
Where: Netherlands Who: Katerina What: Teacher
Max’s Second stop was in the Netherlands, where he Interviewed Katerina – a visionary in education who has pioneered a curriculum that prioritizes hands-on experiences and outdoor learning in the local community. She believes that more humans should farm and work with food, whilst her country is famous for automating everything.
“I run an alternative school called the Resilient Century Academy (RCA). It’s located in the heart of the most densely populated country and technologically automated food economy in Europe.
While students in other schools are learning about prompt engineering and AI management, we have developed a curriculum that maximizes the amount of time that students spend outside in the neighborhood, working with their hands and each other. Classes on farming, upcycling and mending are core to our program.
Up until recently our low-tech and socially-minded approach to learning didn’t raise any eyebrows in the historically tolerant Dutch education system, but our stated goal of creating a generation of leaders who are radically resilient and know how to survive—even if the complex digital infrastructure and machinery of our lives breaks down—has ignited heated debates about the economy, sustainable farming, education, and the environment in the press.
The thing that really got us in trouble was when we refused to serve analogue meat and dairy substitutes and automated greenhouse vegetables in our vegetarian, student-run cafeteria. Now my school is under attack by parents, politicians, and especially industry lawyers who represent the automated horticulture industry centered around Westland and alternative meat industry based in Wageningen. Both industries sell internationally, and it doesn’t look good when Dutch schools refuse to serve their products.” Katerina Baas
Stop 4:
Where: Germany who: Public plant breeders What: A conference for public plant breeders
Max’s Fourth stop was to attend a conference for public plant breeders in Germany. With a schism unfolding the conference was more eventful that Max had anticipated but gave him some insight that friendly disagreements or competition in the open leads to more and better outcomes than work that is done out of public view.
Max writes:
Yesterday I traveled to Berlin to attend the annual Cultivar Collector Conference (CCC). When I arrived, the door was blocked by protesters holding “NO CRISPR IN MY KITCHEN” posters. I flashed my journalist pass and snuck in a side door.
A colleague at the snackbar waved me over: “Did you hear?” she asked, “The Cultivar Collector Community has split into two camps and everyone’s going crazy.”
Over the last year, a deep ideological divide had pitted the cultivar fetishists community against itself. On one side, the “retainers” were zealously preserving heirloom varieties, shunning any form of contemporary genetic engineering; while at the other extreme, the “retrainers” began embracing cutting-edge technologies like CRISPR, transgenesis and spray-on gene editing to create new, open source cultivars. Both groups claim to be the protectors of agricultural biodiversity, so I interviewed members of each to better understand their perspectives.
The CCC niche group of public plant breeders and seed savers arose as a reaction to corporations and governments who put restrictions on plant breeding and seeds. These “restrainers,” as CCC members call them, use proprietary corporate licenses, strict regulation or onerous paperwork to control and privatize biological material.
It became clear that whether CCC attendees saw the future as high-tech or low-tech, they could all agree on a botanical future that was free, open and more biodiverse.
Stop 5:
Where: Poland who: Aleksander What: Farmer
Max’s fifth stop was in Poland, where he spoke to Alexander – a potatoe farmer grappling with the complexities and challenges of adapting to evolving agricultural practices, while questioning the implications of these changes on his own identity and autonomy. The more Aleksander’s farm adapts to new requirements the less he’s sure what he is even farming.
“I used to grow baking potatoes and soy for animal feed. Now my potatoes get processed into starch which is used to make vegan cheese sold in the cities. To be honest I have never eaten vegan cheese myself, and I am not so sure that I want to.
I get annual payments to let my soy fields re-wild and become part of a natural habitat corridor. My biggest source of income is spreading basalt on my fields to soak up atmospheric carbon. It is just some minerals that a truck drops off once a week that end up washing into the ocean, and have nothing to do with me or my land.
I enjoy listening to the songs of the species of birds that are returning each year, but I don’t feel like much of a farmer or like I have any freedom to make decisions for myself.
My wife doesn’t like to see how the changes to our farm have made me less of an independent man and it sometimes feels like I am just taking orders from a computer or policymaker very far away.
Sometimes it feels like these systems value a single insect or bird more than a human farmer.” AlexanderPiotrowski.
Stop 6:
Where: Serbia Who: representatives from 4 different food perspectives What: A talk show about the future of flavour.
During Max’s sixth stop he explored the Future of Food in Belgrade, Stepping into the dynamic arena of The Future of Food talk show where Four distinct perspectives vied to shape the discourse on the evolving culinary landscape.
Max notes that it seems food is a playground for new possibilities and hybridities, but also a battleground of polarized identity politics.
Here are some highlights Max captured from the 4 different perspectives.
Gaian Gastronomy: “We want to reinvent food as a catalyst for environmental rejuvenation.” This visionary approach seeks to transform food into a force for environmental renewal, envisioning a gastronomic future deeply intertwined with sustainable practices.”
Alternative Proteins: “We wish the EU would be more supportive. Our automated indoor protein factories are optimized for efficiency and use less land & energy.” Advocates for a future where protein production is revolutionized through technology, emphasizing efficiency, and resource conservation.”
Whole Meat Nationalism: “We want meat-heavy, simple food just like grandma cooked and grandpa ate.” A nostalgic nod to tradition, this perspective champions the preservation of meat-centric, time-honored recipes, rooted in the simplicity and flavors of the past.”
Cottage Industrial Ecology: “Zero Waste, Infinite Flavor. AI supply chains update every 20 minutes, and all outputs are inputs for the next recipe.” Embracing a holistic, zero-waste approach, this perspective harmonizes traditional cottage industry values with cutting-edge AI, promising an endless array of flavors while minimizing environmental impact.”
Stop 7:
Where: Italy Who: Elena What: A philosopher
For Max’s sixth stop he visited Elena in Italy – The visionary behind the concept of “Air-Gapped Agriculture.” Elena believes that the ways we grow and eat today creates patterns which will resonate for at least 100 years.
“I had never worked as a farmer, but when the European Commision refused to ban the use of Glyphosate in agriculture—the herbicide known for being carcinogenic—I really became radicalized. I wanted to grow my own healthy food on my own land. But I knew that if this herbicide was going to be used for another decade, I had to put some space between my land, and farms that use Glyphosate.
After thinking about this for some time, I wrote an essay called “Air-Gapped Agriculture.” It describes farms that put distance between themselves and any exposure to chemicals and microplastics from industrial agricultural. So that’s what I did! I built a movement in the watershed where I live, where we began air-gapping our land and focusing on the “taste of place” in this bioregion.
Now my goal is working with others in Italy to transition as much arable land as possible towards agroecological systems that are less susceptible to exploitation or extraction. While some Air-Gapped Agriculture practitioners embrace traditional methods, others experiment with AI and environmental DNA analysis to monitor biodiversity. This has led to philosophical divisions within the movement.” ElenaGreco.
That concludes the December Musae presentation. While there is not a visual consistency throughout, we had fun experimenting with AI image generation to create different styles, colours and tones. As you may have noticed, there are multiple glitches (three arms, and other surreal anatomies) and lots of typos and nonsense letters. As seen with the “biodvesrse farmer” and multiple other typos, the AI is not able to handle text very well within image generation. We are not sure what direction it will take just yet, but now it is time to move beyond the experimentation phase and start to develop an artwork. There are many potential threads to pick up and weave together for the exhibition in Barcelona in April.
At the end of September I went to visit my local food forest in Rodmell, East Sussex, UK to do some field research as part of the studio’s Food Forest Flavours x Minimum Viable Protein (FFF x MVP) project.
The project explores harmonising the rhythms, flavours, and culinary possibilities of two complimentary but differently optimised farming typologies. 1 – Alternative proteins (MVPs) – systems that take a full technology-based approach to food production (think Plant-based meatballs, lab-grown burgers) and 2 – Food forest flavours (FFFs) – the seasonal flavours of agroforestry projects that take years to establish and emphasise biodiversity, resilience and regeneration – (think fruits, leafy greens and wild herbs.)
I found Rodmell Food Forest to be a layered woodland habitat of tree canopies (like apple), bushes and shrubbery (like berry and rose) intertwined with beds of leafy greens, root vegetables and medicinal herbs and spices covering around 1 Acre. The layering and companion planting is key to creating the sustainable, self-regenerating cycle that mimics the forest ecosystem.
I met the head gardener pottering around the greenhouses who told me it had been growing for about 10 years. Growing entirely edible and medicinal plants all year round it is open to visitors every Wednesday who are free to explore, and procure the seasonal foods. Although it was late afternoon when I arrived, cars still seemed to be parking up to come and pick specific foods as though it was a local norm and they knew where in the garden to find it. Much the same as knowing which supermarket aisle to find your tuna – !
1: Procurement and recipe:
As Food forests create very different flavours throughout the year and across their lifetimes I was keen to capture a snapshot of the Rodmell Food forest flavours on the day of my visit from which to cook a condiment that would complement a minimum viable protein dish.
I was looking to procure foods for a ketchup made entirely from ingredients I found with a focus on substitution leading to flavour experimentation – using the forest foods to guide the recipe.
Before the visit I wondered what advice artificial intelligence would have for pairing flavour compounds between MVP’s and Forest foods, so I asked chat GPT for a ketchup recipe made from food forest foods in Sussex in September – this is what it gave me.
I wanted to see if I could gather those ingredients and if not – what substitutes I could find. Instead of vinegar, I found Rhubarb for the tart taste. Instead of tomatoes, I used rose hip. Instead of sugar, I found some sweet aniseed herbs called Sweet cicely, and lovage.Instead of garlic and onion (there were none left) I found celeriac for a peppery/sweet body of taste.
2: The Cook
To cook the Ketchup, I used the recipe that Chat GPT had given me as guidance.
I wanted to understand what kind of condiment ketchup would become if the traditional vinegar and sugar were absent and substituted with herbs and fruits of the forest, so I cooked up 2 batches to compare. 1 – using only the ingredients picked from the Rodmell that day, 2 – including shop-bought honey and vinegar – which is more in line with the traditional recipe and taste of ketchup.
Ingredients:
1 x cup rosehips
1 x apple
½ cup blackberries
1 tablespoon oregano marjoram
½ cup Sweet Cicely
¼ cup Lovage
½ cup celeriac leaves
½ cup of water
¼ cup vinegar
4cl honey
The outcome:
The result was a complex, layered condiment with all the flavours of forest fruits and herbs. The fruitiness gave it a nod to pickled chutneys and jams or Umeboshi pickled plums, yet batch 2 also had the distinct acidic sweet flavour of ketchup.
Overall I would say batch 2 (adding vinegar and honey) was more successful in stepping in for a traditional ketchup condiment with the acidic punchyness that cuts through oily meats and MVPs. Batch 1 on the other hand – although still tart due to the rhubarb, had a more fruity puree-like flavour.
Both would be very at home on an MVP Charcuterie board bringing a complimentary forest tang to the earthy, fatty flavours of cultured meats, mushrooms and fermented soy and bean products.
