The Inherited Recipe, Constraint #71
Call a parent, a grandparent, an elderly friend. Ask them for a recipe from their childhood. Cook it together or separately, each in your own kitchen, on the phone. Compare.
Reference artist(s): Annette Messager.
The protocol
- Call the person. Ask them for a recipe they used to make as a child or that their own mother used to make. Not a recipe from a book… a recipe from memory.
- Write down the recipe as they dictate it… with its imprecisions, its “more or less”, its “you’ll see”.
- Cook it using these approximate instructions. Don’t try to correct or look it up online.
- Photograph your result.
- Send the photo to the person. Note their reaction. If possible, compare with a photo of their own version. Upload both photos and the handwritten recipe to the site.
Variations
- Cook the recipe without calling anyone… from memory of a dish you once ate at someone’s home.
- Cook the recipe with the person on a video call… each in your own kitchen.
Post your trace on ouviepo.fr with the hashtag #ouviepo_TheInheritedRecipe