Friday, August 30, 2013

JW Turner. Art and French Cooking with Rachel Khoo

Can you combine art and cooking?  Yes, yes and yes.  Rachel Khoo the star of "Little French Kitchen," shows us how in this You Tube video.

In my last post, I wrote about my new favorite cooking show,  "Little French Kitchen."  She is on the Cooking Channel and if you cannot see it, you might try You Tube where snippets of her show are shown.

In this episode, she combines one of my favorite artists, JW Turner with a cooking lesson, but through the magic of You Tube, you can glimpse a few of Turner's earlier works at the Tate Gallery in London.

His art is amazing and if you are ever in London it is worth the trip by the London tube and bit of a walk.  Years ago my family and I were visiting London and we did visit the Tate, albeit soaking wet.  Yes we ran into a horrific rain storm on our way over to the museum, and even our umbrella's turned inside out.  As we dripped our way inside, no one even looked our way as we paid our fee, checked our umbrellas and made our way to the Turners.  I was freezing, wet and miserable and felt very sorry for myself.  Here I was amidst these magnificent paintings which I had waited for so long to actually see and all I could think of was how wet I was.  But, I told myself, here is your chance, get over it.  And I did.  Looking at the larger paintings, you felt as if you could just keep walking and walk inside the painting.  His colors are wonderful, the sea, the sky, very abstract for his time.


In the talented Ms Khoos segment, you can see a few of his earlier works and enjoy her recipe, "Quick Pickled Sardines." She also sketches food and ideas for her show and makes me appreciate that there is beauty and creativity everywhere. 

16 comments:

  1. I remember the Turners at the Tate. I was too young to really appreciate art, but the Turners made me stop and take notice.

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  2. Now there is something called "Tate Modern," which I have not seen, but I would still go back and look at the Turners. I am still hoping to go back sometime, but it does not look like the near future.

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  3. This is so creative! I'm glad I watched that.

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    1. To take colors from a painting and create a dish from the inspiration, plus make a little sketch, made me appreciate Ms. Khoo even more. Glad you liked it.

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  4. Hi Tasha .. lovely post and what a talented lady ... I recently watched a tv programme on Turner and the Industrial Revolution .. it's waiting here for me to write about!

    I love the way Rachel Khoo ties together a simple dish, a sea fish, with Turner's colours .. love the post - thanks .. Cheers Hilary

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    1. Turner -- the colors -- will look forward to your post.

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  5. Hi Tasha .. the Wikipedia introductory paragraph gives you an idea of the various Tates now! I want to go to the Cornish one in St Ives 'my home from home' of many years .. and have yet to make it.

    Perhaps I will sometime soon as I need to get down to Cornwall ...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate

    Meant to add this to my first comment! H

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    1. "As I was going to St. Ives, I met seven wives ...." I just checked out Wikipedia -- what a resource! Need to go back and read it in depth.

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  6. I am currently reading White Truffles in Winter...the tale of Efcoffier the father of French cuisine. Reading about Sarah Bernhardt and her art is a fascinating story when combined with the great kitchens and what went on in them.
    Have been to Tate Modern. Excellent.

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  7. Hi Denise: "Truffles" is on my list. Thank you for the suggestion. Will also add Tate Modern to my list, I don't like all modern art, especially the things that don't seem to have much thought behind them. Saw a room full of dirt in one museum. Yes, I could take some meaning from it about what -- the futility of life, ashes to ashes, etc. etc, but art?

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  8. i think of cooking as art--sometimes---i think i saw this cooking show--just today :)

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  9. I think is can be art but not everyday for me. Guess I don't have the "chef" genes.

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  10. I definitely agree that food can be art - and photographing food is the most challenging of any photography I've ever done!

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  11. Hi Martha: It must be the lighting? But it does make or break a cookbook. And now cookbook readers expect so much.

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  12. This would be perfect for my daughter, a fab cook and an artist. I'll have to show her. However, I personally don't care for sardines.

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    1. I liked the Turner connection. I don't think I have ever eaten sardines except out of a can.

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