Ecosystem: Another Jam Session (2023)
with Alicia Monreal Ortega and Inés Ballesteros

Clay, yeast, garlic, heather honey, sea salt, quince, sour oranges, bread, cabbage, carrot, rosemary, chilly, red onion, fennel, espino albar, grape, beetroot, pomegranate, persimmon, soil, various microbial bodies.

Working with and from the soil, fruits and vegetables and various microbial bodies, this is an edible poem on the ecosystem of Montemor-o-Novo. From the soil, Inês and Alicia created cutlery and crockery that hosted live yeast through the obvara technique. On them, they served lacto-fermented vegetables, pickled foods, bubbling beverages and traditional jams from seasonal ingredients foraged, harvested and offered by their surroundings. Using the leftovers of these cooking actions, Inés made inks and dyes from which they presented a collaborative fermentation recipe book. This body of work brings to the table a reflection on the condition of the individual as a multitude of species in symbiosis.

At Oficinas do Convento, Montemor-o-Novo (PT), within the SEEDS Project.

Photographs by Alicia Monreal Ortega.