Ecosystem: Digesting the Landscape (2024)
with Alicia Monreal Ortega and Inés Ballesteros

Dandelion, lettuce, turnip greens, thyme, daisies, rocket, marigold flower, plantago, mint, wheat flour, apple, onion, Galician tetilla cheese, oil, chickpeas, lichen, amaranth flour, onion, garlic, summer preserved tomatoes, fermented lemon, yellow chilli, dried wild mushroom broth, parsley, red wine, salt, potatoes, thyme, nasturtium roots, beer, amasaki, oranges, lemons, sugar, butter, corn flour, coffee, liquors from various harvested plants. Napkins of celandine and chlorophyll. Performance, spell, bread amulets.

The meal begins with a ritual in which each of the diners chooses one of the bread amulets placed on the table, a spell is recited, and the amulet becomes part of the person who has eaten it. The meal then opens with the starters: green pierogi with nettles, apple, onion and cheese, mint falafel and Galician grelos, topped with fried lichen and tahini mayonnaise. Beer brewed by Arran is drunk. For the main course, there is a vegetarian Vivaldi Stew, devised by Carolyn, which includes the four seasons, and baked potatoes, as well as a lacón prepared by Isabel. For dessert, we have dandelion coffee, and three different tarts of orange, lemon, olive oil and thyme, served with amasaki. Finally, there is a tasting of liqueurs made by Bea. An exploration of the collected materials, of fermented flavours, in full collaboration and enjoyment. - Alicia Monreal Ortega

At Rural Contemporánea, Monfero (ES), within the SEEDS Project.

Photographs by Alicia Monreal Ortega and Inés Ballesteros.