mustard night menu

Mustard Night. Photo: Steven Hien

Mustard Night: Dijon Appetizers. Photo: Dimitris Papanikolaou

Mustard Menu: Main. Photo: Steven Hien

Mustard Night: Seed Dessert. Photo: Dimitris Papanikolaou

Mustard Night, The Menu

Mustard Night has been the (accompanying) culinary event for Photodotes III: Plug-n-Plant opening on May 31st, 2013. Mustard Νight explored a series of culinary creations through recipes based on mustard seeds and mustard.  Why mustard? The mustard seeds used for the event link directly with the potential of having edible resources within structures. Photodotes III plants, which document the presence of the ever-changing natural light through their growth, have been Arabidopsis Thaliana (during the first phase). Kristophe Diaz, plant scientist, and biologist, had proposed Arabidopsis for the nature-tectonic habitat, due to them being a well known model system in science. Besides being useful to science, this plant is also a member of the mustard (Brassicaceae) family, which includes cultivated species such as cabbage and radish. 

Possibly due to their name (deriving from the older Cruciferae that means "cross-bearing") and shape (the four petals of mustard flowers) linked to the cross,  these plants have a symbolic presence in religion (Christianity). Maria Cecilia Aguilar Holt, a historian of Christianity, and also PhD candidate from Harvard Divinity School, from Philippines, revealed the humble aspect of the plants, as it appears in the Mustard Seeds parable. From Wikipedia one can find the parable (the Gospel of Matthew version):

"He set another parable before them, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.'"

Matthew 13:31–32, World English Bible

Both Arabidopsis being the humble model system in biology, and mustard seeds also being the humble plant in religion, offer maximum possibilities through their minimum self. As food and culinary habits seem to become overcomplicated due to long, and unknown processes of production, one can start thinking how much variation, expansion can occur out of one simple, basic ingredient, like the mustard seeds. 

The display of the three dishes (Dijon Appetizers, Main, and Seed Dessert), in three different tables creates a spatial separation of the meal experience to allow each part (of the meal) to be both the center of attention, and a social opportunity for the guests around it. More adventurous tasters can migrate the recipes from one table to the other to further synthesize the combinatory possibilities and to also enhance the edible experience. In a way, beyond the healthy yet tasteful experience, Mustard Night suggests an alternative lifestyle, that of being humble. Can architecture follow?