KHJ October 23rd, 2008 Istanbul
Monday, October 20, 2008
By KRISTEN STEVENS
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
Dozens of people gathered Saturday evening in a Galata restaurant to learn to make falafel with a twist: The chef was projected large and wizard-like over their heads via the Internet live from Berlin.
Julie Upmeyer and her “Virtual Chef” initiative held their borderless feast at Güney Restaurant, one of 40 venues that hosted events this weekend as part of this year’s art festival Visibility Project in Istanbul’s Galata neighborhood.
Upmeyer said she was amazed by the way cooking brought people together. “Chefs from the Güney kitchen worked side-by-side with Virtual Chef guests to fry falafel balls, while Galata locals were speaking live with our chef in Berlin in Turkish, English and German.”
Hoping to open people’s eyes to the “unseen,” the one-day fest combined everything from art exhibits in teahouses to oddball performances on sidewalks. In this respect, Virtual Chef’s connection to a chef in Germany, who had sourced his ingredients in exchange for providing a service, certainly suited the vision of the festival.
The story behind the dish
The project began when chef Karl Heinz Jeron sent the group a list of ingredients to collect for the meal. As they searched for the ingredients, the participants met people and explored places and shops new to them. While watching each other via a live media stream on Internet TV, Jeron shared with them the story behind his version of the falafel.
His project “Will Work For Food” explores the labor and barter economy. During the project, he provided small robotic vehicles that traded their manpower for food. The vehicles can draw and whistle. In exchange for a bit of food, people borrowed the vehicles to serve their needs. He received lentils, flour, arugula salad, garlic, lemon and some spices and herbs.
That’s when a falafel recipe came to Jeron’s mind. He customized the recipe, replacing the chickpeas with lentils and adding flour to make the dough a bit more solid. After practicing for some time, he agreed to join Virtual Chef and share the fruits of his barter.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Upmeyer said food was universal and commonplace, though ultimately quite personal. “Eating is the closest connection our body has to the outside world.”
Julie Upmeyer caravansarai.info@gmail.com or julie@active-ingredient.net
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