Research  2011  Biotechnology  Food  project  Selected Work   

Biotechnologies like synthetic biology can give detailed insight into our metabolic processes and introduce new interactions with our body. In this project, these interactions are proposed as a new form of cooking, to tailor an emotional experience for a specific person at a specific time.

Cook Me - Black Bile proposes a recipe for controlling the feeling of melancholy. Using synthetic biology, bespoke yeasts are designed that measure chemicals in the blood and alter levels of serotonin accordingly, making one feel less or more melancholic. To do so, the dish is cooked from a leech that has first fed itself on the body. An instrument specially designed for this recipe allows the leech to feed on the forearm and is then used to cook a blood mousse from the parasite's body. The blood mousse is accompanied by oyster mushrooms, a redcurrant sauce and blood sorrel.

The recipe is inspired by Hippocrates’ Four Humours theory that sees the body as an entity comprised of four basic substances: yellow bile, blood, phlegm and black bile. This theory inspired bloodletting: a common medical practice aimed at restoring both physical and mental health by bringing these bodily fluids back into balance. Each substance is linked to a specific temperament, black bile, the fictional of these four fluids, evokes the humour of melancholy. This work examines the space between ancient beliefs and future unknowns, between nonsense and science, the kitchen and the pharmacy.

This project is commissioned by Z33 - Hasselt, Belgium for the Alter Nature: The Unnatural Animal exhibition.
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