Wed 11 Jan
Late last night I decided to clean out my fridge and compost the contents of a thousand forgotten jars. I have a tendency to start menial or mindful tasks when everyone is in bed, partly for stillness, partly because deep down I’m a woodland creature who likes scurrying and scrabbling on his own. As planned I had a midnight snack of a tiny mezze.
I begin my day with porridge plus fancy toppings. Solomon and I talk about making generic exhibition materials out of edible or compostable media, like jam for glue and thorns for nails. I also consider fruit leather for wall vinyl and mushroom paper for business cards. I want my physical work to return to the earth as quickly as possible and without toxicity.
I steal the leftover coffee from the big percolator, now cold, and reheat it in the microwave so violently it climbs out of the mug and onto the little glass dish. I gulp the remains from the mug and clean the mess. Before sitting down to work, I take a muddy stomp around the forest and collect sloe thorns with the intention to neaten them up and start a natural tool box that I can transport with me.
Lunch is a banger today; half a half-price plain quiche warmed in the oven with cracked pepper and basil oil; thinly-sliced leek and runner beans toasted in a dry pan with soy sauce, lemon juice and breadcrumbs added at the end; a forkful of festive parsnip and carrot kraut; vegan mayo with kimchi paste mixed in. My favourite lunches are simple but punchy. I love reanimating leftovers or basing it around a central item (normally a carb). Almost always I will search for complementary or contrary colours and textures amongst my homemade ferments or seasonings, building the plate up like a sketch for a painting. Occasionally I chase block colours – often green or purple – even if the flavours aren’t harmonious as it gives me ideas for future snacks for future projects. In a small way I am changing my relationship with food to heal my body from an impoverished diet in my youth, to soften my soul from the rampant individualism of consumer culture, and to cultivate respect for all ingredients as living beings that enable my basic survival and embetter my quality of life.
This evening, for the whole house, I cook with Milly, a talented textile designer who has just moved her studio here. Owing to our well-stocked pantry, we don’t buy a single ingredient and manage to make it entirely vegan (as is customary). I get to show off and pull loads of jars from my fridge for sides and toppings. I can’t possibly detail the process but the main constituents are:
Roast parsnip and chickpea curry
Steamed white rice
Fresh naan breads with parsley butter
Homemade yoghurt
Quick red onion pickle
Banana chutney
Sauerkraut
Fermented hot lime pickle
Dudley has rice pudding to follow, we love double carbs! I grab another few jars for the table: apple butter, elderberry jam, stewed rhubarb, tahini. I go for yoghurt, apple butter, rhubarb and honey. After filling my hot flask I go upstairs and give Sonia a head massage with coconut oil, surrounded by candles and listening to Nitin Sawhney.
Sean Roy Parker is a visual artist, fermentation enthusiast and community gardener based in Derbyshire, England. He writes on fermentalhealth.substack.com and posts as @fermental_health on instagram.