Tidying up my office the other day, I came across a collection of postcards in a small white paper bag. The stamp was from the Louvre, in Paris. The cards, all depicting portraits, were from
an exhibition I visited a few years ago by the Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

At a distance, these paintings all look like normal human portraits but when you get you get up close you can see that each face is composed entirely of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, flowers, and books. The Jurist, for example, shows a member of the legal profession, whose facial features are depicted using meat and fish, and whose body is composed of legal documents.

Summer, one of a series of Four Seasons paintings, shows a side profile of a man whose face is made up of pears, apples, garlic and other summer harvests. His cheeks are apples, his teeth are peas, his lips are cherries and his collar is made of sheafs of wheat.

While Arcimboldo’s work predated the Surrealist movement by several centuries, his whimsical and fantastical approach to portraiture greatly influenced later surrealists like Salvador Dali.

Dali was fascinated by food all his life and declared as early as the age of 6 that he wanted to be a chef. One of his most famous pieces, the melting watches in The Persistence of Memory, was modelled on oozing Camembert cheese.

Dali published a surrealistic cult cookbook, Les Dîners de Gala in the French language in 1973, (republished in 2017 by Tashcen). This extraordinary book features 136 recipes from celebrated Paris restaurants such as La Tour d’Argent and Maxim’s, and is illustrated in surrealist fashion by Dalí himself.

In my favourite quote from Les Dîners de Gala, Dalí says, “I love all shellfish. Food that only a battle to peel makes it vulnerable to a conquest of our palate.”

From the hyper-realism of the big, beautiful still life paintings of the Golden Age to Cezanne’s chunky renderings of apples and oranges, and Dali’s surrealist works featuring bread, lobsters, eggs, fish and cheese, food has always played a role in art, whether symbolic, or as a metaphor, or simply to pay homage to the beauty and transcience of nature.

Dali once said, “Cooking is very close to painting. When I’m busy making a dish, I add a little of this and a little of that. It’s like mixing paints.”

When you start with the freshest, best quality ingredients, it doesn’t take much effort to create food, that like art, fires up your senses. A lick of heat, a drizzle of oil, a squeeze of citrus and a sprinkle of salt is sometimes all that is needed.

Grilled Pepper Salad with Anchovies and Capers

For a vegan version of this delicious salad, skip the anchovies and double down on the capers. Choose bell peppers rather than longhorn ones, which are too thin to tolerate the high heat of roasting or grilling. You can also cook the peppers in the embers of a fire, cook, turning often until they are charred and soft.

This is fabulous as a starter with a bowl of crisp crostini, or atop grilled bruschetta.

Ready in 30 minutes plus marinating and fire preparation

Serves 4–6 as a starter

4 red capsicums

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, very thinly sliced

1 Tbsp capers, drained and finely chopped

1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dry oregano

1 tsp flaky sea salt, or more to taste

Preheat oven to 250C or preheat a barbecue grill on high. Place peppers on a baking tray (lined with baking paper for easy clean up) and roast or grill turning now and then they are blackened and soft, 20-25 minutes. Don’t worry if they look really burnt, the outer black skin will easily come off. Remove from the heat, set aside in a bowl and cover with a plate to cool.

While they are cooling, prepare the marinade. Place the olive oil, anchovies, garlic, capers, oregano and salt in a small bowl and mix to combine.

Once the capsicums are cool to touch, working over a bowl to save the juices, peel and discard the charred skins along with the stems and seeds. Cut the flesh into long strips and transfer to a serving plate. Drizzle with the anchovy mixture and any reserved charred capsicum juices. Use your fingers to gently toss.

Allow to stand for 1-2 hours to marinate before serving. These are best eaten on the day they are made.

Figs, Endive & Hazelnuts

When figs are at their freshest and juiciest, make this gorgeous salad.

Ready in 10 minutes

Serves 4

150g creamy feta

4–5 very ripe figs, quartered

1 head red endive, leaves separated, or ½ head radicchio, leaves separated and torn

handful of microgreens or baby rocket leaves

¼ cup blanched hazelnuts, roasted

To garnish

extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a mixing bowl, mash the feta finely. Add 2 tablespoons water, and whip with a fork or whisk until smooth and creamy. Spread out thinly onto a flat serving plate.

Top with figs. Scatter with endive and greens, and sprinkle over the hazelnuts. Drizzle with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Green Beans with Tarragon & Buttermilk

These beans go incredibly well with roast chicken, lamb, salmon, potatoes, jammy eggs, the list goes on! Tarragon brings such a lovely freshness of flavour to these beans, but you could also use dill or parsley.

Ready 10 minutes

Serves 4

500g green beans, tops trimmed

Buttermilk dressing

½ cup buttermilk (see Note)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp finely chopped tarragon leaves

2 tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Boil the beans for 3 minutes, then transfer to a bowl of iced water to refresh.

While the beans are cooling, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl to combine.

Drain and dry the beans, then transfer to a serving dish and spoon over the dressing.

Note

To make your own buttermilk, mix ½ cup whole milk with 1½ tsp lemon juice, and leave to sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will become curdled and tangy to taste. Prepared this way, buttermilk will keep for a week in a sealed jar in the fridge.

by Yvonne Lorkin

(Grilled pepper salad with anchovies and capers)

Clearview Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Semillon 2022 ($27)

This smoky, salty, superbly zingy salad has semillon (sem-ee-yon) scribbled all over it. The team at Clearview have been making semillon since the dawn of time, so they know a thing or 13 about making rich, toasty, generously complex, food-friendly examples like this. Yet very few local wineries craft semillon in this deliciously dry style. A style scented with freshly baled hay, dried herbs, lemon, lime and lanolin, and boasting a long, zesty, slighty smoky finish. Extra for experts; semillon is also called blanc doux, Colombier, Malaga, Groendruif, Wyndruif, And Hunter River Riesling, weirdly. But then back in 1980s New Zealand, we used to call all sorts of dodgy stuff “riesling’”, didn’t we? Clearviewestate.co.nz

(Figs, endive & hazelnuts)

Jules Taylor Marlborough Gruner Veltliner 2023 ($24)

The combination of subtle sweetness of ripe, juicy figs, moreishly toasty hazelnuts and the crispy, bitter, crunch of the endive leaves is all sorts of excellence in the mouth, but take a sip of this homegrown version of an Austrian classic to wash it down with and you’ll experience a sensory spin-out. Bursting with soft apple, layers of lemony energy and Ford Falcon-loads of florals, this vibrant, aromatic, juicy-textured wine measures up to this dish on the flavour and art front. Thegoodwine.co.nz

(Green beans with tarragon & buttermilk)

Loveblock Organic Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022 ($27)

Now this wine has been out on the market for a while but it’s maturing really beautifully and the second I see anything with tarragon in it, my taste buds immediately crave a glass of this gris pronto. Grown organically and fermented in a combination of oak barrels and concrete eggs, this dry yet richly-structured wine has nashi notes, strudel spices, green apple, dried herb and softly nutty notes leading to a long, zesty, slightly herbaceous finish that is all kinds of gorgeous with snappy, buttery, green beans. Glengarrywines.co.nz