August 08, 2014
Lots of venues hold concerts presenting the music of other cultures, but a British concert planner has added a new twist—not only do the musicians show you their homeland’s songs, but they also serve up some of the cuisine so you can taste as well as hear the culture.
Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat are known in Iran for soaring voices and lovely harmonies—as well as facing down the tough restrictions on public performances by women.
But last month in the Wiltshire region of southwestern England, Mahsa’s chief preoccupation was the correct sourcing of dried plums.
“These are from eastern Iran, from a village near the desert,” she told host Roger de Wolf and the assembled crowd at Taste the World stage at Womad, a festival of traditional music and dance, as she unwrapped the fruit, brought with her from the Middle East. “They’re sourer than others.”
Sister Marjan assembled lemon powder, turmeric and saffron for the chicken dish they were cooking, while in the background, the stage’s sous-chef and kitchen assistants supplied saucepans, chicken and rice.
Within a few minutes, the sisters step out of the kitchen to present a rendition of their fusion-edged Iranian songs for the crowd. Shortly after that, the meal they had prepared was distributed to the same audience, so they could taste, as well as hear, a little of Iranian culture.
This combination of food and song is the culmination of an idea dreamed up by one of the festival’s organizers Annie Menter, who set up the Taste the World stage at Womad (the acronym stands for World of Music and Dance) eight years ago.
Menter, who had long been involved with the festival in its various incarnations around the globe, had seen how the musicians she traveled with sought out their national dishes on tour, as a little taste of home.
“If you’re away from home and family, what connects you back to those is food,” Menter said. “It’s a comfort thing. If you’re feeling lonely or out on a limb, even a bowl of rice that’s traditional for you instantly raises your spirits.”
She began asking musicians if they would be prepared to cook a dish from their home country while being interviewed before the Womad crowd, peppering the process with songs.
From a strictly culinary perspective, the experiment has not always resulted in Michelin-standard results, Menter said, but that was not the point.
It has allowed the crowd to see a wholly different aspect of these musicians. Host de Wolf invited questions from the audience throughout the interview with the Iranians, and they came thick and fast, on food and culture as well as music.
“The rationale for me was, what’s life about?” Menter says. “Music, food, conversation. This is an extension of sitting around your kitchen table and cooking for friends. “In that situation, you want to share your food, but you also want to share your conversation, your opinions, your ideas, your culture. That’s what’s important.”
