Okay, so some of you might remember that a few years ago I was the exec chef, so to speak, for an event called 'Gastro/Dans'. That was a modern dance program of five approximately 15-minute segments, and I served a course after each one with playful names like Top Hats & Tails, The Beet Goes On, and, my favorite, Isadora's Dunkin' Donut wherein a chocolate crepe (representing the scarf that choked Isadora to death when it got caught in the spokes of her open roadster) folded in quarters and filled with a brandy laced whipped cream was served in a short plastic cup whose bottom held layers of chocolate ganache and blood orange marmalade. There were two really tough constraints: I had a budget as teensy as the kitchen I worked in, and my food and plating had to be silent--I could not use heat--because the kitchen was behind the curtain that was the backdrop of the performance space.
So the same modern dance group is doing another show and they've asked me to cook again. This time, the program's going to be more interactive for both me and the audience. That is, instead of sitting in one place, the performance is going to take place in the entirety of a home and separate garage, and the audience is going to follow the characters. The 'story' is in the process of being written, but it might be called Alice in Bellingham (instead of Wonderland) and tell the story of a girl who comes to town in the late 1880's, a mail order bride, who is stood up by her suitor and falls into a life of prostitution. And instead of silently working behind a curtain, they want me and my food production to be part of the performance.
Until I know more about the story I don't know how I'm going to fit in, but for the next production meeting I need to bring some ideas. If I bring some ideas they love, they'll fit those into the story. In aid of that, last night I watched Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland, circa 2010ish, starring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. I have never seen a movie version nor read the book--as a child, I hated anything written for children especially if it involved made-up creatures so Alice and her friends were definitely off my radar. I didn't come away from that with as much as I hoped for.
I have but two solid ideas. One: White Rarebit, a white cheddar version of the classic cheese sauce on toast. The other: some kind of finger food served on plastic-coated playing cards. Possibly a blue cheese cookie containing a stuffed olive, sliced at the bottom so that it cooks with the stuffed end straight up that could be the eye of the Cheshire cat.
A Mad Hatter vol-au-vent is a cool idea but the idea of baking off 120 pastries for the two nights the show will run is ridiculous. What else could I do that's hat-like?
A Tea Party will have to take place with food served in tea cups. But what--crème brulee for the dessert? I like that idea, but I might be better off saving dessert for red velvet and white cakes representing the two queens.
And then there's dishes like red beans and rice that could be called Red Queens and Rice. But yow, I need to get some vegetables and protein in there. But as you can tell, I will have to rely on a lot on foods that I prepare in advance because there will be no other way to do it. I will have one assistant.
And then there's the Jabberwocky and the blue caterpillar. And something that has written on it, "Eat Me".
But what.