The Dinner in the Mountains, with Moza Almatrooshi
Supported by 421 (2022).
Commissioned by 421 to respond to the exhibition On Foraging, I accompanied Moza Almatrooshi on her research across different farms and regions across the UAE to survey practices around preserving and using native plants. The outcomes of this collaboration manifested into a dinner/lecture performance at 421, and a dinner in Jabal Yanas.
For the lecture performance, we recreated different landscapes through props and found objects to recreate dishes ubiquitous to the UAE; stuffed dates with chaami, oyster shells filled with rice and anchovy powder, laminated pasta, plant infused coolers, while narrating two voices of the landscape; one that was a personification of nature itself, and the other, a protest against the erasure of native plant cultivation.
In Jabal Yanas, we immersed ourselves in the landscape, cooking on site, using the altitude, changing temperature and traditional foods as our menu. Guests arrived just in time to witness the sunset, and were welcomed with traditional tea, coffee and custom made coffee cups. We served sweet potatoes, sun-blushed tomato salsa, homemade infused yoghurt, butter candles, custard with wild honey to accompany a feast of tanoor mutton, rice and regaag.
Participants were invited to spend the night where we also hiked for wild honey, and spent time observing the mountains before making our way back down to the city.
Photo courtesy 421.