‘Ordinary food in ordinary spaces can be used in such extraordinary ways to make feasting a joy for everyone sitting down’ – Feasting with Bompas & Parr
From Thursday 23rd April, Bompas & Parr launched a series of creative, isolation-friendly food projects. The endeavour culminates in a collaborative co-authored publication through Bompas & Parr Editions circulated to all featured participants.
Bompas & Parr and friends created fantastical at-home feasts and feats of dining, only requiring whatever’s left at the back of the cupboard and achievable within the home. Creativity being the secret ingredient to give it savour. Pleasure is always important too.
Daily projects were outlined through Bompas & Parr’s instagram @bompasandparr and top submissions featured in the highlights.
- Use jewellery to garnish your dish
- Take a 'tongues eye' picture of a meal
- Invent the cocktail that sums up your quarantine. Explain!
- Involve flambé in the proceedings
- Create an exalted personal chalice
To keep the project zesty, results were shared daily through B&P’s social. Featured work will be published in a slim volume documenting the project and circulated to all those featured.
DIY Decadence experienced a host of remarkable creative and innovative responses. Bompas & Parr would like to thank all who participated. We salute you.
DIY Decadence – the publication
The studio is currently working on a slim limited edition publication. Details to be announced shortly. A copy will be sent all who are featured on the social or in the volume itself. Our hope is that it can be a handbook to your personal feasts for years to come.
Further copies will be available through the B&P shop.
Awards Gala
As the fortnight of DIY Decadence draws to a close, the project culminates with luxurious prizes awarded by partner brands.
Challenge categories:
eggslut meal for 2 sponsored by eggslut – Chiquita Musumahadi
2 bottles No.3 Gin sponsored by No.3 Gin – Beth Lee
The Barbeque Meat Box sponsored by Farmison - Gasón Lisak & Nicole Vindel
2 bottles Berry Bros. & Rudd Classic Range Sherry Cask sponsored by Berry Bros. & Rudd – Georgia Masters
Gold Fish Table Lamp sponsored by MADE.COM – Mae Lim
2 bottles of The King’s Ginger liqueur sponsored by The King’s Ginger – Michelle Campbell
Case of Clarks Special Reserve Pure Canadian Red Maple Syrup sponsored by Clarks Maple Syrup – Aurore Delabrousse
1 bottle Jägermeister Original, 1 Jägermeister Cold Brew and stag head pourer sponsored by Jägermeister – Karolina Slup
Bonus categories:
Best Cocktail Photography sponsored by Mount Gay Rum - Emilie Wall
Most Spirited by Bompas & Parr – Professor Harris
Let’s end with a bang!
Ethos – Feasting at Home: Beyond Didactic Dining
In the early days of lockdown we saw chefs and makers do a commendable job with baking classes and cook-alongs, helping us all navigate our kitchens with panache.
As we move into the next phase, we’d like to see culinary content moving beyond didactic formats that have existed so far. We are excited by exchanging ideas, radical creativity and co-creation. Now’s the time to take up whisks, wooden spoons and a sense of culinary adventure. See whatever’s on your spoon with fresh eyes, this is your naked lunch. Let’s feast together.
Golden Era for DIY Creativity
In no previous era have regular people had so many powerful and easily navigable tools to create and distribute creative projects be they about food or whatever they are interested by. In 1816, the year with no summer, the eruption of Mount Tambora caused a volcanic winter that dropped temperatures by 0.4-0.7 degrees Celsius worldwide. Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelly and John Polidori and friends were holidaying on Lake Geneva and were forced to stay indoors due to the terrible weather and incessant rain.
To pass the time they held a contest to write the most terrifying story, leading Mary Shelly to author ‘Frankenstein’, Lord Byron to write ‘A Fragment’, which Polidori took for inspiration for ‘The Vampire’ - the foundation for subsequent vampire stories. If the Shelly’s and Polidori could reach new creativity levels in deteriorating climates, then one can only imagine what will be created during this global isolation period.
The kitchen and dining is a particularly promising arena for creativity. There’s a low barrier to entry in terms of technical equipment and everyone has to eat at some point. The average British person already knows ten recipes by heart which is a formidable start.
Harry Parr, founder of Bompas & Parr comments, ‘Let’s go beyond what people have previously imagined in-home dining to be to create a guidebook for future generations, bursting with ideas, innovations and energy.’
Final Thought: Explode every day
“You remain invested in your inner child by exploding every day. You don’t worry about the future, you don’t worry about the past—you just explode.” - Ray Bradbury
We took Bradbury’s ethos to the realm of isolation, eating in a way that everyone could participate in and offer their own creative perspective.
FAQs
Isn’t this all a bit decadent?
Even at difficult times there’s a place for pleasure and a shared sense of humour. As William Blake notes, ‘The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.’ If you still have health and a sense of taste, revel in it.
At Bompas & Parr this is one of a whole host of projects we are working on. If you are looking for something with more gravity, have a look at our Fountain of Hygiene: Sanitiser Design Competition. In collaboration with the Design Museum we’ve been looking at how design can be effective in getting people safely back into the public realm. That project is raising money for the British Red Cross.
This results in a publication, will there be a launch?
Everyone who is featured will be included in a publication. The best publications have epic launches. Bompas & Parr’s last book, Cocktails with Bompas & Parr, launched in a saxophone shop and featured live snakes and free piercings with every copy. Our high hope is to launch in a similarly spirited way.
I’m not living in Britain, can I take part?
Please get involved. We’d love to hero your work. Hard copies of the publication will be limited to UK addresses, but we’ll circulate the digital files to all involved. Salute from afar!
T&Cs
- Decadence is an adult pursuit. Participants confirm the legal purchase age for alcohol in their country.
- By submitting material, you agree to the use of materials with appropriate crediting within the publication and for marketing and promotional purposes across all mediums.