Neon Jelly Chamber inspired by Napoleon’s head chef, Antonin Carême
I was recently introduced to the culinary capers of British foodsmiths Bompas & Parr. They create fine jellies, craft bespoke jelly moulds and curate immersive food installations. Obscuring the boundaries between food and art, I was also intrigued at their deep interest in the historical and cultural context of the subject of their fanciful creations.
“We are working hard to restore jelly to its culinary throne… Jelly is magical: it has the ability to make people laugh hysterically, is loaded with nostalgia and best of all, can taste wild. OK, we’re not giving a sermon here – but you get the idea: jelly rocks… Bompass & Parr has always been about creating culinary projects that explode people’s pre-conceived notions of food.” – from B&P’s Jelly
Recreation of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral
Bompas & Parr projects have often taken an architectural lens on food construction – with one of this playful pair having training in architecture. However their often light-hearted and quivering formations are underpinned by a rigor in culinary crafts of the highest order. In 2008 designers and architects were invited to create interpretations of their buildings or design style which Bompass & Parr offered to make jellies from. They used 3D printers to fabricate plastic moulds and displayed their array of colourful constructions at the Architectural Jelly Banquet of the London Festival of Architecture – which culminated in a impromptu and impassioned jelly fight.
Elsewhere the self confessed jelly-mongers and experience-extenders have devised a scratch ‘n’ sniff event for Peter Greenaway’s The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover which was introduced by the director, the Architectural Punchbowl in which a building was flooded with four tonnes of punch and guests ferried across it in rafts to indulge in further edible & quaffable revelry – and an expansive glowing jelly installation for San Francisco’s MOMA.
Flicking through their book – we were captivated by their black and gold leaf prosseco funeral jellies, elderflower and summer fruit wedding jellies and even a coffee & tobacco jelly. It inspired us to give jelly-making a go with a some handy tips from B&P. We even visited a local second hand store to scour for interesting mould-making shapes – which turned up gems like lemon squeezers and old-style cut glasses.
We dabbled in passionfruit and champagne layered jellies, suspended jelly-beans set in fluted glass moulds and even managed a flaming currant jelly which we set alight with a dash of vodka. The pick of the bunch though was jasmine tea set on top of pomegranate – with a lustful quiver and heart-throb glow:
Note: Sadly I didn’t have my full camera kit on me this weekend so have had to go with what I could manage on my iPhone. But check out Bompas & Parr’s Jelly book if you get the chance – the photography will get you salivating as much as their flavorsome follies.
Related Posts:
Cultural Confectionery
Fruitful Pursuits
