The Fictional Recipe by Moza Almatrooshi
OCTOBER 2021 and MARCH 2023
In this session Moza led the participants through a series of writing prompts that transported the recipe from being a functional document to a literary piece. The Fictional Recipe was concerned with unlearning romanticisation and nostalgia, moving participants to address food and recipe writing as nuanced spaces of knowledge. The kitchen and the recipe were no longer spaces of production and warmth but a mythical story, a battleground and a prison. Participants further performed gestures in the kitchen, where exaggerated movements of the mundane prompted them to think about sound and choreography as integral parts of their final outcomes. This was the second iteration of Moza’s workshop.
The first, taking place in 2021 invited the public to participate, and among the recipes were: Barbie Pink Pasta, Gajar Ka Halwa, Maca Blanca, Kareli Ki Sabji and Pancakes
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About Moza Almatrooshi
Moza Almatrooshi (b. 1991- Dubai, UAE) in her practice looks at narratives from ancient and contemporary mythologies in the Arabian Peninsula, and the ways in which they uphold nation building techniques. This culminates in fictions and metaphors derived from regional food production practices and food politics. In 2019 Moza gained an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art (UK) and a diploma in culinary arts from ICCA Dubai (UAE) in 2020. Her artworks have been performed in the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), selected by the ICA and BBC for the New Creatives project, and displayed in the second Lahore Biennale. Her writings have been published in ArabLit Quarterly, and by the Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo. She currently runs her practice and works as a pastry chef.