Current Programme
Wrapped and Stuffed Foods
Papers are invited on Wrapped and Stuffed Foods, our subject for 2012.
20 Feb: Proposals due
16 Mar: Acceptances announced
31 May: Papers due
15 Jun or earlier: Papers on website
The subject of the 2012 Oxford Symposium provides an opportunity to discuss wrapped and stuffed preparations from every culinary tradition on the planet. From the earliest leaf-protected foodstuffs baked in a pit-oven or roasted in the embers of the campfire, to the ready-made fast-foods of today, cooks have long used some form of wrapper both to shield delicate foodstuffs from the heat of the fire as well as presenting a meal in a form which can conveniently be eaten from the hand. From the flour-and-water huff-crusts of medieval times to the pies and pasties beloved of the fast-food industry today, the provision of an edible covering allows cooks to demonstrate skill in saucing and spicing while adding an element of surprise, an important part of the pleasure of eating.
The stuffed dumplings and strudels of the German tradition, the dough-enclosed preparations of the Middle Eastern, Chinese and Indian traditions along with the empanadas and wrapped foods of the hispanic kitchen are all candidates for exploration, as indeed are the many sausage-preparations requiring some form of protective casing - intestines and stomach-compartments - which provided our ancestors with so convenient a method of preserving perishable foodstuffs which might otherwise go to waste. Among these can be counted the blood-puddings, faggots, haggis and the various salt-cured, wind-dried pork-preparations - charcuterie, salumi, embutidos - of the traditional Mediterranean storecupboard. That these ancient preparations survive in modern form is a tribute to their enduring appeal.
Wrappers can also include leaves, both edible and protective - members of the cabbage and spinach-families, vine, taro, maize-husks, banana-leaves – as well as vegetables, fish and meat suitable for hollowing or emptying, all of which are venerable traditions which demonstrate the dexterity and culinary expertise of the cook.
Edible containers include purpose-baked breads such as Spain’s torpedo-shaped bolillos and the fist-sized pan-bagnat of Provence, both of which are incomplete until they acquire their fillings. And while it might be tempting to include foodstuffs stored in non-edible coverings - earthenware crocks and so forth - these would not be admissible since there must be the possibility of edibility, however chewy.
To remove discussions from the purely practical, an argument could be made that dough-enclosed foods such as the samosas, borek and empanadas whose covering provides a convenient carrying-case - mimicking the shells and carapaces that occur in nature - are the first step, once fire has been tamed, to a civilized way of living. Investigations might also be made into the relationship between the sophisticated creations of today’s restaurant-chefs - gelatine bubbles spring to mind - to that most elementary of culinary processings, the application of heat to what would otherwise be less than palatable.
It might be asked, too, whether other more lofty sensibilities are engaged when developaing these preparations than a simple need to satisfy hunger. Is it possible, say, that an exquisitely leaf-wrapped cheese or an impeccable slice of nori-wrapped sushi is an expression of a natural human desire to transcend the functional and create a thing of beauty? Might the term post-Modern be applied to the fancy up-market sandwich-constructs - coronation chicken with sundried tomatoes in wood-ovened ciabbata - on sale in every supermarket? Is there a moral message behind that sourdough baguette filled with sustainably-sourced crayfish and organic wild rocket - or is it just a way of adding guilt to the gingerbread?
Bearing in mind that contributors are asked to confine their discussions to those foodstuffs for which wrapper and stuffing are integral to the end-result, papers are invited on the cultural, practical and historical context in which these diverse preparations exist.
