gift #18 The Art Of Cooking

I am finding it hard to express my feelings on gift #18. I feel like I received the true gift this week.

In the same way I celebrated Ivan Carter and his community engagement a few weeks ago, this weeks’ recipient deserves both celebration and community love. This weeks recipient impacts our community in so many different ways, be it creatively, as well as taking a genuine interest in mentoring young people who come from a variety of challenging backgrounds.

I am not one for entering into the politics of living in a small town, and for the most part I have sung the praises of regional living. There is one downside to small towns and that is that everyone has an opinion and there are always avenues for those voices to be heard. This proves to be both good and bad at times.

Last night I cooked a meal for Petrus Spronk. Petrus is not only a high profile person in our community; he is also a highly respected member of the Australian arts community. If you have ever been to The State Library in Melbourne you would have seen his iconic sculpture “Architectural Fragment” It was voted one of the top 25 creative sculptures in the world. He also happens to live around the corner from my house. I have watched some really negative articles and letters to the editor play out in local media, in relation to a sculpture that has been commissioned to be placed in a park in Creswick. There are a number of people that oppose the choice and Petrus has been on the receiving end of their vitriol, even though it was a collective board decision, not his alone.

I fear that people have no barometer these days and feel empowered to share their opinions without any thought for who they are hurting. We are no longer kind to each other and that saddens me greatly. I wanted to reinforce to Petrus that he is valued in this community and that I feel lucky to cook a meal for him. He agreed to being a recipient on one condition, I share the meal with him. This was a bold move, we are complete strangers, he collected my census paper once, other than that our paths have never crossed. I was in for such a treat.

 I walked in to find candles filling the living space, cheese graters used as sculptural light shades, giving off the most splendid diffused light. Beautiful cutlery adorned the table and I was welcomed with such warmth. Petrus offered to show me his studio and I jumped at that invitation. Imagine walking by torch light through the garden until you reach a shipping container. As the doors open it is like a futuristic space, with lots of white light, against the darkness, it was breathtaking.

Petrus creates the most beautiful ceramic bowls. They are his signature. If you know Petrus you can spot his works as soon as you see them. I asked about his creative process to which he said “I am like a magician, I share my tricks but not how I do them”. We spent three hours talking and eating, I feel like we discussed so much, but I feel like I will be revisiting those conversations for days, maybe weeks to come.

I feel like Petrus shared so much of himself with me and I shared a lot about myself but it felt completely natural and never forced. The meal was fairly simple, it was chilly last night so I wanted to cook something wintery. I made a small chocolate almond meal cake for dessert and as I sliced it in half to fill with curd and cream the top collapsed. It was not the most beautiful of desserts but it did still taste delish.

Petrus is such an interesting man and he shares his thoughts in a blog, go and check it out, his perspective on life is really interesting. http://petrusspronk.blogspot.com.au/

Menu du Jour

 Lamb chops with sweet potato mash

Char-grilled zucchini with pine-nuts & goats cheese

Sauteed spinach with lemon juice

Sweet Treat

Chocolate almond meal cake filled with lemon curd & cream

Friends of 52 gifts – The lemons to make the curd were kindly donated by Jenni Thompson from gift #13