Very Food
Silvia Ziranek (1987)
Very Food is an anthology of recipes, in part reading as an autobiographical stream of consciousness, interwoven with references to food and cooking, and introducing the reader to a witty, arch world of puns and metaphors. The recipes are entered as diaristic memory ‘bites’ which trigger off anecdotal stories and give glimpses into Ziranek’s life as an artist and a cook. At the back of the book a glossary contains instructions for the recipes, which can be cooked as well as read. The recipes are punctuated with images: knick-knacks, objects and fabrics from the 1950’s, collected and photographed by Ziranek as constructed still lives. Ziranek’s challenging take on the genre of writing about eating goes beyond parody into the universe of the ‘meta-recipe’.
