It’s a new year – a fresh start. A time where we are encouraged to start building new routines, to shed the skin of the previous year and allow room for the most improved version of ourselves to begin. January’s are plagued with a focus on restriction – of food, of going out, of spending money.

I want to write in opposition to those thoughts. I want to write in support of richness, of excess, of gluttony. I want to write the poetry of consumption.

The November poet-in-residence, Prerana Kumar, wrote in her post ‘Notes on Rituals as Haunting / Rituals as Healing’: ‘my body has forgotten how to create connection’. In January, if you do nothing else, remember the ways that cooking and food can act as a connector – to pleasure, to community and to the body. Instead of diets, this year, I encourage you to turn back to what has nourished you, use this to set yourself up for the new year ahead. Carve space for yourself in rituals that bring you joy. Be gentle.

In that spirit, Prerana and I have joint forces to create a collaborative connecting text between her exploration of ritual and mine of food. Choosing parent texts relating to our own cultures and favourite recipes, we blacked out sections of each text – creating something new.

Anna Jones’ recipes for Goodwill Pie and Whole Roasted Squash

JASMINE

INHALING

PRERANA

INTIMACY IS A SKIN I HAVE WORN

K.T. Achaya’s ‘Ancestral Legacies’ chapter in Indian Food: A Historical Companion

JASMINE

WHEN MAN BEGAN GIVING SHAPE TO WHAT HE FELT

PRERANA

ANCESTRAL WARNINGS ON CROSSING A BODY OF WATER

I.

II.

III.

You can find each parent text here:

Anna Jones’ Goodwill Pie http://annajones.co.uk/recipe/goodwill-pie

Anna Jones’ Whole Roasted Squash – http://www.annajones.co.uk/recipe/whole-roasted-squash

K. T. Achaya’s Indian Food: A Historical Companion https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fDt3XyNaaYWUSKV_uXBOL15tS-VbEZeG/view