THE MANIFESTO OF FUTURIST COOKING

PUBLISHED: 1930 BY: Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti

ABOUT: The Futurist movement recognized that "men think, dream and act according to what they eat and drink" so cooking and eating needed to be subservient to the proper aesthetic experience that favored. Revolutionary in its expectations of overturning set patterns and beliefs, the Manifesto of Futurist Cooking called for:

- No more pasta, as it causes lassitude, pessimism, and lack of passion - Perfect meals requiring: Originality and harmony in table setting including implements, food aesthetics, and tastes Absolute originality in the food - Sculpted foods, including meats whose main appeal is to the eye and imagination - Abolition of the knife and fork - Use of perfumes to enhance the tasting experience

The Manifesto of Futurist Cooking also proposed that the way meals were served be fundamentally changed:

- Some food on the table would not be eaten, but only experienced by the eyes and nose - Food would arrive rapidly and contain many flavors, but only a few mouthfuls in size - All political discussion and speeches would be forbidden - Music and poetry would be forbidden except during certain intervals

Proposed settings for these meals incorporated the Futurist love of machinery, for example: diners would eat in a mock aircraft, whose engines' vibrations would stimulate the appetite. Tilted seats and tables would "shake out" the diners' pre-conceived notions.

Traditional kitchen equipment would be replaced by scientific equipment, bringing modernity and science to the kitchen. Suggested equipment included:

- Ozonizers - to give food the smell of ozone - Ultraviolet ray lamps - to activate vitamins and other “active properties” - Electrolyzers - to decompose items into new forms and properties - Colloidal mills - to pulverize food items - Autoclaves, dialyzers, atmospheric and vacuum stills to cook food without destroying vitamins - Chemical indicators to help the cook determine if sauces need more salt, , or vinegar

Futurists dishes represented unusual combinations and exotic ingredients - The Excited Pig, a whole salami, skinned, cooked in strong espresso coffee and flavored with eau-de-cologne; Italian Breasts in the Sunshine, almond paste topped with a strawberry and sprinkled with fresh black pepper; and Beautiful Nude Food Portrait, a crystal bowl filled with fresh milk and the flesh of two boiled capons, all scattered with violet petals.