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Mojca Polak

Kitchen Grinder

Sweet

Material:
Wood and metal.
Description:

A decorative plate by the manufacturer PEUGEOT, with the year not fully decipherable.

Size:
15 x 15cm
Age:
About 75 years.
Method of Acquisition:
Inherited from my grandmother, in 2005.
Item Owner, Age and Location:
Mojca Polak
, 46,
Nicholas
Date of Submission:
19. 1. 2021
Story:

The secret to a better poppy

 

My grandmother, Marjeta Polak, received the Peugeot grinder as a gift from her sister, who emigrated to France (Mulhouse) after World War II. My grandmother primarily used it for grinding poppy seeds, especially for making Prekmurje gibanica and other traditional pastries, fro the region as she was originally from Beltinci in Prekmurje. She often claimed that poppy seeds ground in this grinder had a better texture and taste than store-bought ground seeds, since electric grinders can overheat the seeds, which can cause a bitter flavor. The grinder still works flawlessly, and I now use it myself for grinding spices and nuts.

Color

Tastes appear in color systems as bipolar concepts, divided into opposites such as bitter-sweet, sour-salty and umami-kokumi. We associate sweet taste with the color orange, cyan blue with salty taste, green with sour, and magenta red with bitter. Shades of green are usually associated with growth, while yellow, orange and bright red indicate activity. On the other hand, dark red, magenta and purple symbolize slowing down, while passivity is expressed by various shades of blue.

 

dr. hc Vojko Pogačar, academic painter

Music

First, we chose musical instruments that illustrate different tastes: for the "salty" guitar (Astrid Kukovič), for the "bitter" piano (Sašo Vollmaier), for the "sour" harmonica (Dominik Cvitanič), for the "hot" violin (Andreja Klinc) and for the "sweet" flute (Asja Grauf).

 

Melodies were created spontaneously. The improvisations of the "bitter" melodies were low and legato, the "salty" were determined and articulate, the "sour" were high and dissonant, and the "sweet" were unison, slow and soft.

 

Asja Grauf, professor of flute

Movement

I experience salty as a mixture of all tastes. It awakens a pleasant, relaxed, unusual feeling in me. I associate this taste with long, emphasized and controlled body movements. Bitter is a taste that awakens confusion in me, because with each bite my body decides whether to approve of this taste or not. I associate with it fluid movement with various emphasized and accelerated movements. I can enjoy sweet for several hours a day. My body relaxes when I enjoy sweets for a long time, which cause a pleasant feeling of joy. I associate with sweet slow and easy movements. Sour usually ends quickly. Each bite causes a short shock in my body, and then disappears completely. I associate with sour taste abrupt, fast and uncontrolled movements. Hot is a taste that usually lasts a very long time. It awakens an unpleasant feeling in me that is hard to shake. These are long, strong movements and individual shorter, more intense ones that show evasion and discomfort.

 

Pina Batič, dancer

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF TASTE

An important task of modern museums is to connect the past with the present, to introduce innovative approaches for the education of new generations and to contribute to cultural and social development.

 

Read the personal stories of the individuals who contributed their items to the Museum of Taste.

 

At the same time, we invite you to join this project yourself and participate with your contributions.