Placeholder to load Butler custom font family and templates.

Irena Porekar Kacafura

Tin Cookie Box

Spicy

Material:
Tin-plate
Description:

This item is a round tin box with a removable lid, distinguished by its richly decorated exterior. The lid features a winter scene depicting children: in the snowy weather, a boy pulls a sled filled with holly greenery (Ilex aquifolium). On the sled sits a little girl cradling a doll in her arms, while a bird flits playfully around them. In the background, the soft outlines of a snow-covered village complete the picture of this lively winter scene.

The rim of the box is a muted red, with an intricate design of intertwined holly branches winding gracefully around its center.

Size:
An object with a diameter of 20cm and a height of 9cm.
Age:
60 years
Method of Acquisition:
Inherited from grandmother in 1991.
Item Owner, Age and Location:
Irena Porekar Kacafura
, 44,
Slovenska Bistrica
Date of Submission:
6. 1. 2021
Story:

A box full of slices

 

At heart, humans are natural explorers. As children, we lack any inhibitions, eagerly investigating hidden corners, opening forbidden doors, and peeking into tightly sealed bags. Later in life, upbringing teaches us that such behavior is often inappropriate, but our curiosity remains—it simply becomes something we learn to manage.

 

As adults, we understand the power of curiosity well enough to direct it with our actions. I remember Grandma deliberately leaving various boxes around the apartment. Of course, we grandchildren would eagerly open them, convinced that Grandma wouldn’t notice. Each box contained some little treasure, but one in particular stood out—sitting on a low shelf by the balcony doors in the kitchen. It was a simple, printed metal box filled with soft, fluffy yellow slices that we eagerly devoured, knowing that Grandma would soon bake more.

 

When Grandma asked how the box could be empty, we would feign ignorance. She would simply smile, seat us at the table, and pour fragrant linden tea into delicate enamel cups. The sweetness of that simple pastry, washed down with tea, was one of the most delightful treats Grandma offered us. It wasn't just the taste of the pastry that enchanted us—Grandma's hands smelled of it and were as soft as sponge cake, adding to the magic of those moments.

 

Officially, this pastry had a different name, but that hardly mattered to us. We always referred to it as "slices" because Grandma would cut it like bread and then slice it into smaller pieces. A few years later, my brother and I had our fill of these slices when our father began baking them using Grandma's recipe. Nevertheless, every time we visited Grandma, we would check if the box was full, and we always made sure to have at least one piece. Grandma never disappointed us—the box was always filled with slices.

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.