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Janez Bogataj

Weck Preserving Boiler

Sour

Material:
Galvanized steel
Description:

A pot with a lid and a hole for a thermometer. The object also includes a stand and glasses.

Size:
The height of the pot is 30cm, the diameter of the pot is 35cm.
Age:
It was created at the transition from the 19th to the 20th century.
Method of Acquisition:
Inherited from parents in the 1990s.
Item Owner, Age and Location:
Janez Bogataj
, 74,
Ljubljana
Date of Submission:
30. 12. 2020
Story:

The pot for boiling fruit and vegetables from the well-known and still operating company Weck was used in the kitchen of my uncle, the Slovenian writer, priest and academic Fran Saleški Finžgar (1871-1962). Even after his death, my mother and aunt, who lived with us, cooked fruit every year from the home garden in Ljubljana, as well as some bought apricots, peaches, blueberries.

 

We had many red currant bushes in the garden, which, along with blueberries and apricots, were the main "star" of the annual winter garden. We used glasses of different volumes - 1/4 and 1/2 liter, liter and liter and a half. My mother had an extraordinary aesthetic sense for arranging pieces of fruit in jars, especially pears and peaches. The flavors of the fruit cooked in this way remained in my memory.

 

Whenever I came home from school feeling tired, especially after tackling math homework, I would head straight to the basement. There, I would grab a 1/4 or 1/2 liter glass from the shelves and devour it before lunch.

 

In the decades after the end of the Second World War, there were problems in the then Yugoslavia with the purchase of rubber seals for jars. Therefore, the old seals, which have been used countless times, had to be carefully cleaned and maintained. From time to time we also managed to buy them in neighboring Austria. It was also advisable to clean the old seals with sandpaper for better adhesion.

 

We no longer use the pot today.

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.