Cult Hollywood burger gets a Bahraini twist

Manama : Bahrain got a rare blend of tastes from cult director Quentin Tarantino’s movies this week.

The Big Kahuna Burger from Pulp Fiction and the hot slice of apple strudel covered in whipped cream from Inglourious Basterds were prepared at the ‘Food is Culture’ initiative organized by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) by Graffiti Artist Mahmood AlSharqawi alias Huvil and Chef Bassam AlAlawi, the owner of Darrasin café.

What started off as an experimental project to bridge the culture of art and food has now turned into a creative movement where artists from all over the Kingdom come to experiment their ideas blending food and culture.

This year, the BACA initiative focused on blending the genres of street food and street art. 

The experiment, now in its third edition, sheds light on the creative processes that take place when two individuals from different creative disciplines collaborate. They could create a painting, an installation, a video, or a cake. Human imagination is the only limit.

Artist Mahmood AlSharqawi’s creative philosophy is to try working on prevailing ideas to add a message of harmony and positivity. Chef Bassam AlAlawi said he developed his knowledge of cooking on his own. For him, food preparation has always been a way of expressing creativity and comfort. 

“We were inspired by the creations of Quentin Tarantino including Kill Bill, Pulp fiction and Inglorious Bastards,” Mahmood AlSharqawi told DT News. “We took elements of these movies to present our artwork and if you see there will be characters of these three artists portrayed in my graffiti.”

Chef Bassam AlAlawi said, “I would first like to thank BACA for providing artists like us a platform to experiment with our works. Moreover, I have tried to incorporate local produce into my cooking so that local producers also get benefitted and known.”

Shouq Al Alawi, the curator of the week-long event that concluded yesterday, told DT News that the current edition is challenging.  “The artists are pushing their limits to come up with something creative and unique.” 

The event was organized as part of the year-long Muharraq Capital of Islamic Culture 2018 programme.