Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

'1 Bite, 7 Days' Documentary Project

Posted by Robyn Lee, June 19, 2008 at 2:00 PM

I didn't go to last weekend's Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, New York expecting to eat anything interesting or unusual, but thanks to 1 Bite 7 Days I got the opportunity to taste three dishes that were new to my taste buds.

1 Bite 7 Days is Heather Menicucci's documentary project named after a Japanese proverb that says, "For every new food we eat, we gain seven days of life." After trying one of her complimentary dishes (or three, if you're a glutton like me), participants enter a private booth where they can talk about what they would do with their extra seven (to twenty-one) days, with their responses being recorded on camera to be compiled into the final video.

I spent a long time thinking about what I would do with my extra days of life, hoping to come up with something profound. To say that I succeeded would be grossly incorrect (the contents of what I said in that booth are private, unless Heather deems them engaging enough to go into the final cut), but the food was enjoyable. Out of the three choices—vinegar pie, pomegranate soup, and pickled fiddlehead ferns—I found the vinegar pie most interesting, although I'd say the pomegranate soup was the most palatable. Read more about the dishes after the jump.

Vinegar Pie

A pie? With vinegar? I couldn't imagine how a vinegar-flavored pie could taste good, but I was excited to find out. Vinegar pie was invented by American pioneers with a desperate need for a sweet and cheap treat, originally made during times when there was no fresh or dried fruit, nor refrigeration. To enable ease of distribution to over 1000 people, Heather served her version with the custard separate from the crust, which she replaced with vanilla wafers. While the creamy custard had a distinct vinegar flavor and initially off-putting scent, the taste was surprisingly good. Slathered with whipped cream to soften the strength of the vinegar, it would be even better. The tartness reminded me of a lemon or lime pie, but a little...different. I could imagine myself enjoy this back in the pioneer days when hankering for a dessert to supplement my subsistence diet.

Pomegranate Soup

The Iraqi pomegranate soup (also known as Shorbat Rumman) was my favorite dish of the three. I wouldn't have guessed from the name that this springtime Middle Eastern soup would taste like a hearty vegetable stew. There wasn't much pomegranate flavor, but I assume it would've tasted different without it.

Pickled Fiddlehead Ferns

The dish's description said that fiddlehead ferns "ended up on the plates of Native Americans more than 150 years ago primarily out of practicality, though today most Americans' experience of fiddleheads is in a nice restaurant." How did it know that the only time ever eaten them was in an upscale restaurant? This version from Mike's Maine Pickles tasted like...well, a pickle. I like pretty much anything in pickled form.

Check out the official site for 1 Bite 7 Days for upcoming updates with recipes and video clips!

4 Comments | Tags: art, documentaries