Yesterday's painting of the day from Cézanne was the above - Watermelon and Pomegranates. Well it's food isn't it, so this is my today's quickie. Not the painting so much as the subjects. To be honest I don't like the painting all that much, but then Cézanne is perhaps my least favourite impressionist, although to many others he is the favourite. This painting is particularly unappealing I think - it's very purple, which I generally like and the hugeness of the watermelon just takes over - which I'm guessing it was supposed to. And indeed, now having looked at the learned art critics it appears that this is one of his late works and also one most admired - the 'monumentality' of the watermelon being a key feature. Below an example of pure arty jargon:
"Rarely does the artist respond so directly to the reflective interrelationships of objects, the yellow pomegranate mirrored in the sheen of the melon, the green and lavender light flashing from the cut flutes on the carafe, the objects laid into a luminous shadow reflected from the polished table surface. ... The colors and their relationship to the objects in space are brought here to a peak of harmonic intensity." Joseph J. Rishel/Web Museun, Paris
There is also a kind of companion piece, which I think I prefer called, Still Life with Carafe, Sugar Bowl, Bottle, Pomegranates and Watermelon - same objects, different layout - it looks almost wonky.
Others talked about the roundness and connection of all the objects. Enough - it's my inspiration for a foodie pairing - watermelon and pomegranates.
I have been pondering on a post on watermelon and feta for some time, so I am actually going to ignore the vast majority of the recipes for watermelon and pomegranate salads with feta. Nevertheless salads are the main game here, and really you could make up your own. Nevertheless because they were so ubiquitous I have included a couple, of which the first one is really encroaching on my future post - Matt Moran's Watermelon and pomegranate salad with whipped feta on the delicious. website; Ravinder Bhogal's Rose-scented watermelon with maftoul, pomegranate molasses and pistachios on the Guardian website (maftoul is large couscous); and Ottolenghi's (yes sorry) Watermelon with pomegranate, pumpkin seeds and mint sugar
I said this would be a quickie, and it is, because honestly I could not find much else you can do with this particular combination. Various people tried a kind of gazpacho soup that paired the two and there were a few drinks but really the only imaginative use of the two was from The Women's Weekly - Baked salmon with watermelon and pomegranate salsa, and really I suppose that this is yet another salad.
I probably should have expanded slightly on my older idea of watermelon and feta - but I'm feeling a bit lazy I guess, having battled the Christmas shopping crowds a bit. Which is not to say that watermelon and pomegranate are not a good fit. Cool watermelon, and hot pomegranate - well somehow I think of pomegranate as hot. Chutney?
TIME GONE BY
December 19
2023 - Christmas is ... cherries
2022 - Nothing
2021 - Nothing
2018 - Nothing
2016 - The Christmas turkey
I likd the painting, but watermelons are not on the top of my list of favourite fruits. Behing ordinary melon for example