Painting the Plate

WINNER of the Guild of Food Writers Award under the First Book category

This unique cookbook pairs artistic masterpieces with effortless recipes that will turn your dining room table into a feast for the eyes and the palate.

Filled with gorgeous photography, high quality reproductions and fascinating anecdotes, this one-of-a-kind cookbook connects great art with the world of food. To create the recipes in this book Felicity Souter delved into the lives of artists past and present, uncovering fascinating stories, eating habits, and cultural traditions.

Each entry consists of an appetizer, main, side, dessert, or drink that visually echoes the artwork and reflects the culinary connection to its artist. More than fifty masterpieces from an enormous array of genres and periods include works by Marina Abramović, Jean Michel Basquiat, Georgette Chen, Salvador Dalí, Jacob Lawrence, Man Ray, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jackson Pollock.

Sumptuous illustrations reveal a striking resemblance between recipe and artwork. An abstract Lee Krasner painting is transformed into a colorful mixed vegetable salad; an oval-shaped Barbara Hepworth sculpture into a crusty loaf of bread; a snowy Monet haystack into a sugar-dusted breakfast muffin; an Yves Klein sponge into an electric blue martini.

Easy enough for every day, and aimed at cooks of all abilities, these recipes are themselves works of art, and will whet the creative appetites of readers and chefs alike.