#casein

OK, today I will try to advertise my Patreon to you all, here, on tumblr.

I've been doing a lot of traditional work at the moment and I'm really excited to keep going down that route. At this time with AI encroaching more and more on our lives making things with my two hands is so very satisfying to me.

Portrait of a Musician

Artist: Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975)

Date: 1949

Medium: Casein, egg tempera and oil varnish on canvas mounted on wood panel

Collection: Museum of Art and Archeology, Columbia, Missouri, United States

Description

This painting by Thomas Hart Benton is a portrait of an African American jazz musician who played in Kansas City. In this painting, you can see that the curving lines of the double bass the musician is playing are repeated or echoed in the curves of the his face, hands, and body. Seeing the repetition of so many lines in similar but different ways reminds us of the way that jazz music often repeats the same musical phrases with variations, making the music sound similar but slightly different each time it is repeated.

Time Structure Composition III

Channa Horwitz

American, 1932-2013

Sonakinatography I. 1970

The unique taste of Southern Italian ricotta

The word ricotta literally means “re-cooked”, and, contrary to popular belief, ricotta is not cheese! The stuff is made from whey, the milky by-product of the cheese-making process. The whey from, say, mozzarella or provolone is heated again, and the remaining proteins and fats curdle and are collected to form ricotta. According to Italian legislation, this excludes ricotta from the cheese category.

Although the exact origins of ricotta are not clear, it is believed to have been first made right here in Sicily. Some believe the ricotta-making process, as well as its shaping, may have been influenced by ancient Egyptian techniques. Either way, it’s evident that the Greeks, who ruled Calabria and Sicily from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BC, fell in love with ricotta, and incorporated it into their stories and culture: Homer, who was much inspired by the island, wrote in the Odyssey of the giant cyclops Polyphemus, who is making ricotta when protagonist Ulysses encounters him.

Today, ricotta is widely appreciated for its versatility: it can be sweet or savory, hot or cold, fresh or cooked. We eat it fresh straight out of its basket, but also atop pasta, fresh bread, crostini, or eggs.

Our nonna used to make round omelets filled with ricotta and fresh mint, and she spreads the leftover ricotta on warm bread with a drop of olive oil. The stuff can also be found in/on ravioli, arancini, lasagna, pizza, crocchette.

Photo by Carlo Paone