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Surrealist Presentation

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Artist: Rafal Olbinski​

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Born February 21, 1943)

A Polish illustrator, painter, and educator, living in the United States.

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Reminiscence From Hampton , 1996

In this painting, the artist included the factor of joining objects in unusual combinations. To illustrate, there are two captive doves trying to fly out the iron cage, and beneath the cage is the profile of a man's upper body. The man seems to be wearing a suit and a top hat. However, the man's facial features are obscured by a woman's face which was drawn in the shapes of clouds. Moreover, the background of the painting is the ocean with a far away sailing ship behind the neck of the man. 

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Furthermore, I chose this painting because it reminds me of the movie “Titanic”. The characters in the painting seem like they are a pair of lovers, and the woman is kissing the man’s face. However, the woman may be 

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gone. But every time when the man looked at the sea, it might remind him of his lover. Similarly to the movie Titanic, the lovers’ ending was not so great. The cruise ship hits an iceberg which causes the ship to sink. Jack (the main character) died trying to save Rose (his lover) from this tragedy. Therefore, during the rest of Rose’s lives, whenever she sees the sea, it reminds her of Jack and the memorable memories they had together.

To conclude, in my opinion, the painting is trying to express that this man’s thoughts and feelings can’t be expressed freely nor directly. Therefore, the two doves were drawn captive in the top hat. Since the name of this painting is Reminiscence from Hampton, the woman in the painting could be interpreted as being in another place, but under the same sky, which the man can’t reach. 

Food Presentation

“Zongzi” Chinese Sticky Rice Dumpling 

What is Zongzi?: 

Sticky rice with sweet or savory filling wrapped with bamboo leaves. There are various ways and shapes for the wrapping.

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History: 

Zongzi is a classical treat for the Dragon boat (Duanwu) festival on the 5th of May on the Chinese lunar calendar. It has a long history and has spread far and wide. There are many reasons why we celebrate this festival. Most people believe that the Dragon boat festival is the date to ward off the plague and to commemorate the poet, Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a loyal, patriotic, and highly esteemed minister from the state of Chu more than 2000 years ago. However, he drowned himself in a river as being vilified. Therefore, people would throw Zongzi in the spot where Qu Yuan drowned himself, hoping that the fish would eat the Zongzi instead of Qu Yuan’s body.

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Recipe:

  • Sweet (common to see in the north)

  • stuffed with red beans and Chinese dates

  • usually served with either honey or sugar

  • Savory (common to see in the south)

  • filled with salted egg yolks, chestnuts, dried shrimp, and most importantly meat

 

  1. Soak the hard-to-cook ingredient in water and marinate the meat. If the bamboo leaves are dried, make sure to wet them.

  2. Wrapping for the triangle shape: 

  • Use one or two bamboo leaves to form a narrow cone 

  • Placed in the sticky rice and then the filling

  • More Rice

  • Wrap the rest of the leaves to completely cover the rice 

  • Tied with a string

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3. Boiled 2.5 hours in water (when boiling the Zongzi, it should always be underwater)

Why I like it?:

I chose this dish because I like the fragrance of the sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. In addition, I also enjoy the progress of making it. Even though the production progress is complicated, it tastes better if you make it yourself. 

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