Ingredients
Through food production, we paid close attention to essential ingredients. The simple chemical reactions of fermentation, cooking, and other methods involve manipulating the substances upon which life is predicated. Salt, a deceptively simple ingredient, became the object of meditations on bodily and spiritual wellness, time, and planetary water systems. Water samples collected from various rivers accompany text snapshots of intimate encounters with water bodies in urban environments. Projects dealing with pickled limes or Szechuan peppercorns used the format of the recipe to expand upon complicated histories of food production, cultural heritage, and global trade. Through culinary intervention, research, and storytelling, our ingredients unfolded in depth and meaning, revealing objects embedded within complex naturalcultural histories.