Flavour, it turns out, was keeping time all along.

The pairings that feel obvious are mostly seasonal: things that ripen in the same place in the same week share the same compounds, so what grew together tastes like it belongs together.

For most of history that was the whole logic of a plate. You cooked what was ripe, and it matched because it had to. Then a food system built to deliver anything in any month flattened the calendar, and the pairings kept tasting familiar while the reason behind them went quiet.

The essay follows that thread: what the severing costs, whether the knowledge can be taught back, and why any of it might be worth fixing.

“A population that can taste the difference between a January tomato and a September one is a population that votes, shops and cooks differently. Sensory literacy is not a substitute for politics. It is the substrate politics needs.”

Essay · Alt MA Food Design

A soup named revive the dead, sent to a cookzine on the theme of courage.

For Refugee Week, the Refugee Buddy Project asked people for the recipe they reach for when they need strength. Levanta Muertos, an Andean chicken and quinoa soup, handed over in a Cusco kitchen to a child with altitude sickness. The essay follows one migration through one recipe, and what it picks up on the way.

Courage here isn’t heroism; it’s endurance.

Levanta Muertos, for 6. Brown a jointed chicken. Soften onion, carrot and celery, stir in ají amarillo paste and oregano. Return the chicken with 150 g quinoa, a handful of rice, 2 l stock and a bay leaf, simmer 30 minutes. Add yellow potatoes for another 30–40, then corn. Shred the meat back in, finish with coriander.

Recipes of Courage, The Refugee Buddy Project, Refugee Week 2026

Dishes built from ingredients in light and dark tonalities.

Colour makes a promise. Take it off a plate and there’s nothing left to judge but the taste. These pairings are real.

Cabbage / soy / raisin / anchovy. Seaweed / lardo / licorice / blackberry / black garlic. Pear / moscato / coffee / almond.

Styling Monika Hansen · Photography Claudia Link