Why I’m Excited #15: A Recipe for Greenbelt
In a continuing series on the blog, we're going to be hearing about parts of the Lineup for 2010 that people are particularly looking forward to. (For all Why I'm Excited posts, click here.)
If there's something on the Greenbelt 2010 programme that you're particularly looking forward to, do email us a paragraph or two saying why, and we'll put it up here on the blog...
Today, there's a culinary contribution from Rob Wicks, aka Eat Pictures, a food photographer from Bristol. He took the lovely photo above, and is here to talk about that mysterious melange of flavours... the Greenbelt campsite experience...
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A Recipe for Greenbelt
This is one of those recipes which sounds sure to end in disaster – but inexplicably works beautifully every time I’ve tried it.
Ingredients
20,000 people (preferable slightly tired from arduous travel)
1 very large grassy field
1 British summer (readily available at this time of year)
Canvas & string (acres of brightly colour tents in questionable states of repair)
A camping stove that sounds deceptively as if it does have enough gas left
Queues for shared water taps
Friendship
Method
The feast of art that is Greenbelt satisfies our appetites for all things creative, with leftovers aplenty. But whilst our imaginations are filled to bursting - the more literal business of eating must somehow be squeezed onto the bank holiday menu as well. And with a shared kitchen made of wet grass and anoraks, the chances of sharing an enjoyable meal sound slim.
On paper (slightly damp paper where the ink has run a little) campsite eating ought to be the part of Greenbelt that excites me least. All the comforting ingredients of a well equipped kitchen and a warm dining room are unavailable. But somehow - this recipe delivers morsels of togetherness and appreciation that linger among my Greenbelt memories longer than any other.
You will find the field, the British summer, the canvas and the people already well combined before you start cooking. This fresh grassy marinade is vital - as the ingredients begin to rub along together - sharing their contrasting flavours of joy and determination. You then warm a little of what you’ve got to eat in a frying pan and discover you’ve forgotten or run-out of something crucial (plenty of options here - calor gas, bacon, the frying pan, anything).
At this point you need a pinch of a delicious spice that’s usually very hard to find in the UK - but strangely abundant at Greenbelt. Simply engage with the people around you. Whether you’ve known them for years, or since they needed a spare tent peg about 10 minutes ago - you can easily warm up a little of this fresh aromatic friendship, add it to the other ingredients and serve generously to all involved.
Seriously, over-used culinary metaphors aside, there is something utterly wonderful about eating together at Greenbelt. It combines the arts of improvisation, togetherness, survival and renewal in the most delicious helpings. Sitting on a rough circle of up-turned washing up bowls and folding chairs, sharing hot mugs of tea or fried egg sandwiches with old friends and new - it’s like a tiny taste of a banquet where truly everyone is welcome.
