Researcher: Maya Hey, PhD student in Communication Studies

Project scope:

The French idiom ni cru, ni cuit positions fermented foods in-between two states. Fermented foods are neither raw nor cooked, neither human-made nor animal in origin; and, after consuming them, they become neither part of our self nor remain entirely other in our intestine. As a (food)maker and scientist, Maya Hey actively investigates the collapse of these binaries through material food provocations.

Traditionally, humans have deployed microbes almost exclusively as tools for culinary transformation, such as in the conversion of sugars to alcohol or alcohol to vinegar. The possibility of microbes as ingredient remains novel, underexplored, or categorically dismissed as disgusting. This project considers the potential of microbes as a food ingredient through a series of food creations. Rather than incite shock or mobilize the abject, the premise of this project is an a priori approach to considering microbes as a legitimate foodstuff. The nature of exploring the delicious potential of non-food-objects tugs at the ethical fabric of why we cook which ingredients for whom. My aim is to challenge that which we consider to be edible/inedible and, ultimately, complexify the notion of eating other bodies traditionally excluded from the food debate.

Activities/ Publications:

• EAT M.E.; an experimental cookbook
• EAT ME (or, in defense of body cheese), SAD Magazine

• Concordian Maya Hey challenges our notions of edibility

Partners/ supporters for the research activities include:

• Hexagram Research Network