Kettle cooking show – Goulash edition

Hoffmann and Lesi examine contemporary totalitarian aspirations. They do not refer to individuals or parties, but to structures and developments in the Central European cauldron in which we sit. They follow in the footsteps of food stories of the present and the past. By lyrically (re-)constructing the dish in an investigative way, they behave authoritatively towards the defenseless vegetables and spices. Thrown into the world and into the cauldron, it is cooked.

Kettle cooking show – Goulash edition

by David Hoffmann and Zoltán Lesi
As part of the “Is Queer Political” Project

a free program for all

Do . 16.5.2024, 18:00h, QUEER MUSEUM VIENNA

Otto Wagner Areal, ehem. “Direktion”, Stiege 2, Hochparterre,

Baumgartner Höhe 1, 1140 Wien

Join us on a culinary journey into the goulash kettle! David Hoffmann and Zoltán Lesi host a live cook-and-lyric show as investigative cooking poets and uncover the origins of the goulash dish. They take on the role of entertaining cooking show entertainers and add a pinch of uncovering curiosity. Delicious live sounds give the evening its rough edges. The two hosts present the recipe for an authoritarian goulash dish, a symbol of contemporary totalitarian aspirations. To finally show that a national dish is always an ideological lie. The photo of the dish is immediately uploaded to the social media channel, where every opinion is already available as a ready-made dish. Supposed national dishes as harbingers of arbitrary national borders always blur the actual communal character of a dish. Originally, however, the kettle brings the ingredients together and does not separate them. So where does this exclusionary tendency of universally popular foods come from?

Hoffmann and Lesi examine contemporary totalitarian aspirations. They do not refer to individuals or parties, but to structures and developments in the Central European cauldron in which we sit. They follow in the footsteps of food stories of the present and the past. By lyrically (re-)constructing the dish in an investigative way, they behave authoritatively towards the defenseless vegetables and spices. Thrown into the world and into the cauldron, it is cooked. The fact that this authoritarian goulash is finally eaten is a conciliatory act of liberation to which Hoffmann and Lesi warmly invite the audience. While one reads poems, the other prepares the dish. While the other presents the method of preparation, one produces sounds. They take turns operating the loop device, midi controller, guitar, pots and dishes. They also sing and recite. Poem becomes dish, dish becomes poem. The goulash will be vegan. However, there is the option of adding sour cream. Depending on the season, pumpkin or potatoes will form the basis.

Free admission

Donations are welcome.

“Is Queer Political” takes place within the framework of Shift