This picture is fair game.

I can't help but think you were going for the shock value of this photo. But maybe the fact that I am female, and a mom times four, colors my perspective. It is not a great leap on my part to suggest that it looks like a maternity ward, in progress. I am guessing that you wanted to create that impression by placing the quail eggs in the vicinity of the gaping openings. All that is missing are the stirrups.

I know you like to take chances with your presentations. Some hit, some miss. In my opinion, this is one of the misses.

Jo

Wild rice and quail seem to me a perfect combination. And the cultural lesson is a nice bonus. It's a winner in my book.

I have to disagree with Jo. I think you clearly stated what you were "going for" and it was not shock. I don't look for symbolism of the type Jo finds in your dish and I seriously doubt you intended it.

Jim

OOH Jo...I thought that and didn't say it....even the dribble of red sauce.....
Too suggestive...graphic...and sure killed my appetite!

Vegetarian-me went for heads chopped off!

LOL, Jo! I'd be surprised if he really meant it that way, but count me as another who had thoughts along those lines. Still looks good to me though.

I'm actually glad I saw this picture. Just yesterday I stumbled upon quail in a section of the meat case that I never looked at, so I bought eight. Regardless of how I decide to cook them, I now know to do something about holding those legs back. I can see my wife having an issue with the way they're flailing like that.

"Wild rice and quail seem to me a perfect combination. And the cultural lesson is a nice bonus. It's a winner in my book."

I agree with Jimster 100%! ! !

Shocking presentation?
Suggestive?
Not in the way Jo and Lindac meant.
Graphic?
Yes, it is graphic.
Exactly the way you explained it.
And you did explain what you are presenting.

You are to be commended on the way you take food preperation and presentation one step farther than most of us do.
You make it educational as well as delicious and artful.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and your talents with us!

Rusty

Bet it was tasty D!

Jo/Linda's vision never crossed my mind. Hm. Wonder what that says about me, because the women (of which I am abosolutely) seem to be on that jag, but the men do not. Double hm.

Sexual symbolism can be found everywhere, if you are inclined to look for it. Foods lend themselves very well to this game. I could cite many examples such as a pair of fried eggs. It is brought by the observer; it's not innate in the object.

BTW, whatever happened to Freudianism? It used to be a part of just about every intellectual discussion and was used to explain literally every element of human behavior. Then, sometime in the mid seventies, Freudianism became passe. I seem never to see Freud mentioned any more.

I hope dcarch's presentation can be appreciated for its culinary and artistic merits, of which it has many.

Jim

The quail looks delicious and I'm sure the kids would love the tiny eggs. It's almost too bad that I hate poultry skin and would have to peel that all off and feed it to Cooper. (grin)

I didn't think the same thoughts as LindaC, FOAS or Jo, I just thought that the eggs didn't "go" with the rest of the meal. For some reason I never eat eggs and poultry together, and I'm trying to think why, but they just don't seem to be compatible to my tastes. Then again, my grandpa often ate fish for breakfast, right next to the eggs, and followed with a slice of pie, so eggs and poultry could be no stranger than that.

Wild rice, or manoomin, is considered a sacred component of the culture of some bands of Native Americans. As a bit of Michigan trivia, we have a city in the Upper Peninsula named Menominee. It is the county seat of the county Menominee, and was the original home of the Native American Menominee tribe which now has a reservation in Wisconsin. The name Menominee roughly translates into "Wild Rice".

So there is both Native American and Michigan trivia for the day, LOL.

Annie (who has actually been to Menominee and has seen the Menominee Falls)

I will have to do a a search for quail here...although there are a lot around, they are not often in the stores.
Next time i find some, I will do this....roasted with preserved lemons on a bed of wild rice.
{{gwi:2097354}}

But I'll bet the recipe would work with cornish game hens.

I love this food blog and his recipes and presentations are very very nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Foodwishes

Well... I have to be honest, my first reaction was that they look tortured. Actually, I have that reaction to most of dc's presentations. I rarely see dc trying to work in harmony with ingredients, it is always a tortured forcefulness that ends up with some sort of bizarre creation. Added that they are often color corrected beyond anything that could occur in nature, there is nothing at all appetizing or appealing to me about this or many of your other photos.

Linda, the photo you presented looks so much more appetizing, the meal is visually pleasing and the components look happy together.

Alexa

Those ladies would not look so wanton if you had tied their little legs together before cooking, but then someone would probably accuse you of representing bondage lol

{{gwi:2097356}}

lol Shaun!

dcarch - it never ceases to amaze me what creations/concoctions you come up with.

Jo's image of a delivery room did not occur to me. But she expressed her constructive critique in a diplomatic way. I liked the way she said she thought this was one of your misses. Jo you sound like a teacher - or a mom of four!

I think creativity is subjective. And I am amazed that you have the patience to do this stuff.

Teresa

LOL, I have to agree with Jo on this one, though I couldn't put it into words when I looked at the pictures. I would imagine that walking up to the table it would look like good food with an interesting presentation, as I'm sure it was.

jojoco “This picture is fair game.
I can't help but think you were going for the shock value of this photo. But maybe the fact that I am female, and a mom times four, colors my perspective. It is not a great leap on my part to suggest that it looks like a maternity ward, in progress. I am guessing that you wanted to create that impression by placing the quail eggs in the vicinity of the gaping openings. All that is missing are the stirrups.
I know you like to take chances with your presentations. Some hit, some miss. In my opinion, this is one of the misses. Jo”

The interesting responses to this thread nudged my memory. Let me first tell a little story to explain why I agree with Jo and a few others.

A while back I traveled to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids to visit a friend. That day, there was a sudden historic snow storm which was not forcasted. All modes of transportation were shut down. Everything stopped. Most of the staff could not get to the hospital. They were only able to get a few doctors in by helicopter. I was stuck in the hospital. Because of the severe shortage of staff, so I volunteered myself. They gave me a gown and assigned me to help out in the maternity ward. For four days and three nights, I was observing all the actions of child birth, stirrups and all.

Based on that unique experience, Yes, I can understand where Jo is coming from, and why she is understandably viewing this dish more gynecological than my original intent, which was gastronomic. Jim, we do have to recognize the fact that there are differences between male and female methodologies even when it comes to cooking aesthetics.

Posted by jimster “ Wild rice and quail seem to me a perfect combination. And the cultural lesson is a nice bonus. It's a winner in my book. ---“

Thanks Jim. Unfortunately (?) the dish went too well. I got an e. mail this evening from another friend in the same party, inviting me for dinner and asking me to make another quail dish. I have been typecast !

Posted by lindac “OOH Jo...I thought that and didn't say it....even the dribble of red sauce.....
Too suggestive...graphic...and sure killed my appetite!”

Next time when you come to dine with me, I will remind myself to hide the ketchup.

Posted by foodonastump “LOL, Jo! I'd be surprised if he really meant it that way, but count me as another who had thoughts along those lines. Still looks good to me though. I'm actually glad I saw this picture. Just yesterday I stumbled upon quail in a section of the meat case that I never looked at, so I bought eight. Regardless of how I decide to cook them, I now know to do something about holding those legs back. I can see my wife having an issue with the way they're flailing like that.”

Thanks FOAS. I am glade that you found the quails. I wish you had won the wild rice lotto. They are that good together. Do check with your wife as to how you present the birds. Come to think of it, may be that’s why the French have an interesting way to enjoy Ortolan Bunting.

Posted by therustyone “-------You are to be commended on the way you take food preperation and presentation one step farther than most of us do.
You make it educational as well as delicious and artful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and your talents with us! Rusty “

Thank you Rusty. I had some dealing with some folks from the Santa Fe Indian Museum ages ago. I got some education about the various cultures of Native Americans, which I have completely forgotten. This is just a little refresher course for me for now.

Posted by rob333 “Bet it was tasty D! Jo/Linda's vision never crossed my mind. Hm. Wonder what that says about me, because the women (of which I am abosolutely) seem to be on that jag, but the men do not. Double hm.”

Thanks Robin. There is no skill involved with this dish to make it taste good. I started out with all good tasting ingredients and just mixed them together. You are right to point out some thing that has always fascinated me, that people have such drastically diverse views and motives.

Posted by jimster “ Sexual symbolism can be found everywhere, “

No. I disagree. I find potatoes devoid of any hint of sexual symbolism.

“ ----BTW, whatever happened to Freud��"“

And why do we need Freud now that we have Dr. Phil?

“----I hope dcarch's presentation can be appreciated for its culinary and artistic merits, of which it has many.

Jim, it is obvious to me that you have never worked in a maternity ward, or you wouldn’t feel this way about my work. :-)

Posted by annie1992 “----The quail looks delicious and I'm sure the kids would love the tiny eggs. ----- I just thought that the eggs didn't "go" with the rest of the meal. ------ “

Thanks Annie. I am floored by your comment. I actually had problems with including quail eggs with this dish. They just don’t seem to belong, aesthetically and taste wise. I decided finally to add the eggs because I had planned on discussing with the kids the science of the age old question of which come first, the egg or the hen? I did trick the kids and all the adults after I show them a colorful unpeeled quail egg. I asked if anyone knew what’s the color of the egg of most colorful bird, the peacock. Then I told them that peacocks can’t lay eggs.

Posted by caliloo “Well... I have to be honest, my first reaction was that they look tortured. Actually, I have that reaction to most of dc's presentations. I rarely see dc trying to work in harmony with ingredients, it is always a tortured forcefulness that ends up with some sort of bizarre creation. Added that they are often color corrected beyond anything that could occur in nature, there is nothing at all appetizing or appealing to me about this or many of your other photos. --------- Alexa”

Thank you very much for your honest rendition of my follies. In the future, I will endeavor to be less sadistic in the pantry with work and make an attempt to emulate your artistic accomplishments.

Posted by cookebook “Those ladies would not look so wanton if you had tied their little legs together before cooking, but then someone would probably accuse you of representing bondage lol”

LOL. I will be known as agent 007, James Bondage of the feathered kind.

Posted by teresa_mn “dcarch - it never ceases to amaze me what creations/concoctions you come up with. Jo's image of a delivery room did not occur to me. But she expressed her constructive critique in a diplomatic way. I liked the way she said she thought this was one of your misses. Jo you sound like a teacher - or a mom of four! I think creativity is subjective. And I am amazed that you have the patience to do this stuff. Teresa”

Thanks Teresa. I agree with everything you said. ( I don’t mean the part about me being the best LOL) . Jo presented a valid point of view and I respect her and thank her for that.
Over all, it is intriguing to learn what observers have to say about your work, but it is equally interesting to observe the observers and find out where they are coming from, their motivations, and what makes them tick.

Have fun and keep cooking, guys
dcarch

dcarch, your responses are always a fun read!

Do check with your wife as to how you present the birds.

Actually I did ask for her opinion on your pictures. She surprised me by not saying something about the legs at least. When I mentioned some of the reactions, including what I thought she'd think of the birds themselves, she shook her head no. "The quail look delicious. I'd just rather see them with mashed potatoes and gravy." Oh boy. It can be difficult to break away from traditional fare around here.

lindac - I have 1.5 qts of preserved lemons in my fridge. I will peruse that site and find the poultry recipe using them.

FOAS - I'd say if the wife wants mashed potatoes, it's a darn good thing you did not win the Wild Rice Lotto! :-)

I must say some of the reactions you get DCArch.. lol.. I thought the birds were 'cupped', but sure didn't go to all the places some others did. I guess I'm used to flailing limbs because that's usually how I prefer to cook birds. I just think it gives the leg and thigh meat a chance to cook at same time as the breast takes. I love the wild rice and chestnuts. I could live on chestnuts. I have to get some soon, since it seems that any more, if you don't get them at the beginning of the season you end up with moldy nuts in the shells. Jars of them is fine but I really like a good roasted chestnut cooked in it's shell.

tl;dr

(adding text to post)

I think the aerial view and vivid colors lend themselves to over analyzing the dish and what it could imply although I must admit my first impression was a bit of a shock ; in a normal kitchen or dining room context, or with a picture taken from a different angle, the platter would not look so graphic, imo......

With the artful presentation I was left wondering how many people would be dining. After all that hard work, it didn't appear to be very much food. My DH would be asking for seconds, but then he doesn't care for Cornish game hens either.

Amen Jessy!

Posted by coconut-nj "-----I must say some of the reactions you get DCArch.. lol..---"

As I said, it is sometimes more illuminating to observe the observer's reactions.
It is really a simple thing what I did. The quails were marinated in the refrigerator. To get them cooked nicely and quickly, I had the cavities wide open so that the hot oil can cook the meat from inside out as well. I lay them out the way I did because that's the way turkeys are served by the trillions for as long as turkeys have been served.
If the birds had come with heads, I would have served them with the heads on. It is my believe that today in our culture, children have been deprived with what reality is. We have a generation of kids who have no knowledge that fish and chickens have heads, and that they are grown in Styrofoam trays.

Imagine the reactions if I did. LOL!

Posted by mitchdesj "I think the aerial view and vivid colors lend themselves to over analyzing the dish and what it could imply although I must admit my first impression was a bit of a shock ; in a normal kitchen or dining room context, or with a picture taken from a different angle, the platter would not look so graphic, imo......"

You are absolutely correct. There were ten (11 including me) eaters. None of them had given me the slightest hint that the plating had given them the queasy feeling.

Posted by compumom "With the artful presentation I was left wondering how many people would be dining. After all that hard work, it didn't appear to be very much food. My DH would be asking for seconds, but then he doesn't care for Cornish game hens either."

Thanks. Actually there was a lot more than on the plate. I like serving food just enough to get started, with extras kept warm in the oven for the second go around. BTW, other people also brought a few other dishes; There were beef, Shrimps, salmon, etc. So there were a lot of leftovers.
Also, quails taste not the same as Cornish hens. May be closer to ducks.

dcarch