Discovering the deep connections between food, memory, and art at ‘Recipes & Reflections’ at the Tett Centre

Surrounded by soft gradients of yellow, green, and purple prints, stories and recipes simmered together at the Tett Centre for Learning and Creativity.

On Oct. 2 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Tett hosted “Recipes & Reflections,” an intimate artist talk and recipe swap led by Markham-based artist Karen Kar Yen Law, ConEd ’20. The event gathered seven participants, each bringing a meaningful recipe or dish from their culture and personal history.

The event began with a tour of Law’s solo exhibition, “Not Too Salty“, on view from Sept. 13 to Nov. 8 at the Tett Centre. Through a hybrid of monotype printmaking and large-scale painting, Law’s pieces transformed the gallery into a minimalistic yet deeply personal space.

Pieces consisted of abstract compositions made from egg-shaped stencils. Law describes this as her way of bringing the flavour of “salty” to life by referencing her grandmother’s soy-marinated egg recipe—a symbol of preservation, care, and intergenerational connection.

Law said in an interview with The Journal that at the heart of “Not Too Salty” lies her exploration of the flavour of “salty”. She reflects on salt’s dual power to enhance flavour and preserve ingredients, drawing a parallel to how cultural practices preserve culture itself, keeping the traditions of diasporic communities alive.

“To preserve culture, we have to practice it. I’m very much in the camp that culture isn’t something you’re born with it’s an active thing you have to participate in,” Law said. “That’s really what this show is about, practicing your culture.”

During the conversation, Law shared that cooking is one of the ways she stays connected to her roots. After graduating from Queen’s, Law was living alone in Toronto and began learning family recipes over FaceTime with her grandmother.“I started noticing a lot of similarities between printmaking and Chinese cooking,” Law said.

“I started to experiment with different recipes, but also different ingredients in the print making studio. I took soy-marinated eggs and the leftover soy sauce and brought that into the studio to use as a medium,” she said. Instead of soaking the paper fibres in water before printing, Law soaked them in soy sauce.

As Law explains the significance of soy-marinated eggs, she brought out a batch made by her grandmother. The eggs were rich and flavourful, perfectly combining the creaminess of the yolk with the salty flavour of the marinade. Law notes that two kinds of soy sauce were used. Dark soy sauce for its colour and light soy sauce for its balanced, savoury flavour.

One by one, we each shared a recipe or dish that carried personal stories. From oatmeal cookies made from a grandmother’s cherished recipe, an adapted version of German apple bread, to my very own secret recipe for the best tomato and egg stir-fry, Recipes & Reflections revealed how food becomes a personal archive, holding memory, culture, and identity in every bite.

By the end of the evening, the talk drifted toward Kingston’s food spots and the ways shared meals create belonging in our shared community. As the group packed up, we carried with us not just new recipes, but a reminder that food, like art, can preserve the things we care for most.

Tags

Art, Cooking, Culinary, Culture, Food, Karen Ken Yar Law, Modern Fuel, Recipes and Reflections, Tett Centre

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