New TV show based on Mona’s Eat the Problem project
The Mona approach to eating calls for people to swap out farmed meat for whatever is feral, low-impact or abundant. It forms the basis of a new TV show, set to premier early next year.
Tasmania
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If you have ever wondered about cooking a sea urchin cocktail, a new television series featuring Mona executive chef Vince Trim will open your eyes, and shed light on the movement to turn feral pests into food.
Premiering early next year, Eat the Invaders features artist Kirsha Kaechele and Trim who, alongside ABC host Tony Armstrong, explore the philosophy behind the museum’s food compendium.
The brainchild of Ms Kaechele – also wife to museum owner David Walsh – the Eat the Problem project calls for the killing and eating of “whatever is feral, low-impact or abundant in Tasmania”.
Ms Kaechele said the controversial project was in Mona’s spirit of “transforming s..t into gold”.
“What happens if we do something with our problems, rather than simply bemoan them? In this case, the problem lies with species that invade and degrade native ecologies. And the solution, perhaps, is to eat them,” she wrote in the exhibition’s accompanying cookbook in 2019.
The book included both real and surreal recipes for stomach-churning dishes such as crispy-skin cane toad, snake jerky and feral camel toes.
Ms Kaechele said while also raising awareness of the environmental impact of farmed meat, the project offered a more exciting eating model.
“It’s more culinary titillating to eat in a way that connects us to the systems we are part of,” she said.
“We’re exploring the contradictions and complexities in food – all while amusing and delighting ourselves.”
Executive chef Mr Trim said with valuable resources being culled as pests, the project forced those behind Mona’s food operation to question the environmental impacts of their menus.
“We don’t yet have all the answers, but luckily we’re in a position to use these resources, and to keep asking questions,” he said.
“Mona is all about the exploration of ideas, and dining here is part of that.”
Eat the Invaders airs January 7 on ABC TV.
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