Savour the red fruits and chocolate of Celso Lagar; the sour Seville orange taste from Joaquin Turina’s palette and Sorolla’s brush strokes that evoke a cool slice of melon eaten in the hot summer months. These are just a few of the sensations that flow from ‘Art Menu’ a foodie-art experience that can be seenin the gallery that already has the Baroness Thyssen fully engaged.
The proposal combines a tasting menu inspired in eight paintings from the Permanent Collection with a guided visit of some of the most important works. The first painting is ‘Puerto de Malaga’ by Manuel Barrón y Carrillo, to aid the visitor in enter into the collection and the spirit of the menu. Fernando Carmona, in charge of the guided visit department, explains that from here the paintings follow in a succession that will bring visitors closer to the gastronomy of Malaga and Andalusia through a series of concepts that have more in common with food than with painting.
From picture to plate
When the visit is over, the feast can begin. The tasting menu comprises eight dishes, each one carefully prepared and presented, starting with the typical Malaga salad, served on a shell-shaped plate and inspired by Guillermo Gómez Gil’s painting ‘Coastal
landscape’. Next comes oxtail ravioli on a bed of pumpkin puré that represents the yellow sand of the bullring and reminds us of Mariano Fortuny’s painting of ‘Wounded Picador at the Bullfight’.
To tip this gastronomic wink, Fernando Carmona selected the paintings and Veronica Iribarnegaray, partner of the Café Bar Thyssen went to work on the food. She came up with creations like the hummus, rocket and dried tomato ‘tower’ that reproduces the colours of Eliseu Meifrèn’s ‘Patio’; or the fried dough rings made with sweet Malaga wine and dusted with sugar that make mouths water in Wessel de Guimbarda’s canvas. A dish of monkfish and clam simmers away in the kitchens too so that diners can delight in the typical Malaga fish stew and before you start, sip a cocktail of sparkling Malaga wine with orange and vermouth to remind you of Joaquin Turina’s art.
The success of ‘Art Menu’ has been such during the trial period that its creators have been encouraged to go one step further and create an events menu of 16 mini aperitifs and will be renewing everything in the coming months. There is definitely a lot cooking at the Carmen Thyssen Museum.
Proposals and Reservations
Reserve the guided visit and tasting menu for 25 euros per person and if you wish, this menu can be combined with a wine pairing from the Pérez-Hidalgo bodega. This latter proposal is only available for groups but Flor Rodriguez, partner in the café, explains that it will be possible to create other groups as individual reservations are received.
