PEZZAMI  Community meal on food waste

Performative action, immersive experience  and recorded interviews.  

2022, Teatro Garibaldi in Palermo; as part of the CeSDAS workshop

https://www.associazionemeno.org/cesdas/

The term Pezzami in Sicilian dialect refers to the small remaining pieces of salami, ham, cheese that can no longer be served individually and are therefore mixed together to create a filling to be used in new recipes.

During the CeSDAS  (International Centre for Applied Dramaturgy in Space) workshop , we were asked to propose a dramaturgical action on the theme of food.

We were given a budget of 20 euros for each working group.

My workmate Elisa and I decided to work on the theme of food waste, and instead of spending the money buying fresh food, we went to ask restaurants and bars to give us something from the kitchen leftovers that would be thrown away at the end of the day. We collected enough food to serve in a collective meal.

While searching for food, we recorded conversations we had with the managers and workers of the premises and realised that the theme of popular street food was recurring. Interesting concepts emerged from the stories, such as that in which nothing is thrown away from the animal, all parts are used to prepare different dishes.

The term 'fifth quarter' refers precisely to the last part of the pork cut off by the butcher, the giblets.The Pezzami is an example of this concept, but also the Frittola, a dish of offal that due to its impressive appearance is sold covered by a cloth or in bags so as not to be seen.

For our performative action we presented a set table, with the unused 20 euro in the middle.

We served the food to the other participants while the audio of the interviews played in the background.