FORM-Idea

I don’t normally think in terms of labelling places I go to, but as I was sitting at the Taste the Word tent this Summer at Womad I thought, this is definitely my ‘happy place’. Food, music and chat, in a positive, welcoming environment – what more could a music-loving foodie want?

The brainchild of festival organiser Annie Mentor, Taste the World is a space where musicians playing on the main stages at Womad are invited to come and have an informal chat as they cook a dish from their homeland, interspersed with singing a few songs.  It sounds complicated, but it runs beautifully smoothly and creates a personal relationship with musicians from all over the world.

The first time I discovered Taste the World was when, ten years ago, I saw the extremely talented Chinese flautist Guo Yue, playing a white jade flute, talking about his upbringing in China during the Cultural Revolution and cooking glass noodles, which the audience got to taste. From that moment, I was hooked. There is something about the intimacy of the space that makes one feel connected to the musicians in a way that is impossible on a larger stage – like catching The Rolling Stones playing at Ronnie Scott’s.

The atmosphere at the Taste the World tent can vary enormously depending on who is playing. It always retains a great sense of fun, but it can also create some very poignant, moving moments when we hear about the bravery or difficulties some people face, depending on the geography of their roots. A year after Guo’s appearance, two Iranian sisters described how they were not allowed to sing in public in Iran, but broke the rules by singing on the rooftops of Tehran, risking imprisonment. When one hears these stories, extricated by host Roger De Wolf who chats amiably to the musicians as they cook, it adds another layer to the experience of hearing them sing or play that one wouldn’t get from a conventional gig.

This year one of the acts they hosted was a fabulously unique band from South Korea, Leenalchi, who were initially worried about the idea of having to cook and talk and play in a small space. Annie told me that they didn’t quite understand how it would all work. But they came along to watch Norfolk musician Sam Kelly and his band the Lost Boys, who cooked a very tasty mushroom risotto and performed the day before, which made them feel more comfortable about it all. Leenalchi’s guitarist made a delicious pork belly dish from their homeland, and they all looked totally at home as they sang on a tiny stage and chatted with ease about their music, culture and influences.

Also performing there, the young Austrian singer Alicia Edelweiss admitted only when at the stove that she never cooked normally and liked to eat raw food, but had Googled a recipe that she wanted to prepare, a Tyrolean cheese dumpling, which her manager ended up making – Alicia had glitter on her hands and didn’t want to poison the audience. It was very tasty.

Annie got the idea for Taste the World while travelling the world with musicians, realizing that they always miss their home cooking and their families. When she suggested it to the Womad organisers they thought it would never work, and said she could do it once and once only. It has been running every year since, and now the organisers are suggesting she do it in a bigger space. But she believes it works because of its intimacy, and I agree with her. It is the cosiness of it that makes it a ‘happy place’, not just for me, but for the hundreds of Womadians that love it and, I suspect, for the musicians that play there too.

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Alicia Edelweiss is playing at the Green Note in Camden on the 13th of December 2023 and Leenanlchi are playing at the South Bank on the 10th of November 2023.