【英语中国】北京国际设计周：一头猪引发的思考

Imagine being introduced to a pig and watching the fuzzy young pig frolic and roll around in the dirt on a farm.

Now, imagine eating that pig in a sandwich.

That's what diners will experience this weekend during Beijing Design Week, when Maison Boulud and design firm Jellymon will team up to tell the story of responsible consumption through a project that merges food, filmmaking and design.

Called 'Meating Amy,' the project will introduce attendees to a pig named Amy through a documentary film by Alessandro De Toni. Viewers will watch Amy's upbringing on an organic farm in China's Yunnan province up to the point where she gets slaughtered off camera. After the film is over, they will have an encounter with another Amy - a pig that grew up on the same farm - but this time on their plates.

Chef Brian Reimer of Beijing's Maison Boulud and his team will prepare and serve up all edible parts of Amy, turning the pig into a French-style pate, head cheese for banh mi, a porchetta, baked ham and an Italian-style lardo. Meanwhile, diners will encounter the pig's inedible byproducts in the form of a food cart and utensils created by designer Lin Lin of Jellymon.

Ms. Lin said she came up with the idea for the project after observing an increasing disconnect between urban people and their food in China. She asked Mr. Reimer, a friend, to collaborate with her, focusing on a pig because of pork's long history as a staple meat in the Chinese diet.

'It's important to challenge the fine dining industry because they get the best part of the animal a lot of the time,' she said.

Originally, Ms. Lin's team discussed designing a ring from one of the animal's bones, but that 'branding next to a Daniel [Boulud] restaurant doesn't fit,' noted Mr. Reimer. So instead they decided to use the bones and skin for more functional components, like glue and leather that formed parts of a food cart.

'We can boil the bones and make a stock, but it's amazing to see what Lin Lin's team could do with the byproduct of pork,' Mr. Reimer said.

Ms. Lin enlisted the head taxidermist of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, Han Meng Yan, to treat Amy's skin into leather and clean her bones for various products that include a bench, menu holders and even bicycle bells.

It was important to give Amy a name and a face, so that people could connect with the pig's post-mortem journey on a deeper level. 'Today, [animals] become a box of meat and you don't really see the animal or connect with it anymore,' Ms. Lin said. 'It's just food on a plate.'

For her, the project was a journey in itself. 'When Brian was in the kitchen and I saw the pig [they were testing their recipes on], I couldn't wait to eat it,' she said. 'But when I got to the taxidermy workshop with all of its smells and textures, it was scary. I realized she's really dead - dead dead.'

Ms. Lin believes visitors will also experience this dissonance when they attend the event.

'The documentary might be morbid, but the whole experience will be fun and lighthearted,' she said. 'I want people to consciously enjoy food products. Whether you're a designer, cook or anyone else, we should fully utilize whatever materials or resources we have in hand.'

'Meating Amy' will take place at 4 p.m. on Sept. 28 at The Factory of Beijing Design Week Dashilar, Da Wai Ling Ying Hutong. Attendance is free.

Getty Images“餐见艾米”项目将通过食物、影片制作和设计来讲述一个“责任消费”的故事。
想象一下，有人向你介绍了一头猪，想象你观看它在一个农场的泥地里嬉戏和打滚的场景。

现在，想象你正在吃用这头猪的肉做的三明治。

参加本周末北京国际设计周(Beijing Design Week)一个活动的用餐者就将体验这一过程，届时布鲁宫法餐厅(Maison Boulud)和设计公司爵盟(Jellymon)将携手通过一个融合了食物、影片制作和设计的项目讲述一个“责任消费”的故事。

Beijing Design Week布鲁宫法餐厅主厨赖默将把艾米身上所有可食用的部分制作成菜品，将这头猪变成一道法式肉派、猪头肉冻三明治、意大利猪腿、烤火腿和一块意式熏肉。这个名为“餐见艾米”(Meating Amy)的项目将通过一部由托尼(Alessandro De Toni)执导的纪录片让参加者认识一头名叫艾米的猪。观看者将看到艾米在中国云南省一个有机农场上的饲养过程，直到她在镜头外被屠宰的那一刻。在影片结束后，他们将与另一个艾米见面——一头在同一个农场上饲养大的猪，但这次是在他们的盘子中。

北京布鲁宫法餐厅的行政主厨赖默(Brian Reimer)和他的团队将把艾米身上所有可食用的部分制作成菜品，将这头猪变成一道法式肉派、猪头肉冻三明治、意大利猪腿、烤火腿和一个意式熏肉。与此同时，用餐者将会看到这头猪不可食用部分做成的副产品——由爵盟的设计师Lin Lin创作的餐车和餐具。

Lin Lin说，在注意到中国的城市居民和他们的食物之的联系越来越疏远后，她萌生了这样的想法。她邀请她的朋友赖默与她合作，做一个以猪为主角的项目，之所以选择猪，是因为猪肉长期以来一直是中餐的主要肉类食物。

她说，挑战精细餐饮行业十分重要，因为他们大多数时间都会用到牲畜身上最好的部分。

最初，Lin Lin的团队讨论设计一枚利用猪骨制作的戒指，但赖默说，这个设计与布鲁宫法餐厅不搭。所以他们转而决定用猪骨和猪皮制作更有功能性的配件，比如组成餐车配件的胶和皮革。

赖默说，我们可以把骨头煮熟，然后存放起来，但Lin Lin的团队对猪的副产品的利用方法令人惊叹。

Lin Lin邀请北京自然博物馆(Beijing Museum of Natural History)首席剥制师韩蒙燕将艾米的皮制作成皮革，并对她的骨头进行清洁，用于制作多种产品，包括一个长凳和菜单架，甚至还有自行车铃。

给艾米起名字并让她露个脸非常重要，这样人们可以与这头猪在被屠宰前的生命旅程建立更深的联系。Lin Lin说，如今，动物已经直接变成一盒盒的肉，你不再真正去观察它们，或者与他们建立联系，它们只是盘中的食物。

对Lin Lin来说，这个项目本身就是一个旅程。她说，当赖默在厨房里，我看着（他们当时试食谱用的）那头猪，我都等不及去品尝它了，但当我来到剥制间，那里的气味和材料的样子着实吓到我了，我意识到，她真的死了（她说了三遍死了这个词）。

Lin Lin相信，参观者在参加这次活动时也将体验到这种不和谐。

她说，用文字来形容可能有些恐怖，但整个体验将是十分有趣和快乐的，我希望人们用心享用食物；无论你是设计师、厨师还是其他行业人士，我们应当充分利用我们手头上的材料或者资源。

“餐见艾米”将于9月28日下午4点在大外廊营胡同的北京国际设计周大栅栏工厂举行。此次活动免费参加。