I founded Clean Plate Society in 2016 to organize cultural food events that bring people together and showcase traditional foods, or create food experiences playing on artistic combination
Our will to create Clean Plate Society came from a strong point of view: while the (street)-food markets and pop-up restaurants trend was very strong in Berlin, we noticed that the cultural depth, as well as real moments of exchange and discussion between people were missing in those very commercial events. What were people really getting from those Events?
Beyond good food, we want with our Events - from food markets, to recurring or unique events - to create cultural bridges, showcase less famous cultural traditions or little-known culinary areas. Beyond fun Event, we see food as a tool and a media to let people come together, to encourage social gathering between communities, and to facilitate other forms of cultural experiences, being Music, Movies, or Fairy Tales..
« The Food court opens when the sun sets, and dates will be freely offered following the worldwide traditional fastbreaking. »
Ramadan Food Festival
“Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslim” is a longlife cliché. In order to break it and underline the cultural diversity of Muslim countries, as well as to encourage inter-communities relationships and fight Islamophobia, we organized the firsts “Ramadan Food Festivals” in Berlin in 2016 and 2017.
During this non-religious and non-profit Event, Muslim and non-Muslim people were invited to “break the Fast” and discover the Food Delicacies traditionally eaten for Iftar, from 7 different countries each year. Being the Malaysian Nasi Lemak and its fried fish, the Peanut and fried Plantain Gambian Snack, or the hearty Bosnian Cevapcici, theyll be able to discover how Muslims from around the world break the Ramadan fast.
The first Ramadan Food Festival, held in June 2016 in YAAM, gathered 1,500 foodies, Muslim and Non-Muslim, eager to discover the Iftars from Indonesia, Palestina, Syria, Morocco, Gambia, Ghana and India. They could also enjoy the performances of Aly Keita, world-renowned Ivorian Balafon Player and Ipek, a Turkish female DJ.
During the second Ramadan Food Festival, that took place in May 2017 in YAAM, we received more than 2,000 visitors. For this second edition, we showcased Iftars from Bosnia, Malaysia, Morocco, Gambia, Pakistan, Syria and Iran. Those palatable experiences were rounded by a cultural program underlining this diversity, beginning with Die Saiten der Welt, an acoustic band combining string instruments from Senegal, India and Europe, and followed by a traditional Palestinian dance “Dabke” by Zaffet Alnujum.
« Discover Hibernation, our first season of four episodes starring Winter Moutains Movies! Each week you will discover an exciting winter film highlighting a different world region and its food culture. »
Gastrollywood
Gastrollywood is the second series of Events we created around food, with the motto Taste the movie. We propose an immersive experience where discovering a new food item, its taste and its aroma allows you to go deeper into a movie. By tasting food that is either directly featured in the movie or taken from its cultural and seasonal context, we invite viewers to attain a new level of familiarity. We aim to get people closer to the story, the characters, the filmmakers, and the cultures that shaped them, both intellectually and emotionally.
Hibernation
The first Series was called Hibernation. Every Sunday during 4 weeks people were invited to discover one movie taking place in winter mountains, and to share a dinner from this cultural area, in the cold season.
"Cold and lonely mountains, blinding white snow, fear and conflict : Mountains in Winter are generally used to create incomparable claustrophobic conditions for movie characters. Only way to survive it : comfort food, over and over again. Being melted cheese & potatoes in the Alps, Soups and Chillis in northern Asia or wild rice in Native American regions, they aim to warm up the body and ease the mind.”
In our next Projects…
A comprehensive immersion in the world of Chillis via a food-market showcasing different spicy cuisines in the world and allowing to put the use of this Food Item in perspective, from Mexico to Korea via Senegal
A comparison of BBQs from all over the world, backed by a little anthropological explanation of the Grilling Method
A season 2 for Gastrollywood - in Open Air Cinema and with Seafood
A festival of Tales from all over the world and their food, or how Food took its place in Orality Traditions…
And a lot more!