Romanian apple cake “Prajitura Turnata cu Mere”

by ToTum TeaTre | Dec 29, 2019 | Blog

Minor Chefs – the cake

After doing research about different Transylvanian (Romanian and Hungarian) recipes we decided to bake a cake during the performance. It seems like they love cakes here! And the more layers it has, the better.

Here is one of the original recipes for the delicious Romanian apple cake “Prajitura Turnata cu Mere” that we used (for the performance we modified it a little to add it a personal touch):

Ingredients

Batter:

4 eggs, 300 g sugar, 120 ml oil (or butter), 180 ml milk, 350 g flour, 10 g baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

2 kg apples, 150 g sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, Plus icing sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Start by grating the apples. If they’re too juicy, strain them a bit.
2. In a skillet on medium heat, cook the apples with the sugar until the juices are almost evaporated.
3. Add the cinnamon and leave to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°
5. Using a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
6. Add the oil and the vanilla extract and mix.
7. Mix the flour with the baking powder.
8. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk, then the other half of the flour mixture and the remaining milk. The batter should be similar to the one we use for pancakes.
9. In a buttered, medium cake tray covered with baking sheet, add half of the batter and bake it for 10 minutes.
10. Take the tray out of the oven, spread the filling over the batter and add the rest of the batter.
11. Bake for another 30-35 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top.
12. Take the cake out of the oven, leave it to cool for a bit and dust with icing sugar.

Recipe in Romanian – Rețeta în română

Ingrediente

Aluat: 4 ouă 300 g zahăr 120 ml ulei 180 ml lapte 350 g făină 10 g praf de copt 1 linguriță de extract de vanilie

Umplutură: 2 kg de mere 150 g zahăr 1 linguriță de scorțișoară Zahăr pudră pentru decorat

Mod de preparare Radeți merele pe răzătoarea mare. Dacă sunt prea suculente, stoarceți-le un pic. Într-o tigaie la foc mediu, gătiți merele cu zahărul până când sucul de la mere este aproape evaporat. Adăugați scorțișoara și lăsați compoziția deoparte până pregătiți aluatul. Preîncălziți cuptorul la 180 ° C. Folosind un mixer sau un tel, bateți ouăle cu zahărul până când zahărul este dizolvat. Adăugați uleiul și extractul (sau esența) de vanilie și amestecați. Amestecați făina cu praful de copt. Adăugați jumătate din amestecul de făină și jumătate din lapte, apoi cealaltă jumătate din amestecul de făină și laptele rămas. Aluatul ar trebui să fie foarte moale, puțin mai gros decât cel de clătite. Într-o tavă de prăjitură medie, unsă cu unt și tapetată cu foaie de copt, adăugați jumătate din aluat și coaceți timp de 10 minute. Scoateți tava din cuptor, întindeți umplutura peste aluatul pe jumătate copt, apoi turnați și restul aluatului. Coaceți pentru încă 30-35 de minute sau până când prăjitura cu mere este de culoare maro aurie. Scoateți prăjitura din cuptor, lăsați-o să se răcească puțin și pudrați cu zahăr.

The recipe is copied (almost identical) from here: http://www.deliciousromania.com/recipes/desserts/apple-and-raisins-tray-cake-prajitura-turnata-cu-mere/

Enjoy the baking and the cake!

Photo by New Generation Studio Târgu-Mureș

The recipe for creating “Minor Chefs”

by ToTum TeaTre | Dec 29, 2019 | Blog

The recipe for creating “Minor Chefs”

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 (small) starting point

1 space for performing, including a small space for the audience and enough sockets to plug in lights, kitchen equipment, sound system

Lots of pans, cups, bowls etc.

1 oven, 1 hotplate, 1 table and 1 shelf

Ingredients for baking (better to have way too much than what you need)

Filling:

2 performers, preferably of different sizes or looks

4 local super artists

a handful of very helpful local volunteers

1 teacher and a student

Various people to help out with the technical part (sound, camera, projector, lights)

For decoration:

Aprons, costumes, Christmas decoration, (local) music

Directions:

First you need to preheat the oven and get excited. Mix the performers and the local artists together in the space chosen. After some careful mixing, add all the kitchen equipment to fill the space neatly. Try to be as organised and effective as possible since this has to be done very quickly. Now, slowly, add the pots, plates and other things needed, bring in the ingredients and start exploring. You might have to try many, many times before something tasty comes out, so don’t get nervous. When you think you have found something, add a touch of volunteers and you will see how it starts to smell good. Now, leave whatever you got to cool off a bit and focus on the space. Get help from the technical staff and fix the lights, sound, a camera and the projection for the other room. At the same time you can start preparing the decoration. First add a teacher and a student and wait a little. Go back to see what you have cooled off – now add everything you got, start mixing very fast and without stopping (or it gets too airy), just keep repeating it until you have something that starts to look like a dough, with the right color and texture. Now, take a deep breath and put it nicely on the dish. Set it in the oven, wait and when it’s ready, share it with as many people as you can. Remember to ask for the feedback!

Photo by New Generation Studio Târgu-Mureș

Teatro Fenice

by ToTum TeaTre | Oct 9, 2019 | Blog

To create something in a place that already is an experience in itself. To bring alive a space that is full of history. To work in a beautiful theatre that has its doors closed for the people living in the same city. 

A big, smelly, dark and humid place: Teatro Fenice, Opera, Europa nightclub. 

We tried to really listen to the place, feel it, connect to it. Imagine the past, the secrets, the visitors. We wanted to honor the history and imagine the future.

“and then there was space”

Click here to listen to a part of the soundscape: Last Waltz

by Enver Krivac

created and performed by

Julianna Bloodgood (Wrocław),  Anne Corté (Paris), Johannes Schrettle (Graz), Sanna Karoliina Toivanen (Barcelona), Janaina Tupan (Montpellier), Sendi Bakotić (Rijeka), Andrea Crnković (Rijeka), Nika Korenjak (Ljubljana/Zagreb), Maja Kovač (Zagreb), Kristina Paunovski (Rijeka)

Galway Lab Day 3 & 4

by ToTum TeaTre | Apr 29, 2019 | Blog

After a sudden change of plans due to bad weather the previous day, we began our trip to Inis Oirr on the morning of the 27th. We stepped on a double-decker bus that took us to the ferryboat, and after a bumpy 45 minutes, we were finally on the island.

Arrival, hotel, lunch, and again in movement. Walking between stone walls to the cultural center, where we had an afternoon of interesting technical information regarding VR, mapping, and sensors, followed by rotation of practice with the material.

Especially illuminating was Brian and Tom’s explanation on the use of sensors, starting with a basic demonstration with two of them that were triggering different videos, continuing with infrared cameras and live examples of their use. Niall’s VR presentation was quite straight forward, going directly to the goggles, experiencing different types of interactive videos on them.

A good piece of advice to take into account: do not use technology if it is not really relevant to your performance, or if what the sensor does is easily replaceable by a technician pressing a button.

On the 28th, we started dividing the group in 4 teams, objective: to produce a small performance in 3 hours using the materials we saw the day before.

GROUP A: Made a nice VR movie involving a horse in a wide-open space that worked very well, great decision also to place the audience outside.

GROUP B: The use of the masks gave this VR film a whole new atmosphere of theatrical flavor.

GROUP C: (our group) Played with an infrared camera creating interaction in between a dancer in front of the audience and 3 participants located in another room, hidden to the public.

GROUP D: Their work had good dramatic development exposing the “on-off” nature of the sensors, closing with an old-style end of the game in vintage computer style.

The afternoon found us following the energetic tourist guide Kathleen who took us to the castle in a non-stop mix of good historical information and ecological awareness.

A Special mention to the fantastic gift that Lorand gave us for his last night, sharing 5 magical dance movies.