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Black Celebration
My editorial project inspired by the music of Depeche Mode
BLACK CELEBRATION
Cooking Black Notes
A one-of-a-kind editorial and artistic project that is, in essence, a multisensory experience—seamlessly blending food, photography, and music, through taste and color.
The Editorial Idea
The idea took shape from the desire to combine my greatest passions—music and food—into a single project. The goal was to express a love for cooking through a language that’s anything but ordinary.
Black Celebration is the only song in Depeche Mode’s discography that lends its name to both a single and a full album. This rare exception became the perfect inspiration for the project—it had to be its title and starting point.
Each album, and most of Depeche Mode’s songs, evoke unique sensations and atmospheres for me, sparking creative visions that translate into truly distinctive food content.
The result!
The result was a collection of 17 dishes celebrating the band’s journey, from their early days to the present. Seventeen striking shots, all set against black, highlight both the creative process and my rock-inspired approach to each recipe.
Each dish is made with exclusively dark ingredients and photographed with bold contrasts of light and shadow—a true black-on-black celebration that enhances the textures and visual depth of every plate.
The raw materials were carefully selected after an in-depth research process that led me to discover unique shapes and flavors, all unified by their natural black hue.
These dark ingredients aren’t just key components—they’re the true protagonists and the common thread of the entire project. I began by exploring naturally black ingredients: Dutch black peppers, black tomatoes, a special variety of corn from Chile, lentils, quinoa, Apulian chickpeas, shiitake mushrooms, black truffle. From this starting point, I created dishes designed to perfectly match a visual style defined by high-contrast shadows and highlights.
Each album—and most of Depeche Mode’s songs—inspired a distinct set of impressions and atmospheres, guiding me in the creation of recipes and dishes that are as emotionally evocative as they are visually and gastronomically unique.
The dishes in Black Celebration also speak deeply of my roots and culinary traditions. One example is a crisp made from Nolche olives from Puglia—the very same olives my grandmother used to fry when I was a child, and I would snack on them straight from a paper bread bag.
Gallery
