Are you Eve or Lilith that is the question? – Bompas and Parr: Rotten to the Core

Bompas and Parr let me and a few of my friends come down on 10^th November to learn about the most sinful fruit on the earth the ‘Apple’ at their event Rotten to the Core.

Rotten to the Core

The event took place at Block 336 in Brixton and we were led to an immersive 2 hour journey into a world of gluttony, greed and excess leading us into a sensory experience, ritualistic in eating practices and fortune telling and so much more.

We explored what happens when food, money, greed and lust collide, driven by the insatiable demands of our bellies. By the end of the evening we had discovered and experienced a spirit summoning, consumed bacteria-laden cocktails, and feasted on a buffet of apples which is all just part of Bompas & Parr’s newly launched catering division.

The talks

Firstly we were given a welcome drink and we then explored the venue and took in the last day of the current exhibition ‘Lead me not into temptation’ by Jane Hayes Green.

Adam and Eve and Lilith

The night begun with a talk by Sam one of the founders of Bompas and Parr and we learnt about Adam and Eve and Lilith which was Adam’s first wife which I never knew about.

So here is some interesting information if you are intrigued to know more about Lilith.

Legend has it that Lilith was Adam’s actual first wife, created together with him on the Sixth Day and from the earth using the same materials. Some say Lilith was created a little later, after Adam complained to God that he had no partner. Either way, Lilith was created independently from and equal to Adam thus this leading to problems.

Why did this lead to problems? The story is that Adam always liked to be on top when making love. This sexual request was one of the many issues that caused the rift in the end between them as she liked to be on top. After a fierce argument which Adam attempted to win by force, Lilith in fury uttered the mystical, ineffable name of the Almighty, clapped her hands and flew away.

Adam then complained to Jehovah that he had been abandoned, so God sent three angels to persuade Lilith to return back home. So the angels seeked out Lilith and found her on the shores of the Red sea in a place populated by a breed of demon (rebel angels), from whose attentions she had been giving birth to a hundred more little demons every day. It is said that Lilith’s children are the greatest demons to ever plague the world. Chief among them were the lilin or lamiae of the ancient world, vampires also known as succubi.

The three angels tried to coax Lilith to return to Adam but she only laughed and said “How could I go back to Adam after the entertainment I have enjoyed here?”. The angels threatened to kill her but she only dared them to try. Which they did, and failed because she had learned some magical tricks from the demons. After a great battle they managed to bundle her into the Outer Darkness and slaughter all her offspring. Also it is believed that in the Outer Darkness Lilith was of a woman from the waist up and a serpent below.

Adam meanwhile had been provided with a new mate in the form of Eve, who was fashioned from his rib in the hope that this would bind her more dutifully to him. Eve was a more timid person that was easily controlled.

Lilith was banished from the returning to Adam and Eve but she occasionally managed to sneak back. However you may ask yourself she did not originally want to go back so why after a time did she want to return. The reason is because she learnt that Adam was the one that demanded all her children be slaughtered so this led to revenge. This is where the servant and apple come into play. It’s often said that the serpent is Lilith who then tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. There are many medieval scenes of the Temptation that show the serpent as a woman from the waist up, handing over the fatal fruit to bring about the Fall.

The rest of their tale is famous enough not to need repeating here.

The apple

The rest of the night we learnt more from Sam about why the apple is regarded as a sinful fruit and how monks see the apple.

Roald Dahl

We then drank bacteria (mixed with other drink) from the famous writer Roald Dahl which was obtained from his writing chair.

The drink was poured into a skull and we all took turns to drink the liquid from a straw. The drink tasted like a malted beer with a hint of cinnamon. It was actually very nice. This drink was also served at another event earlier this year in which Bompas and Parr collaborated with Les Enfants called ‘The Twits’ which is a famous children story by Roald Dahl. It was an immersive story telling event with food and drink.

Michael Jackson

I then discovered throughout Sam’s talk that Bompas and Parr helped cater for Michael Jackson’s funeral which was really interesting to hear. If you want to know more then watch my video from below.

Sin Eating

I then discovered about how back in the old days how sins of dead people’s relatives were transferred into another person to cleanse the deceased’s soul. It was known as ‘Sin Eating’ which means the practice of consuming a ritual meal in order to absorb the sins of another, recently deceased person to absolve their soul.

A piece of bread was usually placed on the deceased person’s body and then the bread was eaten by a humble person that came knocking on the door or whom they found on the street. I believe that the humble people never knew that they were eating the tainted food.

After the very interesting talk in where I learnt so much about Adam and Eve, the apple, death, sinful food and Michael Jackson’s funeral it was onto making cocktails.

Cocktail making

The cocktail consisted of Vermouth, apple and lime juice plus egg white (however I did not use that) so now shake, shake, shake! The drink was really delicious and sharp and I could not stop drinking it.

Fermenting good masterclass

In fact after this we went onto learn about fermenting food and I kept having to go back to the workstation table to grab my drink and take a sip. How naughty am I. Obviously this sinful fruit has lured me into temptation.

The class on fermentation was very interesting and again I learnt something new and that is that you should not wash your fruit and vegetables from tap water as this can lead to bacteria. However if you don’t like the thought of not washing your fruit or vegetables then it is then advised to wash using bottled water or filtered water. There were several recipes to create from on the night.

I opted to make the Apple and Orange Sauerkraut as I love fruit and sweetness. I literally got all my ingredients’ everywhere and made my jar overflow when it came to filling it up. So I then ended just taking photos of my blogger friends. Steve, Henri and Kim made several concoction’s on the night and they all looked amazing.

The Apple peel

Afterwards it was then onto peeling an apple over a piece of paper and however the apple peel dropped it will show you a letter of the person you supposedly will fall in love with. You are supposed to peel all in one go but I am useless at peeling so my peel ended in pieces forming no sort of resemblance of a letter.

Steve’s ended up being an E, Henri had the same issue as me bits and Kim (Karishma) ended up with a letter K which Henri thinks means that Kim loves herself. After we had to move the peel into a shape of our desire.

The feast

Lastly it was the grand apple feast of salads made with apples, pork pies and apple turnovers all placed amongst fake skulls. All the food was literally to die for.

Apple – Am I Lilith or Eve?

Lastly it was time for us to decide with the apple we was given during the feast if to take a bite and choose to be Lilith the dominant woman or to not take a bite of the apple and be the timid Eve. I am most certainly the powerful Lilith so I took a massive bite out of my apple and all my friends did as well.

Thank you to Bompas and Parr for inviting me and giving me a most spiritual insight at Rotten to the Core. The entire night was very interesting and I will never look at an apple in the same way.

Read Steve’s blog via here.

Would you of taken a bite of the sinful fruit the apple?