Fred Mora is convinced that art and food are perfect bedfellows
Fred Mora of Long Prawn jokes that sometimes he’s the prawn’s head and sometimes, the tail.
He’s not quite artist, not quite cook, somewhere in between. However, for this podcast, he says he’s “willing (for argument's sake) to accept that I'm an artist. But it’s not something I comfortably identify as - existing between the two is my happy place”.
FRED AND LONG PRAWN COLLABORATOR LAUREN
A QUICK WHIP AROUND THE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP FRED
PRONOUNS: He / Him
HOMETOWN: Naarm / Melbourne
JOB DESCRIPTION: Foodman and Vinaigrier
Fred and his creative collaborator Lauren Stephens are Long Prawn, a collective using food as a springboard to start conversations that traverse big ideas and observe parts of culture that have fallen out of focus. They have held various events and happenings over the past 8-10 years, working with chefs, artists, musicians and growers of food.
Growing up, the energy at the Mora family table was theatrical, warm and chaotic. Yum cha every weekend was a solid ritual and cheekiness was a core value for some family members. Fred’s grandmother, (treasured artist Mirka Mora) was apparently treacherous at the dinner table, especially when dining out. She would demand dessert first, then steak. Eating meant no rules. It meant engaging theatrically with your waiter and having the most fun you could manage. This has left a lasting impression on Fred - the importance of food and shared joy.
Some of Fred’s family recipes can be found in Mirka & Georges A Culinary Affair
He has a strong family food-related legacy, as food and art were enormously important to his grandparents Mirka and Georges, who had a shaping impact on Melbourne. They immigrated from France like many European Jews looking for a way out of besieged Paris in WW2. Mirka was a painter and, for a while, Georges worked in a matzo ball factory before connecting with prominent art benefactors Sunday and John Reed. Mirka and Georges would host dinner parties at their home in Melbourne’s CBD, with people arriving on a Friday and not leaving until Sunday. There was a strong commitment to the pleasures of living and profoundly enjoying life after the horrors they had endured. This led them to open the pioneering restaurants Tolarno, Mirka Cafe and Cafe Balzac. Art and food at this point were thoroughly intermeshed.
And so, vinegar…
WHAT IS TAX VINEGAR?
TAX VINEGAR TABLES UNPASTEURISED, AUSTRALIAN, SINGLE VINTAGE WINE VINEGAR ALONGSIDE LIVING VINEGARS MADE FROM LOCAL PRODUCE.
It makes sense then that Fred has pursued his own creative food interests. Tax Vinegar is a project he toiled away at for some time, with beginnings as curious experiments during one of Melbourne’s numerous pandemic lockdowns. He tells us that the breadth and depth that vinegar can add to your meal is huge - “it’s like turning the brightness up on your phone screen”.
Photography: Courtesy of Tax / Ben Clement
Fred’s father, William Mora (who had a gallery for 25 years, now run by his partner) was very aware of the hardships artists face in supporting their practices long term. “I just remembered something that my Dad said to me… I’m pretty sure he was joking… he said "if you're ever an artist, I'm going to chop off your hands”.
Fred’s experience of the idea of the ‘Starving Artist’ began as soon as he was born - being the child of a gallerist. He grew up with artists around him and many artists he encountered were what he would define as ‘starving artists’, but in his own words, his understanding was that “... it actually means that they were putting their work first”.
Grab a friend and a whisk and join us to find out
What Fred Eats.
WHAT FRED EATS
Mirka and Georges’s
French Resistance Mayonnaise
Fred Mora 2024
Fred’s recipe is mayonnaise and you can hear our genuine excitement in the interview - we were so delighted by this as we had seen the film ‘Monsieur Mayonnaise’ by Fred’s uncle years ago and loved it.
The film is the true story of Fred’s grandfather Georges during the French Resistance in WW2. His spy name was Monsieur Mayonnaise, due to his rescuing and smuggling of children over borders using mayonnaise as his weapon of choice. With artist Marcel Marceau, he discovered that if you put enough mayonnaise on a baguette you would be able to hide documents in it and smuggle it past the gestapo. As the gestapo were fastidious about not getting their uniforms dirty, every time Georges passed a check point he was able to smuggle documents through. The trick was that there needed to be a certain amount of mayonnaise on the baguette - if you passed a certain threshold of it, the guards wouldn’t bother to check it.
Recipe tips:
The key to this recipe it that it’s not about measuring but about feel. Fred says“It’s ready when it feels ready”
The ingredients must be at room temperature, so sit the eggs out of fridge for some time
The simple magic is the egg yolk, some acid (like vinegar or lemon), salt, pepper and oil “if you just had those things you'd be fine, but you also need a friend and a whisk”
You’ll know it’s good if it resembles thick mayonnaise. “It’ll be a lovely colour, it’ll taste full and whole and there will be tears!”
You can then make aioli or add tarragon or herbs using this as the base
Eat with: oeufs mayonnaise, tarragon roast chicken with some nice crisp vegetable, or fish in paper
Drink with a nice French white wine
Monsieur Mayonnaise
An incredible true tale of mayonnaise sandwiches, Nazis and a hand-painted comic book! Artist and filmmaker Philippe Mora (Mad Dog Morgan, MIFF 15) is producing a graphic novel about his late father, Georges, a Melbourne art patron, restaurateur and gallery owner. Director Trevor Graham (Make Hummus Not War, MIFF 12) follows Mora as he paints his dad’s astonishing life – from meeting his wife, acclaimed artist Mirka Mora (Philippe’s mother), to his friendship with mime Marcel Marceau (Philippe’s godfather), and how together they saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust with a fiendishly simple trick involving baguettes & mayonnaise. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Monsieur Mayonnaise is a lively, colourful, tasty and uniquely personal take on 20th-century history, art, food and family.
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LINKS & MENTIONS
LINKS TO ARTIST INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CHATTED ABOUT
INFORMATION AND TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR CHAT
Success is when someone brings their Mum to your event
Fred’s pantry staples: always vinegar, anchovies, Chinese pantry staples like soy sauces and rice wine
Vinegar is a foundational bridge between wine and food. In some sense, it is both those things simultaneously. An immaculate conception of place, produce and bacteria
Fred suggests replacing your kitchen timer with a track of bongos playing . This means that not only will you know when your food is ready, but also you can have a little boogie before turning off the stove