(#65) GARLIC:

Edition of 2380 of which 300 copies are signed 1-300, 26 copies are signed A-Z as artist's proofs,and five sets are signed as progressives.

June 27, 1977 Seven colors 18" x 24"

Client: Alice Louise Waters, Chez Panisse Restaurant, 1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley CA 94709. Telephone (510) 548-5525 1-300: A-Z: Artist's own use

Influence: Aristide Maillol

Model: Linda Parker

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."*

This is exactly how I felt when I was in the Midwest. Flavor and texture there seem highly suspect. Morning, noon and night, everything on my plate is as much like everything else on my plate as possible. The only way you can tell what anything is supposed to be, is by looking at it. You can get quite a buzz off the coffee, but it doesn't taste like anything but hot water. You can read a newspaper through its pale smoggy haze. Desserts taste only of imitation vanilla, corn sugar and imitation lard. Though pepper is on the table, it will not come out of the shaker, and tastes like wood shavings anyhow. The only spice is salt, and plenty of it.

I was not a happy man. I yearned for the flesh pots of Berkeley; for the time when I could eat bread to the full. Good bread, garlic, olive oil, cheese and red wine provide the center of any decent ordinary cuisine. Save the garlic-less, deflavorized meal for your visiting British or Midwestern relatives. Let them worry about vampires.

* Numbers 11: 5-6