When Utrecht-based chef Ernst de Witte visited the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam last year, he noticed something was wrong with one of the wall labels. De Witte discovered that van Gogh’s still life “Red Cabbage and Onions” (1887) was mistakenly named; the “onions” depicted, he observed, were in fact heads of garlic.
Determined to set the record straight, de Witte sent a message to the museum with his theory. The institution “took it seriously from the start,” he said. Hyperallergic, and demanded proof of his conviction. De Witte and his wife developed a PowerPoint presentation comparing the painting in question with another work by van Gogh, “Still life around a dish of onions(1889), including an analysis of the painter’s handling of the two vegetables. He also filmed a video comparing and contrasting different types of garlic and onions by shape and color and mapped the subtle lines painted by van Gogh to delineate the clove segments under the garlic skin. In addition to being a chef, de Witte is also a visual artist, allowing him to apply his expertise in both fields to make such an assessment.
The museum brought de Witte’s evidence to its research team, who eventually determined he was right a few months later. They even consulted an independent researcher who validated de Witte’s claim, prompting the institution to correct the error in both its wall text and the online collections record. The painting is now called “Red cabbage and garlic” thanks to de Witte’s keen eye.
Inspired by both the painting and this experience, de Witte developed a dish of red cabbage and garlic for his Utrecht-based restaurant, Fireconsisting of poached red cabbage placed on a puffed garlic cream and drizzled with a vinaigrette of lemon balm, tarragon and van Gogh’s favorite liqueur, absinthe.
“As soon as the dressing comes into contact with the components of the red cabbage, the colors begin to fade, much like the red/blue pigments in van Gogh’s paintings,” de Witte wrote to Hyperallergic. “Our guests are in love with it, especially combined with the history and the beer brewed with absinthe with which we accompany it.” The dish is on the Feu Restaurant menu until May, and diners who include “#vanGogh” on their online reservations can sample it on the spot.
