Bowls for a Biang-Biang noodle pop-up - no two are alike
For the pop-up Miam Miam Noodles, ceramist Jalscha Römer developed 150 pieces of tableware – her largest production to date, with no two pieces alike.
A plaster mold is actually made for repetitions. Not quite for Jalscha Römer. For the tableware series she developed exclusively for Miam Miam Noodles, the Zurich ceramist uses exactly this principle, but each bowl dries differently, each edge falls differently, each bears visible traces of the hand that shaped it.
The Asian noodle pop-up itself is run by a circle of four friends in the Zurich restaurant Hermanseck. At its center is a dish that has been hard to find in the city until now: Biang-Biang noodles – wide, hand-pulled noodles from the Chinese province of Shaanxi, traditionally served with garlic, chili, soy sauce, and vinegar. None of the four team members come from the gastronomy sector; what unites them is a shared passion for the craftsmanship behind it.
Römer explains in conversation why this is so important to her: clay remains soft for a long time, but can be shaped in such a way that it still looks soft even when hard. If it is too dry during shaping, the edges crack. On some of the bowls, you can still see her fingerprints. This is exactly what she wants to show: the “not too perfect” translation of the making.
She came to Miam Miam Noodles through Silvan Possa, whom she knows from ZHdK. He is one of the four creative minds behind Miam Miam Noodles – alongside Lena Xue, Lukas Blum, and Shixuan Wu – and asked her early on if she would be interested in making the tableware. For Römer, it was a stroke of luck with perfect timing: she is in the middle of a four-year full-time apprenticeship as an EFZ ceramist in Bern, after having made the “Grexit” two years ago, the exit from graphic design. The job had become too screen-heavy, too uncreative, and too pressure-laden for her – a feeling she observes in many people around her.
From Slip to Bowl
Römer was allowed to produce 150 pieces for the guest appearance – 60 large bowls, plus smaller items. The large bowls are cast, the small black bowls are made from clay pressed into molds. The technique may be designed for repeatability, but Römer deliberately seeks the break in it: “Despite serial production, you have the feeling that each piece is hand-formed and different from the others,” she says.
Two Crafts, One Stage
The formal language itself was not consciously inspired by the noodles, says Römer. What she did choose very consciously, however, was the color palette. She knew that the food, with its many components and shades, offers a lot visually. Therefore, she keeps the tableware reduced so that the noodles get the stage.
The ceramic works can be purchased during the three weeks from July 26th – if you wish, you can pick up your favorite piece directly after the pop-up ends until August 15th. More information can be found here.
Like a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.
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