Sauerknautsch, Speise des Wasserwegs
水路菜
水路菜（Sauerknautsch），是一种用芥菜腌制且不加盐的独特腌菜。制作过程非常简单：将芥菜在热水中浸泡大约30到60秒，然后在温暖的环境下发酵2到5天。这种腌制方法是艺术家在中国珠江三角洲地区的客家人中发现的。
客家人有着丰富的迁徙历史，可以追溯到公元前221年。他们为逃避内陆冲突和社会动荡，过上了长期游牧的生活，从北方温带平原到热带三角洲的迁徙过程中，适应了各种地形和气候，调整了他们的饮食习惯。水路菜就是他们在重新扎根过程中产生的一种适应性食谱。
水是农业的基本资源，6世纪时珠三角得益于沙地运动，扩张的沙地和广泛水路令土地资源和淡水资源变得更加重要。然而，被边缘化的客家人却很难获取水资源，无论是淡水还是海盐。因此他们更多的是定居在山区，这是在歧视下唯一可供居住的地区。为了应对喀斯特地貌和石灰岩这种盐碱和恶劣的农业环境，他们不种植需水量大的水稻，而是甘蔗红薯等其他含糖作物，还发现了在不依赖奢侈盐的情况下保存食物，并适应不断变化的气候条件。这道日常菜肴的酸味以酸味中和了来自山泉水的硬水（含有碳酸钙等物质），亦反映了他们所面临的艰辛以及他们克服这些艰难所展示的聪明才智。
以这道朴素的食谱为灵感，客家酸菜邀请我们去体验、品尝和想象这种微观烹饪实践中的酸味、悲伤和挫折。同样，水路菜也鼓励我们思考一个客家人如何适应和融入新的家园，体现了道家哲学中的流动性和如水一般的概念。此外，它提醒我们，与水相关的共同生活经验，比如洪水，不是遥远的记忆，而是连接我们的共同线索，就像多瑙河一样。今天，随着我们对水的认知在日常生活中不断扩展和加深，重点从它的静态起源转向我们如何动态地引导和改变其流向。（摘自展览“重要的东西是眼睛看不见的”）
Sauerknautsch, also known as Speise des Wasserwegs (水路菜), is a unique pickled recipe made with leaf mustard* and fermented without salt. The process is simple: the vegetable is soaked in hot water for approximately 30 to 60 seconds and left to ferment for 2 to 5 days at a warm temperature. This recipe was discovered by the artist among the Hakka people, a subgroup of north Han Chinese residing in the Pearl River Delta Region (Canton, China).
The Hakka people, often referred to as "guest people," have a rich migratory history that dates back to 221 BC. Fleeing domestic conflicts and social unrest, they embarked on a nomadic lifestyle, adapting their diets to various landscapes and climates as they traveled from the north temperate plain to tropical feltas. Speise des Wasserwegs is one such adaptation that emerged during their process of re-rooting.
Water, an essential resource for agriculture, played a significant role in the expansion of Canton in the 6th century, thanks to fertile salty lands and extensive waterways. However, the marginalized Hakka population had limited access to water, be it fresh water or sea salts. Instead, they settled in Karst topography and Limestone mountains, the only available areas for habitation under discrimination. To cope with this challenging environment, they neutralized the hard water from mountain springs (containing substances like Calcium Carbonate), preserving food without relying on luxury salts, and adapting to shifting climatic conditions. The sour taste of this daily dish reflects the struggles they faced and the ingenuity they employed to overcome them.
Drawing inspiration from this humble recipe, Hakka Sauerkraut invites us to experience, taste, and envision the unseen sourness, sorrows, and setbacks that lie within this microcosmic culinary practice. Similarly, Sauerknautsch encourages us to contemplate how a guest people adapt and integrate themselves into new homes, embodying the fluidity of the Taoist philosophy and the concept of being like water. Moreover, it reminds us that shared life experiences associated with water, such as floods, are not distant memories but rather common threads that connect us, much like the Danube river. Today, as our perception of water expands and deepens in our daily lives, the focus shifts from its static origin to how we can redirect and channel its flow dynamically. (Text from the exhibition What is essential is invisible to the eye)
*Leaf Mustard known as Kai Choi (Cantonese), Jie-Cai (Mandarin, Chinese).
Exhibition//TAKE AWAY - Zum Mitnehmen bitte! 03.2023 at Atelierhaus Salzamt Linz & Frisiersalon with artists Aki Lee, Si-Ying Fung, POPU ZINE CLUB, Sainzaya Tsengel & Xiyu Tomorrow Workshop/Shui-Lu Cai, Gemeinsam zu Tisch
Exhibition//What is essential is invisible to the eye 06.2023, at Alte Schieberkammer with artists Aki Lee, Anne Megier, CIRKUZZZANTI, Elisabeth Utz, Felicitas Grabner, Hybrid Dessous, Into.Wild, Juan Vértiz, Michael Akstaller, Paul Chiwon, Paulina Flores, Sofia Zorzi. Organized by Narratives of Water, curated by Ana Paulina Flores de la Torre, Juan Carlos Vértiz Márquez and Paul Takunda Chiwona
