Eating Under Water: Speculative Jewish Gastronomy in Venice

This essay explores the intersections of food, culture, and resilience through the lens of speculative Jewish gastronomy in Venice. It begins with general reflections on the nexus between food, religion, and ecology, before examining the project La cucina ebraica del futuro (Future Jewish Cuisine), which reimagines traditional Jewish Venetian menus from an ecocritical perspective. The text reflects on how food serves as a site of cultural memory and environmental speculation, highlighting gastronomy’s dual role as a material and symbolic medium for addressing environmental challenges, envisioning sustainable futures, and negotiating identity under precarious conditions.