London-based creative design duo Bompas & Parr is excited to announce the launch of the first book to be published documenting quarantine creativity and providing inspiration for audacious isolation-friendly food and drink projects.

DIY Decadence by Bompas & Parr and Friends is a collaborative work, co-authored by all those taking part in at-home feasts and feats of dining.

The results have been compiled and published through Bompas & Parr Editions to both document lockdown and provide a source of ideas for future feasts. Each escapist culinary endeavour simply requires whatever’s left at the back of your cupboard and is achievable within the home. Creativity’s the secret ingredient to give any dish savour; and pleasure is important too!

The book features projects including: Using jewellery to garnish your dish; taking a ‘tongues eye’ picture of a meal; inventing the cocktail that sums up your quarantine; Involving flambé in the proceedings; and creating an exalted personal chalice.

The limited-edition volume features 14 zesty chapters, illustrated with over 185 lurid and exotic images. These were contributed by 72 collaborators from around the world, from Mexico to Italy, each bringing the spirit of the feast from their home.

Harry Parr, founder of Bompas & Parr, comments: “In the early days of lockdown we saw chefs and makers do a commendable job with baking classes and cook-alongs, helping us all navigate our kitchens with panache.

“As we moved into the next phase, we were keen to see culinary content moving beyond didactic formats that existed so far. The book is the result of exchanging ideas, radical creativity and co-creation. Now’s the time to take up whisks, wooden spoons and a sense of culinary adventure.

“See whatever’s on your spoon with fresh eyes, this is your naked lunch. Let’s feast together.

“Let’s go beyond what people have previously imagined in-home dining to be, with this guidebook for future generations, bursting with ideas, innovations and energy. Ordinary food in ordinary spaces can be used in such extraordinary ways to make feasting a joy for everyone sitting down.”

In no previous era have regular people had so many powerful and easily navigable tools to create and distribute creative projects be they about food or whatever they are interested in.

The kitchen and dining is a particularly promising arena for creativity. There’s a low barrier to entry in terms of technical equipment and everyone has to eat at some point. The average British person already knows ten recipes by heart which is a formidable start. DIY Decadence gives readers a shortcut to further glorify and create a spectacle with each dish and celebratory glass.

Bompas & Parr Editions was founded to print food related books, magazines and ephemera too savage, high/lowbrow, niche, topical or provocative for conventional publishers to consider. The publishing house further focuses on making rare and out-of-print culinary masterworks accessible for food enthusiasts. To date it has published:

Memoirs of a Stomach – an early 19th Century diet book, illustrated with pill-cam footage from Gizzi Erskine’s digestive tract
Fridges Fight Back – about the dark side of food refrigeration with support from the London Fire Brigade
Tutti Frutti – an art book exploring the culinary implications of fruit salad