The Ooz by King Krule- Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
In 2017, King Krule unleashed The Ooz to remind us that beautiful art can spawn from dark places. Be it his stagnant life in Bermondsey, London, or the troubling pursuit of a girl, Krule propped this record up on pillars of torment. Its filthy, corroding sounds place you in the mind of kid robbed of all innocence, capturing the inner battles between pain-induced rage and silent suffering. His venomous voice takes center stage to lead rebel rock tracks before looming behind curtains to narrate chilling stories, and then emerging to the spotlight once again. Whether Krule’s vocals serve lyrical or textural purposes, they melt together with drug induced production to create this one-hour and six-minute masterpiece. Sonically, he blends the best of jazz, punk rock, and trip-hop with plenty of distortion, echo, and saturation. From the first eerie notes of the intro song, “Biscuit Town,” to the last moments of rainfall in the finale, “La Lune,” Krule sends us on a journey as deep-sea cadets sinking through isolation. The Ooz is the part of the ocean that keeps you from wading past waist-deep, the dark, cold waters where the sharks lurk.
Best Moment
The transitions throughout the album are a big reason it all melts together so perfectly, but the segue from “The Locomotive” to “Dum Surfer” is hands-down the best moment on The Ooz. It is a bridge of underwater sounds that set up the best song on the entire project, showing the intricate connection of all the styles of this album.
Best Song
My favorite songs on these albums are typically the ones that incorporate every distinct characteristic into one track. My best song pick for the The Ooz keeps that trend alive and well: “Dum Surfer.” This is the song that got me to listen through the entire album. After hearing it as a single, I felt like I was missing out on a whole project of that caliber, and it turns out I was. “Dum Surfer” has the alternative rock vibes, deep sea sound effects, touches of hip-hop, rainy-day jazz, Krule’s voice used in both lyrical and textural ways, and is all around a dope song. Listen for yourself.
The Recipe
With all this in mind, I came up with a recipe that gave me that same uneasy appreciation I felt when I first listened to The Ooz: Olive Tapenade Grilled Cheese, Roasted Tomato Soup with Marinated Whipped Feta, and a Smoked Martini.
Grilled Cheese is fun because you can make any twisted form of it. “Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese,” “BBQ Grilled Cheese,” “Grilled Cheese with M&M’s,” people have done it all with this blank canvas of bread and cheese. Naturally, whatever you put on the grilled cheese becomes a focal point rather than an addition, so I wanted to capture the raw essence of the album in one topping. A simple combination of olives, capers, garlic, Dijon mustard, and olive oil did that quite perfectly. Olive tapenade has the grit and intensity we hear on the record, plus a deep purple hue to reflect the sounds visually. Just like the intro song “Biscuit Town,” it makes a clear statement about the flavor profiles explored throughout the dish. The complete sandwich is a generous amount of gruyere cheese and olive tapenade topped with olive oil and balsamic, all baked on a loaf of sour dough. Pretty incredible.
Soooouuuppppp. Gotta love soup, and this soup has a little help from its friends to pull off intricate flavor dynamics. This is my way of expressing the unexplainable parts of The Ooz. I wanted to achieve a depth of flavor that resembled Krule’s blend of genres and the way he uses different sounds to tell one cohesive story. So, the soup is made up of a few ingredients that undergo transformations to develop unique characteristics: vegetables, feta cheese, garlic, and olive oil.
First and foremost, to keep up with the music's intensity, I roasted the blend of vegetables to caramelize the sugars and add charred flavors, vibrant colors, and creamy textures. Next, I marinated feta cheese and whipped it into a spread to showcase Krule’s potent, at times overpowering sounds. Using a technique from chef Yotam Ottolenghi, I marinated the feta by flavoring olive oil with toasted garlic, lemon peels, bay leaves, and chili flakes, and letting the feta sit in the oil to develop a complex smokiness. Lastly, I added three garnishes to build more layers of flavor and texture. First, crushed pistachios to include some crunch in the soup. Secondly, garlic confit (garlic cloves slow cooked in canola oil until creamy and sweet) to add a touch of sweetness while maintaining pungent flavor. Third, a drizzle of truffle olive oil for one final punch to bring the whole toxic beauty together.
The Martini is really an ode to the rainy-day jazz feel of the album. Time and time again we hear that dry saxophone sing, and its quite a beautiful thing. This particular drink carries the lonely vibes of rainy-day jazz, loneliness that Krule revisits so often. Also, the Martini presented an opportunity to recreate the album cover (don’t count out visuals!). I fell in love with a certain gin this past year, Empress Gin, because of its violet-blue color and beautiful floral flavor. It just so happens that the flavor of the drink not only matches the sounds of the record, but also its color matches the album cover. I smoked the serving glass to add a bit more depth to the drink, and then poured in the violet blue gin and garnished with an orange peel to make a compelling finishing touch on this album/recipe pairing.
Well, I think I've said enough in this post, thank you for sticking with it to the end! If you enjoy the recipe and album, recognize some of the things I mentioned, or find new characteristics worth talking about, drop some comments below, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for tuning in to Treble Chef for The Ooz- "Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup." Next album and recipe pairing coming soon!
