Food designers Bompas & Parr have come up with a musical spoon that you listen to through your mouth and a set of handmade bowls to match five new flavours of Heinz baked beans.
For the Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience, design duo Bompas & Parr matched five flavours of baked beans with a handmade bowl and a spoon with a tiny MP3 player inside it. The music is inaudible until the diner places the spoon in their mouth and gently bites down, causing sound vibrations to travel through the jawbone to the ear.
For the Cheddar cheese variety, they created a yellow wax bowl that looks like a wheel of cheese, and loaded the spoon with a melody inspired by Elgar and played with a cheese wire.
The garlic and herb flavoured beans have a bowl shaped like a bulb of garlic and a soundtrack made from the sound of rustling garlic skins and tin cans knocking against each other.
The fiery chilli beans have a sharp and spiky bowl made of stainless steel and wood, with a soundtrack that uses high frequency noises to reflect the searing heat of a chilli.
For the barbecue flavoured beans the designers charred the outer surface of a limewood bowl to give it a smoky smell and paired it with blues music and the sound of sizzling.
Finally the curry flavoured beans come with a bowl inspired by tall piles of spices and a percussive bhangra soundtrack composed from the sounds of tin cans filled with different spices and seeds.
The five Heinz Beanz Flavour Experiences will be available in limited numbers from department store Fortnum & Mason in London.
Sam Bompas and Harry Parr (above) met as schoolboys and founded their studio in 2007 after graduating from University College London and The Bartlett school of architecture respectively. In 2008 the duo organised a competition to make architecture from jelly, with entries including a miniature Madrid-Barajas Airport by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
Other unusual food we've featured includes an edible desk lamp and an ice cream cake shaped like the moon – see all food on Dezeen.
Here's more information from Heinz:
Have you ever wondered why fish and chips never taste as good as the time you ate them by the seaside out of paper? The reason for this is that our taste buds are intrinsically linked to our other senses – it's not just about what we taste, but also what we see and touch. Our surroundings, shape, texture and even sound, can all affect our experience and enjoyment of food.
With this in mind, the nation's favourite beans brand, Heinz, has teamed up with renowned food architects Bompas & Parr. Celebrating the launch of new Heinz Flavoured Beanz, the gastronomic duo have designed the ultimate flavour experience.
The Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience
Combining contemporary design with the brain power of top boffins, the Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience includes a handcrafted bowl and a mind-blowing magical, musical spoon, displayed in an exclusive case. Created to tap into all five senses the ‘Flavour Experiences’ marry sound, taste, touch, sight and smell, to provide the ideal sensory environment in which each dish should be eaten.
By examining the key flavours in each of the five varieties of Heinz Flavoured Beanz, Bompas & Parr have created five unique Flavour Experiences, each inspired by the look, feel and taste of the different beans. Ensuring we can experience beans like never before, these include:
» Heinz Beanz Curry Flavour Experience
» Heinz Beanz Fiery Chilli Flavour Experience
» Heinz Beanz Barbecue Flavour Experience
» Heinz Beanz Cheddar Cheese Flavour Experience
» Heinz Beanz Garlic & Herbs Flavour Experience
Bringing magic to mealtimes
Unlike normal spoons MP3 players have been fitted inside the spoons that play soundtracks specially composed to enhance the key flavours of each of the Heinz Flavoured Beanz varieties even further. Inaudible until placed in the mouth, these unique themes can be heard when gently biting on the spoon. To enhance the Heinz Beanz Curry Flavour Experience, sounds of typical Punjabi Bhangra have been composed. Those enjoying the taste of Heinz Beanz Fiery Chilli will have their dining experience enriched with the sounds of up-tempo Latin samba, whilst the Heinz Beanz Barbecue Flavour Experience draws a cultural reference to the Deep South, playing gentle blues accompanied by soft sizzling sounds.
The textures and colours of the bowls have been designed and handcrafted to further signify flavour associations. The Heinz Beanz Cheddar Cheese Flavour Experience includes a circular bowl made of cast yellow wax, based on the form, texture and colour of a traditional round of cheese, whilst the Heinz Beanz Garlic & Herbs Flavour Experience bowl draws on the organic shape of a garlic bulb, made from 96 layers of 750 micron thick card, giving it a soft, natural appearance.
Honouring the store that first stocked Heinz Beanz in 1886, the five Heinz Beanz Flavour Experiences are available exclusively from iconic London retailer, Fortnum & Mason. A limited number have been produced to trial amongst consumers and will be available from 25th March for £57 RRP.
Creating a new way of enjoying food
Sam Bompas, of Bompas & Parr, comments: "Harry Parr has synesthesia[1] and is using this alongside his architectural training to project himself (intellectually if not physically) into the Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience. The bowls and spoons give the diner a total sensory experience fully exploring the taste, haptic[2] and sonic aspects of Heinz Beanz. The project is geared to get people to look again at what is on the end of their spoons. As they eat their Beanz they can wonder at the world of flavours that contributes to everyday culinary sensation. Ultimately the project is designed to showcase the various flavours of Heinz Flavoured Beanz and touch people's most sensitive organs…their bellies."
Katherine Broadley, Heinz, comments: "Quick, convenient and delicious, Heinz Beanz has long been a popular speedy serve for shoppers across the country. However with the nation’s tastes evolving and becoming more sophisticated, Heinz Flavoured Beanz have been introduced to offer a new taste experience, whilst remaining true to the flavours of the beans we know and love.
"Through our latest work with food architects Bompas & Parr, we hope to continue to elevate Heinz Beanz’s iconic status, offering beans lovers a new and exciting way in which to experience their favourite flavours. Harnessing the power of new technological developments we have created the Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience to challenge perceptions of how we eat and change the way in which we consume food."
The Nation's 'Flavourite Beanz'
The Heinz Flavoured Beanz range includes Heinz Beanz Cheddar Cheese, Heinz Beanz Curry, Heinz Beanz Fiery Chilli, Heinz Beanz Garlic & Herbs and Heinz Beanz Barbecue. All varieties are naturally high in fibre, a natural source of protein and naturally low in fat. And with a portion of each variety delivering one of your five-a-day, beans lovers can be sure to receive a daily portion of goodness as well as a hit of flavour that packs a punch.
Heinz Flavoured Beanz are available now in 390g cans from leading supermarkets, RRP 84p.