Food Gallery

Food as Art . . . Disappearing Art

by Mary El Kerr

The request for this piece was received the day the editor departed for Spain. My mouth watered when I heard “Spain”. A 70's olfactory memory flooded my palate. I envisioned Barcelona and a back alley kitchen with bubbling bain maries filled with pots of food, mostly unidentifiable to my untrained eye, but enticing just the same. The waiter, realizing there was no hope of us ordering in Spanish, had motioned us with a wink and a nod to the chef, to follow him into the kitchen. We chose our meals not because we knew what those items were but because it looked so good. We chose with our eyes but also with our noses. The saffron rice was so colourful and fragrant we ordered two or three of the brightly yellow coloured foods infused with saffron with anticipation of the new taste sensations we would have. All were delicious. The aroma that emanated from those cauldrons so many years ago had a major effect on me and subsequently my chosen career as a cook.

Yum! I was disillusioned by some aspects of the trade when, at cooking school in the late 70's, food was often created with a great amount of effort for appearance only. These so called show piece items were large cuts of meat or fish or sometimes Styrofoam molds shaped like food which were literally worked to death by the student cook. Thick layers of white Chaud-froid (a flour thickened veloute or cream sauce made with chicken, fish or veal stock) were coated on and tiny cut outs of vegetables and coloured gelatin based sauces were glued on with gelatin coating. After hours of messing with these items they would be used for show on a buffet table and then discarded. Food safety issues were the reason for this unnecessary waste. These huge white ghosts of food were not appealing to the taste and especially not to the eye of this food lover.

As a food lover and a food artist I strive to serve food that wants to be eaten. If it is freshly prepared food, unadorned, unmasked by sauces or coated with unidentifiable things then the eater will want to taste. Unlike visual art, food is not created to be experienced by only one of the senses. The food lover has a multiple sensual experience by eating. The food is viewed and the aroma is inhaled, which encourages the eater to taste. When tasted, food should inspire the eater to identify flavours, savour the taste sensation and of course – most importantly – to satiate the appetite. There is a short period of time when food is sensed as visual art. Food prepared for an event and displayed for a reception or party before all of the guests arrive or before the event begins is then visual art. There is a certain period of time when people will just look at the food. They may try to identify each item and those more adept at identification will try to imagine how it was prepared or perhaps what ingredients are involved. Looking at food and waiting with anticipation for that first morsel to be tasted is food as art. When someone else takes the first bite we then succumb to tasting or consuming the art.

For those of us fortunate enough to have food in abundance, we recognize our good fortune and acknowledge nature's bounty if we take a moment to look at our food and give thanks for this art of nature.

Sometimes the aroma alone of herb and spice combinations can inspire the food lover to taste. If then a second bite is taken and a third I have succeeded as an artist. I believe taste to be the most important sense in eating food therefore I resist garnishing unless fresh herbs and edible blossoms are available.

The food artist is not limited to using only the eye to design a plate. The senses of touch, taste and smell all come into use. We not only use colours, shapes and texture to design the canvas/plate. In cooking we use multi-sensual tools, the sense of smell to identify the aroma of the nearly completed stock, bread or cake, the sense of taste to season a soup or sauce. Sound may even come into play when used to identify the snap of properly tempered chocolate or the freshness of an asparagus spear.

Recently I had the opportunity to have some of my food photographed for an article on a harvest dinner for a northern magazine. Due to editorial deadlines the shoot had to be photographed in the heat of July when you want to be eating salad Al Fresco but instead you sit at a table laden with a meal of the heaviest food choices. This affirmed the importance of serving seasonal food for the enjoyment of the meal. My philosophy of never wasting food was also practiced. As each item of food was expertly photographed the plates were then whisked away to waiting palates to appreciate the art as food.

With all of its sensual appeal, food then, is a disappearing art. One swallow and the artist's effort is momentarily enjoyed and gone.