Food and art, what is their relationship? Is food art? There are so many ways of looking at food and art in correlation to each other.
Food is not just about filling our stomach and getting our daily calories and proteins. Whether we eat to live or live to eat, food has to cater to all the senses, pun intended. Haute cuisine is the term that defines food of the standard that qualifies as edible art. The benchmark is not just taste, but also the visual appeal of food. When first the food article is presented to us, we eat it with our eyes. If it doesn’t delight us visually, chances of ingesting it are low. Isn’t that the reason a mother perks up her child’s lunchbox with smileys? At a more sophisticated level, to discover art in food, visit any restaurant, deli or even the neighborhood vegetable shop. That beautiful lemon curd tart placed right next to the pop pink candy cup cake with those oh so beautiful little flowers, what’s not to like? Who in their right senses can resist buying vegetables when they are displayed in neat rows, nicely polished and clean?
Any restaurant worthy of its name takes pride in food display. Beautifully carved food and vegetables are one aspect of food art. Another more important aspect is the beauty of the cooked food. Presenting a plate of food with multiple items, all color coordinated, complementary shapes such that there is complete harmony of flavor, color, portion and smell, needs an artistic ability of the highest order. Even a cockta