In spite of my culinary limitations, playing with food has always been deliciously appealing to me. I’m impressed by restaurants that pay attention to the presentation of their food, not only because of the pleasing visual, but because I am hopeful it signifies attention to quality in other areas – ingredients, sanitation, and, one hopes, treatment of staff.
I also love the idea of creating objects from food – even I can manage a candy cane made of sliced strawberries and bananas or a fruit tray arranged like a peacock’s feathers. With practice I might be able to pull off an eggplant penguin, banana dolphin, or cauliflower sheep. (Google “vegetable animal art” for more.)
And the whimsy of Peter Pink who creates vegetable puns like “baking potatoes” delights my funny bone.
Then there’s Phil Hansen, author of Tattoo a Banana, (with a pushpin), who once made a copy of the Mona Lisa using hamburger grease, and whose view of how to be creative goes well beyond food. His marvelous TED talk on “Embrace the Shake” shows his wide-ranging imagination. This “Phil in the Box” dance painting of Michael Jackson is just one example. See more at www.PhilintheCircle.com and note that he will be more thoroughly highlighted in a future blog.
You can see a wide range of food art in this video, including what I consider “real food art.” Six examples of these truly amazing and patient artists follow.