In praise of ugly food
December 9, 2017 by Darcie
If you spend any time on Instagram, you may start to feel a bit insecure about your cooking and baking. Impeccably staged, lushly lighted, stunning photographs featuring glistening vegetables, intricately decorated pie crusts, and artfully composed plates could make anyone eye their grilled cheese sandwich with disdain. But just because a dish is not gorgeous doesn’t mean is not delicious, says Kat Kinsman at Serious Eats.
Kinsman relates an event she witnessed at a Southern Foodways Alliance symposium, where chef Sean Brock created a chicken and dumplings dish with his mother. At previous demonstrations, everyone snapped multiple images with their phones, uploading the beautiful shots to social media. With Brock’s dish, however, people hesitated, and Kinsman realized it was because the dish wasn’t photogenic. But it was delicious, and part of an historic event, so Kinsman took a photo and posted it with the caption “Some food isn’t pretty and does not need to be.”
Her concern is that by only posting images of the most visually pleasing foods, we are in danger of creating a history that will omit some of the most valuable and important foods of our time. Kinsman is “terrified that the less-lovely and monumentally delicious ducklings will be lost to the ages, overshadowed by prettier dishes in this new era of visual gluttony.”
In the world of potential dystopian futures, one without ugly food may not seem that bad. But imagine a world where people never knew about chicken and dumplings, beef stew, baba ganoush, hummus, or split pea soup. That is not a future I would like to see. To combat this, Kinsman makes sure to post photos of dishes that are meaningful to her, regardless of how pretty they may look. I think that’s a splendid idea, and I’m sharing a photo of yesterday’s lunch of potato and dumpling soup, similar to the German chicken soup with dumplings recipe from Food & Wine by Molly Yeh.
Categories
- All Posts (6621)
- Antipasto (1988)
- Author Articles (241)
- Book News (919)
- Cookbook Giveaways (945)
- Cookbook Lovers (247)
- Cooking Tips (97)
- Culinary News (298)
- Food Biz People (538)
- Food Online (758)
- Holidays & Celebrations (257)
- New Cookbooks (140)
- Recipes (1442)
- Shelf Life With Susie (231)
- What's New on EYB (129)
Archives
Latest Comments
- michelle666 on Second Helpings – Cookbook Giveaway
- michelle666 on Sugarcane – Cookbook Giveaway
- michelle666 on Beatrix Bakes Another Slice Cookbook Giveaway
- FuzzyChef on Can copycat recipes be trusted?
- LeMinou on Mother’s Day Gift Guide and Giveaway
- betsyradelow on Modernist Bread at Home – Bread School Announcement and Giveaway
- betsyradelow on Treats from the Den – Cookbook Giveaway
- betsyradelow on 5 Ingredients Mediterranean by Jamie Oliver – Cookbook Giveaway
- betsyradelow on Flavorama Cookbook Giveaway
- betsyradelow on Hot Sheet – Cookbook Giveaway