Wednesday we had some friends over for a nice homemade dinner. Regardless of the wonderful time we all had eating and chatting with each other, we came on to a topic that really hit home. We were commenting on how our lasagna and apple pie didn’t look like the kind you would buy in the grocery store and I’m sure we’ve all had that same realization. Naturally we keep tweaking and moving measurements to try to get the perfect copy of the store or restaurant bought version.
I watched a documentary once on Netflix about a chef at a buddhist colony in California, and he said something that rings true for this topic. He described how he was learning how to bake, and wanted to make biscuits. He tried it once and they didn’t look right, so he kept trying time after time until he realized that maybe what he was making actually was the right look. He understood that he did not have access to all the chemical discoveries and perfect formulas that the big companies do, but that’s okay… You don’t need to! The jist is, there is no singular perfect look, there are many looks.
Not sure what other folks agree with, but I certainly consider cooking to be an art given it’s appeal to all of the senses. So why have we all fallen into the trap of “perfect looks”? Let me know what you think below, but I think it’s just the product of society and it’s unfortunate to see people getting upset because they cannot replicate the look of what they were trying to make. I can’t tell you how many times I saw something that looked interesting, tried it, and was I glad I tried it. Looks just don’t give food justice and that’s the same for art. It won’t always be pretty but it still speaks to you… and it speaks to everyone in a different way.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Interesting … I find myself looking completely past the grocery store appearance of food. Knowing that the grocery store has to combat food allergies, shelf life, spoilage, transportation and current perceptions of how the food item should look, the final result is a fiscally motivated balance of those factors. Now, I do find myself comparing the appearance of what I cook to what I see on the Food Network and the infrequent upscale restaurants I've attended. But then again, I can easily rationalize the amount of prep. time I have compared to having a cooking staff at my disposal. Long story short, as long as the food resembles the item in question but more importantly tastes great, I concern myself no farther.