Unilever family dish trip

As part of writing for Unilever’s Family Dish website, I spent time in their test Kitchen this week cooking and learning. It opened my eyes to completely different aspects of food from a company standpoint. I heard the heart and passion for food behind the chefs, recipe testers, and food stylists. Knowing how difficult it is to photograph food and make it look appetizing, I think I was most enthralled with what happens during a food styling photo shoot. I always say that my food tastes yummy, but it’s not always pretty.

Unilever test kitchen

Well, when you are in the restaurant food industry, so much of it is about both the presentation and taste, but with food photography it’s truly only about presentation. Their goal is to replicate an ascetically beautiful recipe, but they aren’t necessarily preparing it to be eaten. Often, it’s just about getting the perfect shot and it may not be edible at all. The stylists reminisced the days where they glued individual sesame seeds onto the tops of rolls, and how the mayo has to be just so and the cheese melted at the perfect angle. I don’t know about you, but that made me feel so much better when I heard that. As much as I love beautiful food, often I am just thrilled to have dinner on the table to feed my family.
Food photography embraces art, and often photo shoots take hours just to get that perfect magazine or cookbook spread.  Part of that art includes the dishes. Giddy doesn’t begin to describe how excited I was just browsing through their cabinets of dishes. Hundreds of platters, bowls, and cups – basically any kind of dishware you can imagine graces their shelves. I don’t know why I love dishes so much, but beautiful dishes just make me happy.  I try to use them within our home because those little things make a difference.  Some of my favorite finds are yard sale dishes, and I’ve been contemplating taking off some of my cabinet doors to expose the open shelving and showcase some of my favorite dishes.  That would mean they would always have to be nice and neat, so I am pondering that decision.

food photography colored dishesthnx to Cheryl for sharing her great pictures

How about you? Do beautiful dishes make you happy?
Do you have some favorite pieces that you love?
I can’t wait to see all these pretty and appetizing recipes, but I bet you didn’t take hours to snap your picture? 😉

TastyTuesday200pix Welcome to my new home   Tasty Tuesday

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