In this day and age of Pinterest, Instagram, food blogs and apps like Steller it’s hard to get away from perfectly photographed meals and utterly delicious looking recipes. Some are so ridiculously, perfectly put together that I can find myself actually salivating, not to mention obsessing about making and eating whatever it is I’m looking at.
There’s no doubt that beautiful food is a treat to behold. When it looks as good as it tastes then it is undoubtedly doubly good.
But, I feel the need to put it out there – ugly food is still food. In fact ugly food can often be completely delicious food. As an anti-domestic goddess, I make a whole lot of ugly food and when I try to show steps for recipes I create ugly recipes.
I don’t have all the wooden boards to carefully place my ingredients on. I don’t think to add touches like a corner of an apron (I don’t even have one) or tea towel. My scattered pieces look less like perfectly, yet ‘naturally’ placed pieces and more like something I knocked over (which it generally is).
Now that I am needing to share my experiences and recipes as I test the Tefal Cuisine Companion I am noticing my short comings in this area. The fact is, people prefer to make the pretty things. I do it too and once I have I can then post a nailed it photo because, no matter how hard I try, I can always manage to make the pretty fall apart.
Recently I made my first ever Sheppard’s Pie (top picture). Even before I cut into it there was a more ‘rustic’ look to it but as soon as my knife slid in I had meat and potato and pastry everywhere. I plopped it on our plates like a kind of lop-sided, chunky hill and was sure I would get a whole lot of attitude about having to eat it but it was delicious. Ridiculously, tantalizingly tasty. And ugly as hell.
Which got me thinking about the whole situation. All those delicious morsels that go uncooked or, worse, uneaten because they don’t fit with the current social standard of attractive food. So, I’ve decided to take a stand and proudly share my horrendous meals (#mealforameal is back, so that’s a good enough reason to burn people’s eyes in itself). I’m going to keep posting my recipes in the hope that others will look past the visual calamity to the heart of the dish and give them a try.
Do you make ugly food?
If you do, help me feel better and tag your dishes #uglyfoodisstillfood (and #mealforameal) on IG or facey.
Linking up with Jess for #ibot
