Purple Potatoes and the Art of Food

These are my purple potatoes. When I got them at the farmers market last weekend I noticed the deep purple skin, but just figured they were like red potatoes but darker. But when I peeled them, there was beautiful purple swirled throughout! They were gorgeous and very surprising. This picture doesn't do them justice. But the unexpected beauty of my potatoes got me thinking about the aesthetic of food. Of course there are foods that are ugly as the day is long but perfectly delicious. For instance, creamed chipped beef. It looks not entirely unlike vomit, but it is one of those comfort foods that makes me dance. And then there are foods that are very beautiful, but not too tasty. Like fondant on wedding cakes. Makes cakes sleek and pretty, tastes pretty awful.

But I digress. This has all gotten me thinking about food and art. There are some obvious examples of food as visual art. Beautiful sugar flowers, elaborately decorated cakes and intricately crafted marzipan. But in these cases it seems to me that in these cases the fact that these things are edible is a secondary characteristic; marzipan is like clay that happens to be edible. But what about taste? For someone looking at the experience of eating, aren't flavor and texture what is important, followed by appearance? There are chefs who explore this art of taste in what has been termed molecular gastronomy. This is a bit of misnomer since molecular gastronomy is truly the chemistry of cooking, but these chefs exploit a chemical knowledge of cooking to create wild and interesting food experiences. They combine unique flavors with visually stimulating designs and create what I can call food art. So rather than rambling on about the visual and gustatory aesthetics of different foods, I will let their creations speak for themselves.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Tomato

Bacon

While I'm sure these meals are not especially filling, they represent a different perspective on food. Not as a means of sustenance or source of nutrition, but as art, to be enjoyed both by the eye and the palate.


And as far as my purple potatoes are concerned, I roasted them with rosemary and onions and they were very beautiful indeed.