EDIBLE AESTHETICS: Arcimboldo used clever arrangements of fruits, flowers, legumes and roots to create this likeness of Rodolfo II of Hapsburg, here depicted as Vertunno, the god of transformations.
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Food Illusions Slide Show
Ever been impressed with our modern world's ability to produce meals that look like one food but which are actually made of something else—like a tofu burger or artificial crab meat? It's actually an old trick. In medieval times fish was cooked to imitate venison during Lent, and celebratory banquets included a number of extravagant (and sometimes disturbing) delicacies such as meatballs made to resemble oranges, trout prepared to look like peas, and shellfish fashioned into mock viscera. Recipe books from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance also describe roasted chickens that appeared to sing, peacocks re-dressed in their own feathers and made to breathe fire, and an all-time favorite, a dish aptly named "Trojan Hog," in which a whole roasted pig was stuffed with an assortment of living creatures such as small birds, to the amusement and delight of cherished dinner guests. Unwelcome visitors were also treated to illusory food, but not quite as nice: They were served perfectly good meat that was made to look rotten and writhing with worms. Maybe not appetizing enough to eat, but repulsive enough to send your in-laws packing!
This month's slide show proves that illusory foods are alive and well. Our buffet of contemporary lip-smacking illusions will appeal to both your eyes and your stomach—for the most part. We hope you'll enjoy the spread.
Bon appétit!
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3 Comments
Add CommentI'm rather surprised that the editors of Scientific American would make the following crass, insensitive joke here (at the expense of gay men, and of people with mental illness diagnoses), in this journal, in public; a joke that's better suited to their own private domains, among other less-than-empathic colleagues: "Last but not least, Arcimboldo's masterpieces also bring to mind the old adage that you are what you eat. So you should avoid fruits and nuts (at least, according to Jim Davis' Garfield the cat)." The attribution, of course, allows the editors to make the joke, without taking responsibility for it, right? Here's the link in case you can't find your clever quip in the text: http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=illusions-good-enough-to-eat&photo_id=90045779-C8A9-5901-A64653E8B0045966
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismaybe the cat shd avoid fruits and nuts, but elementary wisdom says we must eat as much of these as our wallet and weight can afford.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIllusory foods may be alive & well allright, because , being the playful primates we are, we love to play with our food instincts , but we tend to mix up the virtual with the real; and reality bites with deficiency diseases, as we eat only 10 percent of the food we should eat, namely, the medically proven survival food, i.e., plant food, preferably raw! For a humorous perspective into this conundrum, visit: youthevity.com
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