Theoretically, what food looks like shouldn’t matter nearly as much as how it tastes and how nutritious it is. The point of food is to nourish our bodies and give us energy, and if it does that, its appearance shouldn’t be that important. However, today, most people want to create and consume food that is both healthy and visually appealing.

Handcrafted foods
In the past decade or so there has been a big surge in hard crafted artisanal foods, including the likes of breads, cured meats, preserves and more. The combination of fresh local ingredients and traditional techniques coming together to produce delicious, beautiful and ethical food. In fact, the global turnover for artisan bakeries alone is expected to be close to 5 billion USD by 2030.

A big part of this growing trend has been the increasing availability of organic ingredients, many of which can be locally sourced such as flours, vegetables and meats. However this also extends to ethically sourced organic fruits and nuts from exotic locations, such as Macadamia nuts that hail from Australia.These ingredients from far flung shores often adding a splash of color or decorations that takes the products to the next level in terms of both taste and appearance.

When you add a world of recipes to follow online at sites such as pintrest, and videos on Youtube and Tiktok. It is now possible to make beautiful handcrafted breads, desserts and more in your own kitchen.

Food in Art
Along with water, shelter, and oxygen, food is one of the essentials of human life – and since the very earliest records, food has also been one of the central subjects of human artwork. Food has been present in artworks for thousands of years, as far back as the Upper Paleolithic period (around 48,000-10,000 years BC).

Artists around the world have painted and sculpted images of things that are important to them, and one of the things that seems to have been important to many is food. All steps in the process are documented, from growing food to harvesting it, drying or cooking it – or raising animals or hunting for animals, killing them and eating them.

… and Art in Food
Since the earliest forms of farming, a common theme of food art has been celebrating the abundance of the harvest. Natural food items such as fruits, grains, or nuts make excellent subject matter for painting with their different textures and colors. That’s why they’re still popular with many artists today – even if the artists are no longer celebrating the harvest season specifically.

Malaysian artist Hong Yi (known as ‘Red’) uses everyday objects – especially food objects – to create incredible images in three dimensions. Using squarish white plates as her ‘canvas,’ Red uses grains of rice and other cereals, flowers, and fruit – even pieces of eggshell – to create her masterpieces.

Final Word
On the one hand, we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that we should never judge books by their covers. But on the other hand, when food is presented as art, and not just the mundane source of fuel for the body, true masterpieces can be created!