Courtesy of Escobar Highland Farm

A Ahhh: the A – Z of The Year in Food in Review!

B The buzzwords this year were “bacon, bacon, bacon,” butchers, back-to-basics cooking, Balloon Boy Batali, Barefoot C. D. Bouley, D. Boulud and db Bistro Moderne. The Beer summit with O_bama sent bloggers a-blogging. Blight (as in tomato) and the Big Bee Buzz Off also made news. Bottled water fell in trickle down economy.

C New cheese course in restaurants resulted in food jobs for cave men. Terrance Brennan, Chef-Proprietor of Picholine Restaurant and Artisanal Bistro and Wine Bar was nominated as Le Grand Fromage. Cup cake sales surpassed Pop Tarts. Copia, Napa’s bankrupt center for wine, food and the arts, was in the soup after amassing $78 million in debt.

D Doughnut claims proved to be full of holes.

E Epstein (Jason) wrote Eating: A Memoir.

F What began as “sugar-free” morphed into “salt-free,” “calorie-free” and “cholesterol free.” ‘FREE for All’ became the brand new and improved marketing concept. Let Freedom Ring! “Farm to table” was considered a brand new concept though, admittedly, this is the way people have eaten since the beginning of time. (The cost of a home-grown tomato was estimated to be in the range of $100. Gardening also took up heaps of free time.)

G Gordon Ramsay swore innocence in alleged sex affair. Government legalized marijuana. Rumors suggested that the appointed leader of a new agency would be known as Mr. Pot Head. ‘Green’ was declared the only way to go for those who wanted to get in the pink.

H Hospitals began replacing the rules of hospitality; some treated themselves like ‘out patients.’ They opted for a diet of denial. Dem(ocrat)s preferred smoothies. Healthy cocktails became all the rage.

I I will launch my web version of the Great Food Almanac in the new year.

J In the movie, Julie (Powell) blogged but Julia (Child) mastered our hearts.

K Kellogg dropped immune-boosting claims for sugary cereal — sweet gesture. Kraft’s courtship of Cadbury was rejected. Chocolate lovers turned dark and bitter.

L Happy No ‘L’ to All!

M Michelle (Obama) planted a vegetable garden. Martha (Stewart) tried to dig out from a 3rd quarter $11.7 million debt. Mobile foods kept on trucking.

N NASA located ice on the moon; still searching for scotch on the rocks.

O Organic lost its charisma; “sustainable” was the newfound concept. Obits for Sheila Lukins (of the Silver Palate) and Café des Artistes were written. Gourmet (magazine) bit the dust. Tavern on the Green is now on life support, but soon will be resurrected.

P Po’ Boys were getting poorer. Petite sweets were big and getting bigger.

Q Q’s were forecast for health care reformers by grim death panels. Q’s were eliminated by self-serve check outs in supermarkets. Barbeques remained popular with Dads, who prowled their backyards with a beer and a spear.

R NRA (National Restaurant Association) pegged future profits to rising Tide. Many restaurants washed up, leaving line cooks out to dry. French Laundry Executive chef Thomas Keller ironed out his issues and revealed a softer side.

S This year we appointed two supreme judges: Sonia S(otomayor) and Sam S(ifton). One is a fed, the other is a foodie. Both were well grilled before taking their hot seats — one on the bench, the other on the banquette. Both thanked their lucky stars.

T T-baggers made a big splash. Tweeters’ ‘Rec.A.P’s got even shorter.

U U still here?

V tV Food Network cooked up only contests and conflicts that generate a stampede of students into culinary schools.

W Increased cooking school enrollment led to more cooks, less home cooking. WOW!

X XXX and XXXX designates grades of confectioners’ sugar that is dusted on Xmas cookies.

Y Yellow fins were sinking. Yellow tails are rising.

Z SEASONings EATings to all and to all a white knight! Zzzzzzz.. Tweet Tweet… The  Nd

Cordially,

Julie Powell wrote a blog that was transformed into the Julie and Julia movie. This didn’t mean Julie was invited to write the script. That task fell to writer/director Nora Ephron. Similarly the author who writes the recipe is very rarely the cook who cooks it for the photographer. That often goes to a food stylist.

Styling food so that the camera “loves” it requires considerable skill: knowledge of foods, an eye for detail and infinite patience. As with movie making, several “takes” may be needed before the final shot becomes a keeper.

The task of the food stylist is to make the food look irresistible for the cameras—close up or far away. He or she works with photographers to produce ads for magazines, newspapers, and television commercials, and gorgeous-looking meals for Hollywood movies and in-store produce videos. Food stylists are also called in to prepare recipes for cookbook photography and “beauty shots” for television shows.

In this pursuit of perfection, a food stylist may have to slice several pounds of Swiss cheese in order to find one geometrically perfect slice. It is the stylist’s artistry in combination with the photographer’s skill that makes a professional photograph outstanding and arouses the desire of the consumer to get her hands on the food — immediately! She may roast four or more turkeys hoping the photographer will capture the bird while all the hot air beneath the skin is still puffing its “cheeks.” And the stylist is expected to create miracles when the photographer says “go”: to make a soufflé look like a castle in the air – and stop its collapse as it is taken from the oven.

Most importantly, food stylists can fib but they cannot lie. For instance, the only artifice that is permitted is in styling and photographing ice cream. Because it would melt under the hot lights, it is permitted to fabricate ice cream from Crisco, mashed potatoes and food coloring.

(Apparently this rule doesn’t seem to be in force in fast food joints where the real squishy, drippy burger looks nothing like the backlit beauty we see in the photograph!)

Getting Paid

Like photographers, stylists bill their clients by the day. In large cities, these day rates can be significant. Very often stylists and photographers team up to offer clients a complete package that includes the work of a prop (or background) stylist too. These alliances usually are casual partnerships that wax and wane as the job do.

Getting Started

No officially sanctioned licensing is required for becoming a food stylist but having a solid foundation of cooking is important, and a degree from a professional cooking school is invaluable. It is also helpful to keep current with the new technologies, attend art and photography classes. But perhaps the best way to break into the field is to intern with an established stylist to learn what it takes.

Learning From A Pro: Dolores Custer, Food Stylist Extraordinaire

A longtime and well-established food stylist, Dolores Custer’s work is widely admired. Her own experience speaks to the many opportunities that are available in the field. She has a master’s degree in food and nutrition, and she is recognized as the ultimate authority on making food look fabulous for the camera.

Custer has worked with food magazines, advertising agencies and public relations firms in addition to many of the largest companies in the United States. Her talents are in demand for television, feature films, and major food companies.

She says, “The best thing that a beginner can do is to assist good food stylists. Put together a portfolio of your work to promote yourself and apply for an intern or junior assistant position with an established professional.” That’s how she got her start.

“About three months before I graduated from NYUSteinhardt, we were told that a film crew wanted to rent the test kitchens to shoot some shots for the Lamb Council, and they needed someone to help the person who was preparing the food. I volunteered and met my first Food Stylist!

I had been unsure of what I wanted to do with my degree, but when I learned about this career (which I previously knew NOTHING about), I knew it was for me. I worked with three food stylists before I graduated, and when I did graduate, one of them asked me to come work with her full time. What a wonderful opportunity, I later discovered.”

Custer reveals that most stylists must pay their dues. “There is a lot to learn and the best way is to assist someone who is good at it.”

Custer also advises that it’s important to live where the work is and to develop an adaptable freelance personality. “One of the things I like best about the freelance world of food styling is that there are no typical days,” says Custer. “Each day is different from the next. We shoot in every conceivable environment and work with many different foods. One day we may prepare a picnic for a TV commercial and the next day we are spreading the client’s frosting on a single cupcake.“

Delores Custer always seems to be teaching somewhere, so it’s good to follow her teaching schedule online, and for the announcement of her forthcoming book that is sure to be a winner. And The Mississippi University for Women offers a one-week food styling program for college credit. www.muw.edu. There even is the International Conference on Food Styling and Photography that is devoted to the topic.

Some topics call for more than one posting, and this is one such topic. There is too much information to digest in one sitting. This is part one of a two-part discussion. I’ll be talking about food styling for food bloggers next.

Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia

I met Julie Powell, briefly, when we were invited to judge a chili cooking contest in Kingston, NY. There were three judges and only two contestants so we had plenty of time to hang out and talk.

Julie’s husband Eric was with her. So was their dog. I liked them all immediately. Far from being self-absorbed or narcissistic, I found Julie to be friendly, funny and generous, offering to find us all some water to drink on the hot afternoon and happily sharing anecdotes. She talked about her plan to apprentice at Fleisher’s, a little butcher shop in the neighborhood. I hadn’t yet read her book, Julie & Julia or her blog, the Julie/Julia Project though later I enjoyed both.

I can understand how disappointed she was, not only that she never met Julia, but how sad she was that Julia was not supportive of her idea of cooking her way through all the BOOK (Mastering the Art of French Cooking). Until I saw the movie, Julie & Julia, I had forgotten about something that happened with Julia.

There was a party in a private room in a grand restaurant in Chicago. There were 12 guests including Julia. It was a spectacularly gorgeous, dark wood panelled space with soft lighting, golden candles, cascades of brilliantly colored flowers, crisp white linen table cloths, glistening crystal, the silver, heavy in the hand. There was a buzz of harmonious conversation among old friends. The wine was poured. A toast toasted. Glasses clinked.

An anticipation of good food shared with good company. Wide smiles.

Waiters enter. Heavy laden. “Bon Appetit!” warbled Julia.

Cutting his meat, a tuxedoed guest from a little way down the table speaks above the murmurings. “Julia. What do you think of your new biography?” he asked, as he raised his fork to his mouth.

Julia turned to stone.

She thumped her glass to the table so hard, the red wine jumped and spilled onto the tablecloth.

“I don’t want to hear one more word about… that!”

This is the only time I ever saw Julia, not angry, FURIOUS!

There is a thunderous silence.

We sip our wine nervously.  Acutely embarrassed. We look around trying to think of something to say. And pass the butter.

There’s another moment of astonishment.

Hesitantly conversation resumed.

I never asked Julia, “Why?” I don’t know if anyone else did either.

I can only guess that she felt her privacy had been unforgivably violated. It was one thing for she and Paul to send that photograph of themselves in the bathtub. Naked? And quite another for a stranger to enter the bathroom, uninvited.

A boundary had been crossed.

Had Julie asked Julia’s permission to do what she did, I’m certain Julia would have said a resounding “NO!”

There’s no way Julie could possibly have anticipated Julia’s response. But that doesn’t diminish that Julie had a great idea. Julie should be applauded for her valiant efforts and finding her own voice.