Food in Focus – Could I be a Food Photographer?

No.

But could I have a lot of fun learning what it is that food photographers do?

Yes.  Especially when Ruth Pretty is cooking the food and I get to eat it!

I had chosen to do the Food in Sharp Focus event as part of Wellington on a Plate – hosted by Ruth Pretty, with guidance from professional photographer and tutor Murray Lloyd.  I thought that I might learn a bit about taking photos for the blog, and have the added bonus of trying some of Ruth’s fantastic food.

Our day started at 9.00am with coffee, a selection of perfectly ripe cheeses, crisp kiwifruit salad, and delicious peach and raspberry pastries.  We settled in with our classmates, sharing stories about the combination of food and photography that brought us together.

Ruth and Murray arrived and, using the peach and raspberry pastries, talked us through the process of photographing food – from choosing the background colour/fabrics and the plate or dish, to the arrangement of the food, the lighting and the careful placement of a fork.  It was an incredibly informative two hours, with plenty of opportunities for questions.  We rounded out our introduction with a slide show of food shots, showing the different ways that food can be highlighted by the use of colour, composition and lighting.

Then we got hands-on – three different “pass-arounds”, an assortment of plates, backgrounds, fabrics and Ruth Pretty’s gardens to use for our own attempts…

Chicken and Pistachio Pies with Cranberry Chutney

 

The allocated 30 minutes was far too short to do justice to the food!  Although I have to say that many of the attendees turned out fantastic photos, so I can only accept operator incompetence on my part.  Happily, we then had to eat the photography subjects, with a drop of bubbly to assist.  Murray chose a selection of photos after each session, and talked us through the successful aspects of our shots.

Next up, was Cold Poached Salmon with Ginger Coriander Dressing and Black Beans.  Yum.  Here, I had a little more success (I think).

I’m not sharing my very much less successful photo of the Oven Braised Pork Shoulder with Cavalo Nero, Apricots and Prunes, as it doesn’t do justice to a spectacularly successful dish.  Along with the salmon, this is definitely on my list of things to cook as soon as possible. Other photographers did manage to take a good photo.

We finished with Baked Rhubarb and Rose Geranium Compote with Little Pavlovas, Whipped Cream and Brandy Snap Cigars.

The verdict?  It was a great day – I learnt a lot about food photography, including how time consuming it is, if you aspire to the perfect photo.  This blog may benefit from some improved composition, but as my first audience is usually sitting at the table waiting while I photograph, it will have to be done in 5 minutes or less!

Dinner Party Club Degustation Menu

A while ago, I introduced you to the founders of the dinner party club – the Urban Gardeners.  The other members include the Visitors from Hawkes Bay, the Creative Cooks, and the Bean Counters (Mr Sporting Bean Counter and Mrs Shopping Bean Counter).  MOTH has been talking for a long time about having a Degustation Menu as a theme, so we sent out a menu that went like this: amuse bouche, vegetable, soup, fish, salad, fowl, palate cleanser, meat, fruit, dessert.

This is what it looked like…

Course 1

Amuse Bouche: Salmon tartare, with crème fraiche in a poppy seed tuile

Wine: Dibon Cava Brut Reserve or Framingham F-Series Viognier 2010 (Marlborough)
By: Mr Visitor from Hawkes Bay

Course 2

Vegetable: “Toad in the Hole” – kumara poached in stock and saffron, with beetroot centre on jus reduction

Wine: Church Road 2009 Cabernet Merlot
By: The Creative Cooks

Course 3

Soup: Iced plum tomato soup with mozzarella and basil oil

Wine: Casco de la Cruz Pedro Ximenez Sherry
By: Your Friendly Blogger and the MOTH

Course 4

Fish: Poached salmon with beetroot relish and basil mayonnaise

Wine: Lawsons Dry Hills 2008 Riesling
By: The Urban Gardeners

Course 5

Salad: Roasted artichoke and pea salad

Wine: Esk Valley Hawkes Bay Pinot Gris 2010
By: The Bean Counters

Course 6

Fowl: Herbed chicken on rocket

Wine: Peter Yealands Pinot Gris 2011

By: Mrs Visitor from Hawkes Bay

Course 7

Palate Cleanser: Raspberry and pinot noir sorbet

Wine: Matahiwi Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2010
By: The Creative Cooks

Course 8

Meat: Eye fillet and blue cheese on parsnip puree, with parsnip crisps and baked onions

Wine: Taylors Clare Valley Merlot 2010
By: Your Friendly Blogger and the MOTH

 Course 9

Fruit: Rhubarb fool

By: The Urban Gardeners
 
Course 10

Dessert: Rich chocolate on crème anglaise

Wine: D’Arenberg Noble Botryotinia F*ckeliana 2011
By: The Bean Counters

When small is better

Think of a very small dish of something delicious placed in front of you.  It just invites savouring, taking small bites, lingering over every mouthful. 

When I dived back into cooking this year, I revisited old recipes as I dusted off techniques and remembered the tricks I’d learnt over 20 years ago.  A classic lemon soufflé was one of the first recipes I tried, followed by chocolate, then raspberry (if I’d found some gooseberries they would have been next).  The classic way of serving a cold soufflé is to tie a paper “collar” around the soufflé dish, fill to about an inch higher than the dish, and remove the “collar” just before serving.  However, I’ve found some small glass dishes, so I thought I’d try the next soufflé on the list as a very small dish of delicious dessert.

For a cold soufflé recipe, I can’t go past Cordon Bleu Desserts and Puddings – I’ve adapted their recipe here.

Cold Orange Soufflé

Serves 8-12, depending on the size of the serving bowls

3 large eggs

170g castor sugar
6 tbsp freshly squeezed orange justice
Finely grated rind of 2 oranges (make sure that you avoid the white part of the rind, as it is bitter)
300 ml cream
2 tsp powdered gelatine
Juice of 1 lemon, made up to 5 tbsp with water

Sprinkle the gelatine over the lemon/water mix and leave to swell (do this in a small heatproof dish).

Whisk* the egg yolks, sugar and orange rind at high speed until thick and mousse-like.  To really get the maximum amount of air in this step, you can do this over a pan of simmering water – but make sure that your bowl doesn’t touch the water, or you’ll end up with sweet scrambled eggs. 

Once they are lovely and thick, place the bowl on the bench, add the orange juice, and keep whisking until the bowl is cool.  The mixture will thin out quite a bit when you add the juice, but just keep on whisking!

*In case you think I’m mad, I should really say “whisk with electric handheld beater”, but you can use an actual whisk if you prefer.

Place the gelatine dish into a pot of water (the water in the pot should come about halfway up the gelatine dish), and heat gently until the spongy gelatine dissolves.  Set aside to cool for up to 5 minutes – you don’t want it to reset, but it is better to be warm, rather than hot, when you add it to the other ingredients.

Half whip the cream – so that it just holds its shape, but is not stiff – it should be the same consistency as your egg yolk mixture.  Fold together.  Gently stir the liquid gelatine mixture through the mixture.

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry.  I use a copper bowl for whisking egg whites, as they hold more air, but an ordinary bowl will be fine.  Whatever you use, make sure both the bowl and whisk are spotlessly clean, otherwise the egg whites will refuse to whisk up nicely.  Place the bowl of soufflé mixture into a sink of ice/water (to assist with rapid cooling/setting) and mix in a good spoonful of the egg whites (this will loosen up the mixture so that you can gently fold in the remainder without losing all the air you’ve just been beating in to them).  Fold in the remaining egg whites.  Slowly stir the mixture once or twice a minute, until it is thickening.  Turn into the bowl or bowls and refrigerate until set.

You could add a blob of whipped cream and some finely chopped pistachios for a bit of colour when serving.  But it tastes great on its own, in a small dish with a small spoon.  A nice dessert wine (even if it does have a rather provocative name) will round out the evening nicely.