I eat ugly food, I do, most days at least twice a day. It is something I can hardly do anything about really. Ugly food is often delicious and that is something that is always at the top of my list.
In looking at the last number of posts on this blog what I see is what I chose to make and eat. They are ugly. Today I made duxelle because I love mushrooms but it looks pretty awful to be honest. I took photos of the mushrooms before I cut and cooked them but trying to make a visually nice post seemed pointless so I am writing this instead.
- Bratwurst Tomato and Spinach———————————— Ugly
- Cheesy Grits—————————————————————Ugly
- Breakfast Fried Rice—————————————————- Ugly
- Baba Ganoush, the plate is attractive but the eggplant—– Ugly
I know that The Blog has become in past years an image driven medium. The words have less import than they used to. Image is everything and lots of great food is Ugly.
When it is time to plate, the look of the thing is something I consider, but since the food is very soon going to end up in my mouth, taste is paramount. Garnish helps and scallions or chives add a vibrant green but I cannot eat any raw allium except garlic.
For instance, look at the Bratwurst Tomato and Spinach. The key image has nice colors. The bamboo cutting board provides a nice earth tone while the packaged bratwurst has been carefully designed to attract your attention in the crowded market aisle. The tomatoes bring a rich red that pleases the eye and even the spinach looks good before it is cooked.
By contrast the tomatoes in the burnt looking pan looks awful. The fond in the pan gets deglazed by the liquid which adds a lovely flavor but in return the spinach turns a quite unappetizing color.
The sausage does not contribute much either. When the whole brat is browned well, it has a lovely color on both sides but when cut, it just looks gray. I could have cut it into rounds and cooked those into deeply browned coins but they would have then been dreadfully overcooked and dry.
Grits. I love grits and really do have them each and every Sunday. By cooking the cornmeal mush in the same pan as the sausages I gain flavor once again but they often turn kind of brown. The images of browned sausages look good. Grated cheese and egg next to the bowl look nice but the finished dish leaves much to be desired image wise.
My breakfast of fried rice has the same issues. The raw egg has a vibrant color, but when cooked and all mixed in, the appeal is not so great. As I stated in that piece, I could have (and should have) added carrots for color. I often do just that for the crunchy quality but hunger won that day.
Baba Ganoush is next on the list. How can one make a totally charred vegetable appetizing? I was happy with the finished plate but the piece was about the eggplant. I love baba ganoush even if my house smells like smoke for the day. It is also pretty Ugly.
I eat ugly food
The takeaway here is to cook what you like to eat. If you can put a nice dress on it to make it pretty go right ahead. The dress however must be absolutely delicious.
