Working with food resembles working with paint. I majored in art in college with a concentration in painting. Always we were commended to think about the placement, hues, tones, shapes, shadows, representation or lack of, and what all that meant to us as the artist and beyond that, what might we be communicating to our viewers.
But primarily we were taught to ask ourselves why did we chose our subject and how did we respond to it? Critiques by fellow students could put our work in perspective, helping us remember our objective, even if that changed while the work was progressing.
Beyond that there is the wet and messy part.
Food creations work much the same way. Here I take in to account the placement, hues, tones, shapes and shadows of the item and its components. But I have to add scent and taste, because, let's face it, if it doesn't smell or taste good, no one is going to eat it. At least not a second bite.
Oh, and food is also wet and messy.
Choices now revolve around personal preferences, like chocolate. My love affair with chocolate will trump most other options, unless there's coffee in the mix. And regardless of the context, when the two are paired, it just doesn't get much better than that for me.
So this Easter season, I tried several new items and only one rose to the top as an item to add to our menu - Almond Meringue and Chocolate Ganache Layer Cake. Some were beautiful to behold but lacked the sensational taste to meet the cut. Some didn't even make the mark for execution, though all instructions were followed to the letter. That's the way art is. Some things work and some don't.
Now it's time to decide. Try the successful failures again, or, because there are so many other options, move on and leave them behind completely. To determine if it was a success because now I know not to make it again, or was it a success because now, like Edison and the light bulb, I know not to make it that way again.
One thing is certain, I'll not be making 98 of the same cake. It's either that or get a new husband because tasting that many would put him in the grave and I'd rather keep him, if it's all the same.
And whatever the outcome, it's definitely going to be wet and messy.
