That art of making food look good

MANILA, Philippines - The job of the food stylist is to make food come alive in photographs — a tough job, indeed, especially for those who have nary a clue as to how to do such a thing. Delores Custer was in town recently to share a few tricks of the trade. Custer, holds a master’s degree in food and nutrition. She has also styled just about every dish — from vegetables to burgers, butter to cereals, as well as chicken, pasta, and salad, for a number of leading food companies in the industry today.

In the food styling seminar at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, Custer shared some of the latest trends in food styling as well as tips in using color and texture to achieve a desired effect. She also discussed the do’s and don’ts in food styling, shared problem-solving techniques in preparing food for the camera while offering guidelines to help make food packages and print ads more successful.

During the actual food styling demo that followed her lecture, Custer shared a few techniques for solving some of these concerns. Custer got a lot of help from Glad Wraps and Bags, an equally world-renowned brand of kitchen management products, which had been supportive of her in many of her food styling seminars in the past. Made of high-quality materials and designed to solve practically every kitchen dilemma, Glad Wraps and Bags has actually made Custer’s demo experience so much easier.

Creating iced tea was easy: she just poured in soy sauce mixed with water then stirred to achieve the desired color. She then used fake ice cubes and sprayed Karo syrup mixed with water on the outside of the glass for that “fresh-from-the-fridge” look. The same would have been so easy, except that only a portion of the glass needed to have that effect. So, she had to tape a sheet of Glad Cling Wraps to shield parts that need to be covered, and sprayed on.

Among other tricks that further showcased Custer’s uncanny ability to “make food come alive” was the use of a hot skewer to make grill marks in meat, use of Glad Cook ‘n’ Bake Paper to create whipped cream dollops and the creation of an eight-foot long sandwich with the use of an elongated metal skewer (although this one was shown only in a powerpoint presentation). 

One especially entertaining trick she shared was how to make stand in ice cream or “artificial ice cream,” which doesn’t melt even when left outside the fridge. The secret, of course, lies in the use of mashed potatoes kneaded to perfection using an ice cream scoop, which are then placed on a sheet of Glad aluminum foil. If made in advance, Custer recommends storing the mixture in a Glad Storage Zipper Bag inside the refrigerator so it comes out ice cream-cold once needed for the shoot. 

Custer would have gone on sharing food styling techniques to the audience, but her time was cut short to give way to an actual food styling activity, which this time had the audience gladly doing their own take on crackers, chips, and Styrofoam bowls they brought with them so they could apply some of the techniques they learned from the seminar. 

In fact, the event also emphasized the value having all the right tools for your needs — and it’s something that Glad Wraps, or any of its other products, would only be too glad to offer.