Food in Fashion

by Chef Thobeka Shangase

Once upon a time food used to be an energy source, then it became a status symbol, a source of comfort and with a sudden burst of young sexy television chefs, the precise pre-measured bowls of ingredients synonymous with Delia Smith were overturned by these young chefs, all clambering on our television sets with their cute hair cuts, hip lexicon, bulging pecs and thunderous cleavage, selling their branded kitchen goods and books, celebrity chefs were born. The food world hit the reality t.v scene, food was entertainment and food celebrities were being churned out faster than biscuits at a biscuit mill. Food was dragged into the pop culture sphere and eventually found itself smack dab in the world of fashion and the term “food trends” was born and things were forever changed.

The culinary world now has a way of constantly moving the goalposts, in fact that’s probably one definition of what the words “food trends” mean. It can also be a contradictory and tricky game in which the establishment is continually challenged.

Food truck pioneer Roy Choi

Subdued minimalism at Valentino

One season, Heston Blumenthal and “Molecular Gastronomy” was all the rage with a wild mix of bacon ice-cream and three time cooked potato chips, food was broken down to molecules of flavour filled foams, dusts, steam and smoke, food was no longer to be eaten but instead you had to be inhaled, poked, scratched and sniffed, it was out with the old boring oven roast and in with outrageous cooking methods the likes of which Victor Frankenstein would be proud of, turkey cooked with live electric currents and reduced to cloud like morsels and other ridiculous things. When others protested against this trend, Vogue magazine gave it the fashion stamp of approval and called it the future of food, a bold statement in deed especially in the fickle world of fashion where the future changes every season. The food industry was brazen and riding high, it’s safe to say that the food industry was part and parcel of the open, unashamed ease and excessive indulgence that existed at that time. Everything was gourmet, gourmet cupcakes, gourmet sweets, gourmet water and it all carried a hefty gourmet price tag.

 And then the next year, all things hit saturation point, the recession hit and brought the restaurant business to it’s knees and the pendulum swung back to all things, green, organic, classic, basic and average and “seasonal cooking”, “seasonal eating” was born, traditional farm to table cooking and eating was all the rage, for meat, snout to tail was the way to go. Restaurants were going broke and so therefore had to “Go green and organic” serving up every cut of meat and every kind of edible green they could get their hands on, cuts of meat that were normally considered cheap and discarded by chefs were taking center stage on menus, nettle soup, sweetbreads on bruschetta

The cronut

Kogi food truck in downtown Los Angeles

and flower salads were what’s hot and basic comfort food was the new black. Forget about desserts, bakeries and specialty dessert stores were sinking like dough balls in water, restaurants were firing their expensive pastry chefs and sourcing their desserts from mass producing factories and distributors. Around this time the Italian fashion house of Valentino showcased a lady-esque collection, all things vintage, gloves, hats, soft pastel colours, buttons were buttoned up, hemlines were over the knee. Everything was controlled and in moderation. People were eating and dressing with a conscious and with a purpose again like it used to be.

Then the grown up, responsible and mature farm to table concept was drowned out by the loud screeching of food trucks heard coming a mile away, with a punk rock attitude. Seasoned trained sous chefs frustrated with the restaurant kitchen food chain which allowed for little growth, were dropping their white chefs jackets for black rock n roll print t-shirts and converse shoes, they were rolling up their sleeves revealing their tattooed arms and giving the middle finger to the more established food institutions. Born out of necessity, food trucks offered cheap gourmet food to the average Joe on the street. Food truck owners were picking up the scraps of fallen food monuments and making something out of nothing, ethnic food was the focus, Greek, Korean, Mexican, old school cooking methods, old school recipes were jammed together with dishes from other nations and as a result food hybrids were born, tacos filled with Korean bar-barque pork and topped with tzatiki become a common phrase.

Korean Style tacos from Kogi

 Pop up restaurants were popping up everywhere and there was a new breed of celebrity chefs, gone with the pleasantly plump, full cleavage and cute hair cuts and in with the lean, rebellious, foul mouth, tattooed and pierced rock star chef. Food was getting bolder, rebellious, “gangsta” and over at design house Kenzo, fashion was doing the same thing, mixes of flouro pink and camo, gold trainers and embroidered track tops were making their way down the runway. Models, fashion bloggers and writers everywhere were weak at the knees and once again food and fashion met in unholy matrimony.

With the economy still recovering comfort food was still the focus but after Paula Deen was diagnosed with diabetes, butter lost its appeal and “New modern comfort food” was born, the focus is on taking traditional classics, stripping it down to its basic root and adding modern elements to it, I'm not sure I understand what they mean by that because classic food is regarded as classic because it’s basic in nature but cest la vie.

Dry Smoke Cooked Egg with Hot Sauce Pearls

Nettle Soup

Food concept trucks and stores are now the norm, chefs are choosing to focus on and perfecting one sort of food be it hot dogs, toasted cheese sandwiches, pies, donuts or cakes, which is a clever idea on paper. But there’s only so much that you can do with a hot dog or chocolate cake without the risk of bastardising it. But I know from experience that when people say “modern or contemporary” that means that the price is increased.

To be honest I'm not sure I'm a fan of this trend, yes it exists for a reason but as a food lover I am not sure I want to eat anything that is basic and blends into a plate, going unnoticed and being left craving the super normal, to me food is about escaping, embracing the strange and seeking the different in the most personal way because whatever you discover you take it inside of you and good, bad or utterly delicious it becomes a part of you. But maybe this is a much needed corrective after the over the top Lady Gaga-esque eccentricity we've seen in the last decade.

One thing I do know for sure that with the birth of the cronut, change is coming in the food world, there’s a new genre of comfort food coming, it’s comfort food on steroids, it’s innovative, it’s fun, some of it is a little crazy and it might kill you, but it’s going to be delicious and I can't wait.