There are two food groups – people who eat to live, and people who live to eat. If you fall into the latter, then you probably go to bed dreaming about breakfast, cannot wait to dine at the newest restaurant, and savor every bite of dessert. And if that’s the case then you will probably share in my contention for recipes without pictures.
One of my favorite pastimes (more like a luxury, since I had kids) is going to a bookstore and looking at all the cookbooks. And I am constantly amazed at how many of them do not include pictures. I am certain that it’s a cost issue, but I still think it’s a crime.
I believe we are all visual creatures (yes, women too!) and respond to things that are beautiful. I also believe that great food photography influences what new recipes we might attempt to make, and certainly inspires us to try different ingredients.
I recently stumbled upon rasamalaysia, a cooking blog that incorporates the finest food photography. She is also most generous, divulging some helpful tips on how to achieve such mouth watering images. If this woman can’t convince you to try a brussel sprout, nobody can.
My guess is, she also shares in my grievance that recipes should be accompanied by a gorgeous photo!
Click on the photos for artist information.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
This is one of my most common rants. When I am looking through cook books at a store I will immediately put the book back if it has no pictures. I don’t care how good the recipes are. I am one of those people who hates following recipes. I base my meals off of recipes, so if there is not picture, I don’t get ideas! I am an extremely visual person. What is the fun of making cookies if you don’t have the picture to drool over, first? What is the point of making anything without at least having some image to fantasize over? Thank you for this post, it takes the words right out of my brain!
Her blog is fantastic, isn’t it? And I agree, pictures are necessary. My flittering brain loses interest otherwise.
For most sites now the photo is as much marketing as it is food art, and Jennifer is right: We all want our dishes to look like the photo. But I also like blogs where people take their own pictures and don’t worry too much about the sexiness of the photo. Their pictures fall into the “for illustrative purposes only” category, and suit me just fine.
Recipes need pictures.
Totally agree. I won’t make a recipe without a photo. For some reason, I feel like I need to know what the food is “supposed” to look like. It’s always very satisfying to me when my dish comes out looking like the picture; I feel like I’ve really accomplished something, BUT the taste of it is always key!
I’m still waiting for the wonderful modern technology catch up and allow us to actually smell the food too?
While I use plenty of recipes without pictures, I definitely have an appreciation for food photography. Thank you so much for that blog; that is definitely going in the bookmarks! Another really good one – Smitten Kitchen. Her photos are a-mazing.
Yay for food porn! The site had the most amazing blackberry muffins I have ever seen. Must. eat. those. now.
My oldest cookbooks have few pictures, but anything new I buy does. After reading your posting today, I realized how much I’m influenced by the photos. However, the ingredients and cooking directions still determine if I’ll try a new recipe no matter how beautiful the dish looks.
Agreed. I need the visual (porn). A good photograph will grab my attention and make my mouth water for dishes I would never actually eat (pig/cow/bird/rabbit…). Captivating imagery is hard to ignore. Props to the food stylists and photographers!
Food photography is an art form unto itself. I’ve been told it’s extremely difficult and a good food photographer is rather rare. So all those beautiful food photos probably cost a bit of dough. They certainly get my taste buds in the mood though. Porn for the palate. Ha!
Yes yes yes – must have the picture. So sad really, since I know there are plenty of wonderful recipes out there that don’t include pictures. But to get my attention, I need to see what the end product looks like first. Maybe that means I don’t have much of an imagination :(
I used to have a problem with this, but I’ve found that a good name and written description is enough to get my attention these days.
I totally agree!