Cookery Books and Food Photography – a minor gripe!

Now I don’t know about you but I rarely buy a cookery book unless a high proportion of the recipes are accompanied by colour photographs.  For me a large part of the inspiration to cook a recipe I have seen comes from the way the finished dish looks in the photograph or from an overall description or introduction from the author or a reviewer.

Part of the
cook book collection

I have recently bought three more cook books to add to my completely over-the-top collection (currently stands at over 500 and increasing at a rate that any self-respecting rabbit would be proud of!)  My defence is that I have very few other vices these days – I don’t smoke, I don’t drink (well not that much), I don’t subscribe to Tiffany’s, I am not addicted to handbags, kitchen is already gadgeted up to the hilt and I no longer keep horses (which my ex husband used to say it would be cheaper to dig a big hole and pour £10 notes into it as to have horses!) so cookery books and shoes are my main vices (oh, I guess my car isn’t overly sensible and does guzzle petrol but hey …. ).  Anyway, back to the subject of the latest additions to my cook book empire, I have noticed with these three new books that I have a bit of a minor gripe about the photography.

“Flavour, a world of beautiful food” by Vicky Bhogal is a lovely recipe book, full of interesting and inspiring recipes from around the world – many of which appeal to me and which I intend to try or at least use as inspiration. However …… here comes the gripe…..whilst the book is full of stunning food photography, a high percentage of these glorious colour photos are of the main ingredient in its raw state e.g. an arty shot of lapsang souchong tea leaves spilling out onto a silver platter (see photo left).  Very nice, pretty even, but actually I would much rather see a photograph of the finished dish, “Lapsang Souchong scented salmon with nutmeg butter and kale.”  Likewise “Fennel, Salami and Pistachio Loaf” recipe is accompanied by a photo of pistachio nut slivers surrounding some unknown nut shaped ingredient (which I have to show my complete ignorance of its identity - someone please enlighten me?) The photo is a lovely combination of rosy pink and pistachio green hues (as illustrated right) but wouldn’t you rather see a photograph of the loaf in question?  The recipe itself I am not convinced I particularly want to dash into the kitchen to try out but maybe if I could see a photo of the finished article it might change my perception?

"Fluffy bunny"
syndrome

"Coast to Coast” by Rick Stein also uses fabulous colour photography of the raw ingredient in many places where it may serve some artistic purpose but again I feel misses the point a little in persuading the reader to make the recipe.  Take for example the recipe for “Rabbit cacciatore with grilled polenta” – the accompanying photo is that of the dead rabbit in all his fluffiness. Whilst I am not overly affected by the “fluffy factor” there are plenty of people who are and I feel sure people would prefer to see a pic of the final dish?  In the book’s defence, there are several occasions where there are two accompanying photographs opposite each other showing the artsy raw ingredient on one page and the finished dish using said ingredient on another – much better in my view (see raw figs and finished fig tart below). Having said all that, the recipes in the book do sound very nice and having watched some of the accompanying series on tv I am sure I will make some of the dishes within whether or not I like the aesthetics!

Figs au naturel

Fig tart

Candied sweet potatoes

“Lotte’s Country Kitchen” by Lotte Duncan is a lovely cook book, or at least it appeals to me for many reasons; I love her writing style, light hearted, slightly quirky but absolutely getting across the message that she loves food and loves to cook and wants everyone else to enjoy it too. Again the book has some beautiful photography and not confined to just food, raw or otherwise by any means.  There are photos of the garden, beautiful flowers, her decorated Christmas tree to name but a few non-food categories.  However these photos are used generally in the chapter introductions or in places not directly accompanying a recipe, whilst the recipes themselves, in the main, have a photo of the finished dish.  This, to me, is the perfect balance between producing a lovely “coffee table” book which can be flicked through and appreciated for its lovely illustrations and colourful photography whilst also acting as a visual stimulant to get off the sofa and stop just flicking through the book looking at the pretty pictures and get into that kitchen and get cooking!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this – obviously we are all entitled to our own opinions and I hasten to add that this is a very minor gripe as I actually really like all three books mentioned, but in my humble view, whilst I can appreciate beautiful photography whatever the subject matter, I personally would very much prefer to see what a finished dish should look like (provided of course you have a food stylist on hand in your own kitchen!) than to see the component parts in their natural state.