Food As Art

Food with Art on the Mind


My article was form an online newspaper source. It was about some students from the pastry department at Barbabos Community College Hospitality Institute. These particular students had been learning the culinary art for the past two years and were asked to hold an exhibition in order to inform the public about what occurs at their school. Most of the students were pastry chefs and showed an assortment of cakes, “The skills exhibited featured many varieties of fruit and vegetable displays; nut and fruit-filled chocolates; fat carbon sculptures; icing, castor and rock sugar creations and several magnificent giant ice carvings.”
This article relates both to the video about slow food and the reading “Food as Art” because it shows how students are taking food and creating masterpieces in the culinary world. Theses cakes and sculptures are both aesthetically pleasing to the eyes as well as taste. After reading this and what else I’ve read this week it reminds me of how food plays an important role in our world and how it is absolutely an art that has been passed down from generation to generation. We have television channels dedicated to food, competitions, festivals and other events that have food as a main focal point. Some competitions that use food (Gingerbread house competition) don’t even use taste as a criteria of grading, it is on presentation alone which screams art.


Umoja R. (2008, April 23). Nation News, Food with art in mind [On-Line Newspaper]. Retrieved April 25, from http://www.nationnews.com/story/324405779112151.php





Art as a Smell

This article was also found online and I actually found this one to be very interesting because it gave me a completely different perspective then what I was previously thinking. It talks about how basically smell can main the main contributor to aesthetics. Robert Blackson was inspired by the book ‘Fast Food Nation’ and held and exhibition that instead of focusing on sight, they focusing on smell. The interesting part is that they discussed how smell could bring about memories of childhood dinners or any other memory that the smell would remind you off.
In my post this week I was curious if people viewed fast food as an art and this article sheds some light on this. I figured that most people would just view McDonalds as a fast food place and nothing more then a place to grab some food. But what if someone was driving by McDonalds and catches a smell that paints a picture in their head of a previous event, you in a way can consider this to be art. This article shows a different view point that can be applied on fast food restaurants. I still however would not put this in the same category as slow food as art because the intentions in each category are different. Slow food as an art is trying to capture the essence of food and display it in a masterful way. The fast food industry is merely trying to sell a product for interest of gaining capital. It’s the consumer that can take the smell or taste of a fast food item and turn it into an aesthetic feeling.



Georgi G. (2008, April 21). 24 Hour Museum Art as a smell at the Reg Vardy Gallery,[On-Line Newspaper]. Retrieved April 25, from http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART56538.html

Values

Family
Loyalty
Friendship
Independence
Personal Accomplishment
------------------------
Personal Development
Leadership
Wisdom
Enjoyment
Wealth
Creativity
Integrity
Health
Location
Security
Community
Expertness
Service
Prestige
Power

I have to say that these values for the most part we hard to prioritize due to the fact that most were things that I had to not thought about and most being values that I want to represent me. However, the top for me were kind of a no brainier for me because they deal with friends and family.

Seeing how today is Sunday and the masters were on it was hard to match my activities that I did today with these values. I ended up sleeping in, once awake I then followed it with some food and watching the masters. I called my family back in Washington because that’s something I try to do on Sundays. Then I did some reading for another class and here I am now writing this assignment. The activities I did today do not represent my top 5 values completely but they follow along the same path. Doing some homework I would say is personal development and accomplishment. Talking to my family would fall under family, friendship and loyalty.

These top values that I have selected have absolutely been affecting my family and how I was raised. I have been traveling overseas for the last 9 years in Germany, Australia, and Japan because my dad was in the air force. It has taught me a great deal about family, loyalty and the ability to be independent. A goal for myself after I graduate this summer is to get my feet wet with some work and to find a job that I can see myself enjoying for a while. I don’t believe there is much standing in the way of me achieving these goals except for myself and how motivated I am. Only time will tell and hopefully with any luck achieving this goal won’t be to far out of reach.

Texas Hold'em

I have to start off by saying that I am honestly not a fan of blogs. Funny thing is after reading some of the others it seems that I am not alone. The reason why is because a lot of blogs out there are just some person’s opinion on a topic which can be true but most likely is not. So this will be my first blog and most likely the last, but I won’t hold my breath.

The blog that I found to be most interesting was on Texas Hold’em. I have been playing cash games online at a site known as Full Tilt Poker. As most people know, President Bush outlawed online poker a few years ago because of the boom it created for gambling. The reason for the outlawing was because minors were able to use their parent’s credit cards but technically they were not allowed to gamble due to the fact they are under 18. Anyways, just recently some lawyer’s came together and figured out a way to get around this law. I’m not exactly sure how they were able to bend the rules, but I must say that I’m not complaining. The game of Texas Hold’em some people say involves luck, which it does, but the game mainly takes strategy just the like the game of chess. Knowing when to bluff, raise, or fold is vital to become a successful poker player. Mainly, figuring out your odds and not playing with emotions and limiting your risks for the best pots will determine how far you make it in a tournament. All in all, I’m happy that online poker is back because it’s always fun to win some money on your off time but sometimes gambling doesn’t payout the way you wanted it to.

By Wes Trout