Food Design

What's the history of the jelly baby? Who invented fish fingers? Why do we have sugar cubes and chewing gum in the shape of balls?

'Food Design' is a clever book about the shaping of foodstuffs and doesn't bother to enter into an ethical discussion about the manipulation of nature, because the food we eat was designed long ago. Instead the book deals with the questions of function, cultural background and the spirit of the times, production techniques and marketing.

Quote: "Food is an aspect of culture. The selection of foodstuffs and the way in which they are consumed define personal lifestyles and divide social classes from one another. From the prawn cocktail to the doner kebab, from ciabatta bread to pot noodles. What we eat indicates who we are. The presentation of the meal is given the same amount of attention as its preparation. In the same way as we design clothes, furniture and cars in order to satisfy our aesthetic well-being, we expect that our foodstuffs will not just fill our stomachs but also captivate our senses."

The individual chapters are accordingly devoted to classical design questions and cover themes such as "Enjoying crunch and bright colours – touch, sound and colour", "Suspense in abundance – the interplay between interior and exterior", "Fun with sharing – all about breaking, cutting and portioning ", "Crispy or spreadable – surfaces and consistencies " or "Stackable fish – production and transport".

By the way the 'Gummibärchen', Germany's equivalent to the jelly baby, was designed by Hans Riegel in Bonn in 1922, fish fingers appeared anonymously in the UK around the year 1960, the sugar cube goes back to Jakob Christoph Rad from Bohemia and dates from the year 1843, while the chewing gum ball was invented by Thomas Adams in the USA around 1870. Accordingly it's only logical for Giorgio Armani to have a large A cast on his chocolate 'dolcis'.

"Food Design" has already been awarded the "Gourmand World Cookbook Award".

Facts
Author: Sonja Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter
132 pages, numerous illustrations
Format 23,5 x 23,5 cm, bound
Publisher: Springer Verlag Vienna New York 2005
Publisher's recommended price: 29.90 EUR
Language: German
ISBN: 978-3-211-23512-6