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Cindy Epstein, food stylist cindyepstein.com
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Cheese and fruit board styled by Cindy Epstein
Food
WHAT WE EAT, IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT BY FRANK SABATINI, JR.
T 40
pacificsandiego.com | APRIL 2010
GREGORY BERTOLINI
o the food artist, a bowl of olives or a split lobster tail provides the same aesthetic fodder as what a watercolorist might derive from a clique of nude sunbathers lounging on the banks of a deep blue lake. But as many top-notch photographers, painters and stylists of food will attest, their subjects aren’t always as well-behaved. Capturing edible matter in its most luscious form requires sly manipulations to create images that provoke the senses. Thus we are warned that those glistening jewel-like scallops or golden-crusted tarte tatins jumping off magazine pages are oftentimes not fit for public consumption.
Sesame-encrusted Kurobuta pork tenderloin, styled by Cindy Epstein
indy Epstein has worked with food in various capacities for more than 30 years, starting with a catering company and gourmet takeout shop that she operated in Philadelphia before moving to San Diego. As a food stylist, she averages a couple jobs a week at the behest of restaurants, casinos and advertising agencies. “Tweezers are a food stylist’s best friend,” Epstein says, after having poked, prodded and polished the majority of complex dishes pictured in the recently released cookbook, Flying Pans, written by chefs Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver of La Jolla’s Marine Room. In preparing a plate of sesame-encrusted Kurobuta pork tenderloin (image below) for the photographer, Epstein used undercooked meat in order for the camera to pick up its succulent fleshy color. The meat slices were propped up from behind with cotton balls, while the surrounding mirin sauce was applied with an eye dropper to highlight the meat’s soft curves. The pork was also rubbed with oil to make it glisten and to ensure the sesame seeds would stick; fallen seeds were reattached with tweezers. In similar scenarios, Epstein has used Vaseline as an adhesive. “We have to create a perception that allows viewers to say, ‘Oh my God, I wish I had a bite of that!’” For blood-orange glazed turkey, she glued down the wings and sprayed the bird with Kitchen Bouquet, a caramelizing agent that imparts the skin with a uniform golden tone. “It was only a quarter cooked, just until the fat started to melt.” When working with Manhattan Deli in Temecula for a photo shoot, Epstein water-spritzed a “milehigh” piling of different meats comprising a specialty sandwich, resulting in a moist, succulent sheen. Natural, morning light proved better than artificial for capturing the sandwich’s decadent details, although for an image of fruit and cheese (above left) on her web site, the food was artificially lit to create a moody, Old World style. “It’s a promotional piece for my business, and I got a lot of clients from it.”