A is for Aesthetics!

I thank my mom for my ability to see beyond food, of course in the aesthetic sense. She got my brothers and me use to the idea that food didn’t have to look appetizing to be appetizing. Deep, almost putrid, purple colored cabbage…meat loaf in the all-American way, not the gourmet way…and of course the “ethnic” dishes she tried to conquer without aesthetics in mind. I have to give it to her, she is one of the best cooks in this world, if you don’t count the “this dish looks delicious” factor of course. Thinking back the only aesthetically pleasing dish she did serve was the scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream. However, her aesthetic consciousness did arise when we had a Japanese exchange student stay with us for one year. Junko was able to endow in my mother a sense of visual awareness to all her dishes; a theme my mom would always describe as simplicity is beauty.

After this weeks course on bento boxes and its cultural significance, I thought I was equip for the creation of my own box. Ideas scrimmaged through my head of what my final creation would look like and what additions I would bring to the table. However, I learned very quickly that it’s not as easy as it looks. This made me think of all times my brothers and I would poke fun at my mom’s not so beautiful dishes. It becomes a fast and competitive game of aesthetics or taste. I now have a new found appreciation for my mom’s dishes, which I might add she has gotten better at combining the two elements after Junko’s help. With my bento box I had to take into consideration allergies of my partner, broccoli, which just happened to take a part in my imagined creation. So now that the broccoli was left clear of my concoction, taste and style had to battle each other for the lead. In the end, I think that style won over taste. But, I could always use the excuse from the readings that I was getting my partner use to foods she didn’t necessarily like.

After making bento boxes and reading about the significance behind the actual creations, I have a new outlook on food, not just Japanese. We live in a culture where things have to look beautiful to be in the same vicinity as us. This made me think of what Ann had mentioned in a previous lecture, about how many different varieties there are of apples (thousands and thousands), but of those the couple hundred we consume because of the aesthetics. I thought this exercise and lesson would make me be more aware of aesthetics of food and it has but in the opposite sense; I now wont judge a book by its cover… in relation to food.