Instagram, food porn and ugly delicious: how some dishes just don’t cut it on social media
- Social media is full of food porn – attractive dishes that look like they’ll be delicious
- But some amazing dishes are discriminated against, simply because they are unattractive
I see a lot of food porn on social media. Folks love to show off their fine-dining dishes featuring edible flowers delicately tweezered into place atop even more delicately poached seafood.
They also post about colourful cocktails adorned with fruits and herbs, massive pizzas with oozing cheese and rich tomato sauce, and close-ups of scallop, tuna or beef carpaccio glistening under a portable ring light.
What I don’t see very often is Indian food. Sure, Hongkongers love South Asian cuisine, and Indians have a long and proud tradition in the territory, dating back to Sikhs arriving with the British in the mid-19th century. It’s also a fact that the curry options are almost always the first items sold out when I try to order dinner at the Maxim’s counter.
The problem is, a plate of thick brown sauce in a bowl just doesn’t have the aesthetic appeal required by food bloggers chasing clicks and collecting likes. Unfortunately, curry fits into that category of dishes that chef David Chang (of the Momofuku empire) describes as “ugly delicious”.
Of course, we all have that Martin Luther King-esque dream that someday, all food will be judged on the content of its character and not the colour of its sauce. Sadly, online, we still prefer pretty plating and decorative presentations.
Most Instagramers know if they’re posting a plate of chicken tikka masala or rogan josh, they should pan out from a close-up, prop a nan bread next to it, and drizzle some raita on top so it doesn’t look so drab. Oh, and you hit the plate with as much light as possible or it will – literally – look like ****.