Art or Edible?

We define the shape of things. And they are all fascinating.

As the days grow longer again and spring cleaning slowly glides into view, you’ll hear one phrase around our house quite a bit: “Is this art or can (/should) it go?” If you have children in the household, you know exactly what I mean.

But what applies to oddly shaped heaps of dust or half-forgotten projects can obviously apply to foods as well: If they do not fit the circumstances, they are labeled ‘second choice’ or ‘B-quality’. Another way of saying “hard to store and logistically difficult to handle because of uncertain weight and size tolerances”. Or “hard to sell to a customer who expects a certain look” and, sadly, many times “most likely to end up in the organic waste stream”.

Especially the looks can often make all the difference. Like the majestic fruit I just bought to star in a recipe I’m planning for the (Easter) Sunday Brunch in March (recipes coming March 15). And when I say ‘looks’, I should really be talking about ‘ap-PEAR-rances’, because this fella is so big that my husband has affectionately nicknamed it ‘Pearzilla’. Still, it is declared ‘second choice’ because it does not meet the standards for normal fruit size. And we are not even discussing taste here, which I know is superb, because I used another one of its chums to bake a cake (just needed one for a whole cake).

So back to the original question I asked at the beginning: “Is this art or is it edible?” In any case, I think food should be rated on its taste and nutritional value. And if an interesting shape comes along in the package, even better.

It is art AND you can eat it.

And when I say ‘looks’, I should really be talking about ‘ap-PEAR-rances’, because this fella is so big that my husband has affectionately nicknamed it ‘Pearzilla’.

Side Notes:

• I am not sure about the origin of the above saying. Perhaps – and this is another legend – it was inspired by an incident in a famous art museum. The story goes that a museum maintenance worker swept up a (multi-million dollar) work by Joseph Beuys called “Butter Spot”. Of course, the controversial but brilliant artist Beuys (who, by the way, was also a fully qualified teacher) created this piece of art to protest certain modern food handling habits, but it was actually just one big greasy patch. And the responsible cleaner would not have such a sticky, smelly mess lying around 😉