How instagram changed what we eat
'27.01.2022'
Source: with the BBC
A photo of a plate with food before the start of a meal is already a tradition of our days. If you go to the first restaurant you come across right now, you will surely find someone photographing the ordered dish.
Some almost never start eating until they take a picture of the dish and post the photo on Instagram, accompanying the post with the appropriate hashtags #foodporn, #delicious and #yum.
It seems that how the food looks and how photogenic it is has become more important than the actual taste. It is to Instagram that we owe the appearance of such dishes as Hong Kong waffles or Green Goddess smoothies.
1. World cuisine
Instagram has erased all geographical boundaries when it comes to food - in fact, there is now one world cuisine.
Sharing recipes through social media has never been easier, and more importantly, we can now learn what traditional dishes from different cultures look like in the comfort of our own kitchen.
Instagrammer Anissa Helou (@anissahelou on Instagram) is the author of a blog about Islamic cuisine.
“Her Instagram is a delightful opportunity to experience cuisine from regions of the world you may have never been,” says journalist George Reynolds.
Anissa's Instagram is a rich collection of recipes and photographs of Middle Eastern cuisine. She also posts videos showing how to prepare these dishes and shares some culinary secrets.
Now Anissa has 17,5 thousands of subscribers.
2. Food of all colors of the rainbow
Why should food be some kind of nondescript and expressionless color, when it can be made bright red, orange, yellow, green and even purple? Or can she be “made” to play all these colors at the same time?
This question, apparently, is being asked by a huge number of people. And, judging by the fact that there are 119 thousand posts on Instagram with the hashtag #rainbowfood (food of all colors of the rainbow), many of those puzzled by this question came to the conclusion that food should be bright.
One of the discoveries of Instagram - the rainbow bagel, which literally blew up the Internet. This bagel is baked from multi-colored dough.
He became popular after the TV star and friend of Kim Kardashian Jonathan Cheban posted a photo of the rainbow bagel on his Instagram.
Brooklyn baker Scott Rossillo baked rainbow bagels for 20 years, but after Cheban posted on Instagram, his bagels became a hit on social media and gained worldwide fame.
Rainbow food has another important subcategory - #unicornfood. Shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, bright, shiny and lusciously sweet food has won Instagram.
In 2017, the Unicorn frappuccino appeared in Starbucks coffee houses, and this drink instantly became a hit: it can be yellow, blue, multi-color.
But this does not mean that “rainbow food” is only high-calorie drinks and baked goods. You can also find rainbow salads - fruit and vegetable. The ingredients in these salads are arranged on the plate by color - and they are popular due to their photogenicity.
3. Urgent photo for coffee
Coffee with your photo is another hit on Instagram. Selficino (cappuccino with a selfie portrait on a froth) can be found on the menus of many coffee shops, including London's Tea Terrace on Oxford Street.
Your photo on the skin displays a special printer.
This coffee, in fact, was created primarily for social networks. More than 3,3 thousand photos with the hashtag #Selfieccino have already been published on Instagram.
The German brand Knorr decided that thanks to Instagram it could find out what consumers want.
#EatYourFeed is a tool presented by Knorr that analyzes the content of posts published on Instagram and generates recommendations with recipes for each user, based on which posts he showed interest in and what materials he published.
So, for example, if you were on holiday in Barcelona, #EatYourFeed will find a seafood paella recipe for you. And advise what seasoning from Knorr you can use when cooking this dish.
4. Vegetable power
We can say that largely thanks to Instagram, the “vegan revolution” became possible.
Instagram has helped popularize vegan food. In photographs, they look bright, juicy, mouth-watering, which helped to destroy the idea of plant foods as “rabbit food,” says Ella Woodward, a well-known English blogger and nutritionist, who has 1,4 million followers on Instagram.
Ella Woodward (@deliciouslyella on Instagram) started documenting her “plant life” online a few years ago. Her blog quickly gained popularity, and now she has several contracts with publishers to publish her own cookbooks with vegan recipes. In addition, she has her own line for the production of healthy and healthy snacks without the use of animal products.
Instagram has shown that plant-based meals can look appetizing while remaining healthy.
Blogger @wildfoodcafe claims to be preparing "raw, innovative plant foods."
@wildfoodcafe posts pictures of colorful smoothies (with titles like Forgotten Ecstasy) and lush salads with avocado, quinoa, and kale. @Wildfoodcafe has about 61 thousand subscribers.
5. Excesses and delicacies
Instagram helped us realize that often many of us dream of a treat in abundance. That is why freakshakes have become one of the most popular desserts on Instagram.
Try searching photos using the hashtag #freakshake - a mix of milkshake with all kinds of sweets - cake pieces, sweets, waffles, marshmallows.
However, as the British Action on Sugar warns, such blends contain huge amounts of sugar and calories. But why be surprised?
According to Action on Sugar, one serving of such friksheka can contain up to 39 teaspoons of sugar, or 1200 calories. The organization demands to ban milkshakes, whose energy value exceeds 300 calories.
Another dessert frenzy is Hong Kong Waffle - a high-calorie bubble-shaped waffle garnished with cream, fruit and other sweets.
Joe Moruzzi (@pleesecakes on Instagram) is a former artist who creates gourmet cheesecakes topped with candy and chocolate. He has accumulated a bodee 147 thousand subscribers in a year and a half of the existence of an account on Instagram.
“Cheesecake is a very photogenic product,” says Moruzzi. According to the blogger, today he can post a photo of a richly decorated chocolate cheesecake, and tomorrow - a photo of an airy piece of fruit cake.
“Of course, there is intrigue in this, and it is loved by the subscribers,” explains Moruzzi.
6. Restaurant interior
It's not just what we eat that has changed. The interiors of restaurants have also changed - everything is done with an eye to how the interior will look in photos on Instagram.
Journalist George Reynolds notes that restaurants now care more than before about proper lighting and the presence of sockets near the tables so that visitors can charge their gadgets. They also pay more attention to mirrors, try to choose beautiful tiles and wallpapers - taking into account how effective the photo will be.
Not only the food itself has changed, but also the environment in which we eat - now the aesthetic aspect is important in everything.
