I firmly believe that cooking is a form of art. A delicious one at that! However, there is a fine line between truly aesthetic dishes and food that is simply pretentiousness plopped on a plate. And sometimes… sometimes you just want a burger, you know? With normal buns instead of portobello mushroom caps and ketchup instead of 13 types of hand-made condiments spaced out on a drumset. There’s nothing wrong with simplicity. When done right.
However, a lot of chefs and restaurants believe that they’re more important than they really are and they try to show this through the food they serve. Finding the perfect balance between looks and taste isn’t for them, no sirree! Instead, they opt to create the most ‘dazzling’ dishes that end up overwhelming and confusing the customers.
The crème de la crème of pretentiousness ends up on the r/StupidFood subreddit that is dedicated to shaming the most arrogant food creations on Planet Earth. Have a taste of their best (or is that worst?) photos and remember to give the food that you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot spork a big ol’ upvote. Grab your silverware and let’s go!
I had a chat about the subreddit with Clackpot, the founder of r/StupidFood. I was also interested to find out more about aesthetics and pretentiousness in food, so I reached out to talented pie artist Jessica Clark-Bojin, the founder of ‘The Pieous’ project and author of ‘Pies are Awesome.’ Scroll down for Bored Panda’s in-depth interviews with Clackpot, as well as with Jessica, who spoke about the importance of cooking to put a smile on someone else’s face and why it’s worth experimenting with food.