Here are some of the photos I shot way back in October for the December issue of Edible Brooklyn. Rosca de Reyes is a Christmas bread eaten in January to celebrate "Day of the Kings". I was lucky enough to go to Don Paco Lopez Bakery in Sunset Park to witness the making of such deliciousness. Since I'm not a good writer please read the article from Edible Brooklyn by Jamie Feldmar here in digital form on page 80 or pick up a free copy if you see them.
What do you get when you combine studio art, baking and photography together? You get delicious recipes and beautifully constructed images by Ashley E. Rodriguez of Not Without Salt. I wonder if there are art classes at culinary schools because it should be a required course. Everyone says we eat with our eyes so plating for a chef is quite important. And what better way to learn about plating than taking art classes right? Composition, contrast, balance, the aesthetics are all related to art and food.Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos? A. Food is stunning. Before we open our mouths to enjoy a bite we eat the plate with our eyes. With my photos I hope to honor my food by capturing their natural beauty and to cause its onlookers to drool profusely. If you're stomach begins to growl as a direct result of looking at one of my photos I've done my job.
Q. Do you think having a baking/pastry background helps with your photography? A. I got into baking and pastry because of my background in visual arts. Pastry marries art and flavor in a way that I fell in love with. So my interest in photography came before I dipped my hands in flour. I like to challenge myself to create a food image that is worthy of being hung in a museum. This is especially visible in some of my raw ingredient shots. Looking at food from different angles gives an entirely new appreciation for its natural beauty.
Q. Have you always been interested in photography? If not when did you decide to start taking photos? A. My husband is a professional photographer so initially I had him take my images. It was a combination of his increasingly busy schedule and my need for complete control that caused me to take over the photography on the site. I fall more in love with it each time I take a shot. It's both rewarding and maddening which keeps it exciting.
Q. Do you feel that Seattle has any influence on you as a baker or photographer? A. There is such an incredible community here of fellow food lovers. We learn from and inspire one another. There is never a shortage of amazing meals to be enjoyed in this city.
Q. Any photography heroes? A. My husband. He's always inspiring me and teaching me.
Q. Best meal so far in 2010? A. I'm pretty happy with the little breakfast I'm eating right now. A perfectly flaky Pear danish from Honore bakery and a double shot latte with coffee freshly roasted from Lighthouse.
All photos courtesy of Ashley E. Rodriguez from Not Without Salt.
Early last month my friends and I took a trip out to New Haven, hoping to try some apizza. Sadly we only made it out to one place, Modern Apizza, but I had fun the whole day. Randomly got lost when we first got to New Haven and found a bunch of taco trucks. We definitely had to try some and of course I got a lengua taco. At Modern Apizza we met up with our friends Mary & Derek and order a pie with half clams and half clams casino which had clams, bacon and peppers. We also ordered a whole pie with tomatoes. After eating 2 whole large pies we went to Yale to stroll around. Yale reminded me the time I was in Cambridge walking around Harvard. By the end of the day we drove by Sally's and Pete's but there were lines out the door and well we were all very full and tired. Also I didn't fell like standing in line in the cold, which of course means a much needed 2nd trip to New Haven.
I'll be spending the last week of 2010 in Seattle and San Francisco. Pretty exciting stuff. Last time I was in Seattle was 2006 and San Francisco in 2008. Even though it's vacation time and I would very much like to just chill and hang out in both cities, I want to use my time there being productive.
Some of you maybe familiar with my photo project where I take behind the scenes photos of food centric people, shops and restaurants in Brooklyn. People, shops and restaurants that make Brooklyn interesting. My goal is to show people what they usually don't see. The preparations of a pie dinner, a food blogger at work or a Monday morning delivery to a butcher shop. So I want to do the same thing in Seattle and San Francisco. I want to meet the people that lives in Seattle and San Francisco and are making those cities unique because of what they love to do.
I need your help. I don't know enough about the food scene in both cities to actually make a list of people/places I want to contact. If there are food bloggers in both cities that believe in something and are making a difference in their communities, I want to meet them or passionate pizza makers or local butchers demystifying meat or talented chefs doing intimate dinners or bread makers or farmers or...well basically everybody!
Please email me at donny {at} donnytsang {dot} com or just leave a comment below.