Nyttig i matkunstskapet / Useful in the food art pantry

Det finnes noen ingredienser som jeg bruker mye når jeg lager matkunst. Dette er ting som kan være praktisk å ha i skapet uansett, ettersom det er sunne og gode basisvarer. Forskjellen når man skal lage kreativ mat, er at man bør ta mer hensyn til farge, størrelse og tekstur på varene man bruker slik at de sammen kan danne et appetittlig og morsomt måltid. Dette må selvsagt ikke gå på bekostning av god smak.

There are some ingredients that I use frequently when making food art. These are things that are useful to have in your pantry in any case, as they are healthy and good pantry basics. When making creative food it's wise also to take more careful note than usual of the color, size and texture of the components so that they together can create an appetizing and fun meal. This shouldn't compromise taste either of course.

Selve frokostmaten, som brødskivene, havregrøten eller pannekakene, vil jeg komme tilbake til senere. Også selve grunnpålegget, altså osten eller syltetøyet og lignende, tar jeg for gitt nå. Det jeg ønsker å fremheve er de tingene på toppen som gjør maten til kunst.

The breakfast foods themselves, i.e the toast, oatmeal or pancakes, will be featured later. Also the base spread, such as the cheese or jam, will be taken for granted at the moment. What I want to hightlight are the things on top that make the food into art.

Ta et øyeblikk og se på dette matkunstverket, min ode til katteelskerne. Hva er det som gir dette liv? Jeg vil bruke dette som hovedeksempel når jeg presenterer ingrediensene under.

Take a moment to consider the food art piece below, my ode to the cat lovers out there. What is it that brings this into life? This will be my main example when I below show you the ingredients.    

Først, bakgrunnen av deilig peanøttsmør gir dybde og smakfullhet. Peanøttsmør kan brukes til mange ting innen matkunsten, og gir både en næringsmessig og fin effekt når det er brukt riktig. Det samme gjelder for alle typer syltetøy som kan benyttes som dekorasjon eller grunnpålegg. Yogurt, helst den tykke greske typen, er også veldig nyttig. Jeg bruker ofte yogurt for å lage det hvite i øyne.

First of all, the background of lovely peanut butter (my favorite) adds a bit of depth and deliciousness. Peanut butter can be used for many things in food art, and provide a both nutritional and eye pleasing aspect when applied right. The same goes with any kind of jam, that can be used for decoration or the base spread. Yogurt, preferably the thicker Greek kind, is also very useful. I often utilize yogurt to make the white in eyes.  

Deretter er det brukt rosiner for å lage kattens øyne. Alle typer tørket frukt, og spesielt da rosiner og tørkede blåbær er gjengangere i det jeg lager. Svisker gir utmerkede neser på grunn av fargen og den litt rynkete huden (slik som en ekte hundenese for eksempel). Aprikoser og gojibær egner seg godt på grunn av de sterke fargene som livner opp.

Then, raisins are used to create the eyes of the cat. All kinds of dried fruit, and especially raisins and dried blueberries are recurring ingredients in my food art. Prunes make excellent noses because of their color and the slightly wrinkled skin (just like a real dogs nose for instance). Apricots and goji berry are nice because of their strong colors that liven things up.

Så legges gresskarfrø på som en grønn pupill. Frø i ulike former, størrelser og farger er gode å ha for å lage detaljerte dekorasjoner. Bildet viser de jeg bruker oftest, fra toppen: kokosflak, kokosmasse, solsikkefrø, gresskarfrø og linfrø.

Next, pumpkin seeds are added to make a greenish pupil. Seeds in various shapes, sizes and colors come in handy when you are making detailed decorations. This photos shows those that I use most frequently, from the top: coconut flakes, shredded coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and flaxseed.  

Kattens værhår er skapt av ferdigkjøpte mandelflak, og disse kunne jeg knapt klart meg uten på grunn av deres allsidighet. De kan bli taksteiner, fjær eller en gangvei på et blunk! Generelt sett er nøtter både veldig bra for deg å spise samtidig som det ser godt ut. Mine favoritter er i bildet, fra venstre: hasselnøtter, valnøtter, mandelflak, hele mandler og pekannøtter.

The cat's whiskers are created from pre-bought almond flakes, and these are very priced in my kitchen because of their versatility. They can become roofing tiles, feathers or a pathway in a blink of an eye! In general nuts are both very good for you and eye pleasing. My favorites are as pictured, from the left: hazelnuts, walnuts, almond flakes, whole almonds and pecans.  

De siste, og meget avgjørende, detaljene på katten kommer fra bananer, druer og granateplefrø. Jeg elsker frukt og spiser ganske mye i løp av en dag. Matkunsten min reflekterer dette gjennom at det brukes en stort utvalg av disse fargerike ingrediensene. Bananer er veldige enkle å jobbe med, og lager spesielt fine øyne, ører eller munner. Det eneste negative med dem er at de blir fort brune, men dette ordnes ved å tilsette litt fersk sitronsaft. Den mindre størrelsen på druer og bær gjør dem til et fast innslag for meg (i tillegg til at de smaker deilig såklart). Kiwi har en fin grønnfarge, og kan ganske lett formes, mens klementiner gir et velkomment oransje løft til maten.

The cat's final and quite important details come from bananas, grapes and pomegranate seeds. I love fruit and eat quite a lot of it in a day. My food art reflects this in using a wide range of these colorful ingredients. Bananas are very easy to work with, and make particularly nice eyes, ears or mouths. The only downside with them is that they turn brown very quickly but this is easy to fix by just applying a bit of fresh lemon juice. The relatively small size of grapes and berries make them a pantry staple for me (also for their delicious taste of course). Kiwis have a nice green color and are quite easy to shape, while clementines provide a welcome orange pop to the meal.

Ikke brukt i akkurat kattekunsten, men likevel veldig viktig, er ulike grønnsaker. Bildet over viser hvordan disse kan brukes. De mest populære hos meg er paprika i ulike farger, tomater (spesielt cherrytomater grunnet størrelsen og søt smak), agurk og sukkererter. Sist er oliven, spesielt de sorte, som er gode å ha tilgjengelige når man lager matkunst av salte ingredienser. Ved kun å kutte en skive har man allerede et øye klart til bruk!

Not used in the cat food art, but nonetheless very important, are various vegetables. The picture above shows you an example. The most popular ones for me are bell peppers in various colors, tomatoes (particularly cherry tomatoes due to their size and sweet taste), cucumber and sugar snaps. Lastly, olives, especially black ones, are good to have on hand when making food art with savoury ingredients. Just cut a slice and you already have an eye ready to use!

Det var det, jeg håper dette gav dere litt innsikt i de ulike ingrediensene som brukes i mitt kjøkken.

That was it, I hope this gave you some insight into the various ingredients that are used in my kitchen.

Love, Ida

Ps: I'm featured on the Instagram blog today, what a treat. Take a look: http://blog.instagram.com/post/40169714004/playing-with-food-with-idafrosk-want-to-see 

Pss: I changed to a bilingual setup because so many of my followers are Norwegian, or understand it.

Welcome to my kitchen and my blog!

Hello, my name is Ida Skivenes, and I started to make food art on Instagram under the username idafrosk in June 2012. The response has been incredible, and I really appreciate and enjoy communicating with my followers. I've just crossed the 10 000 followers mark, and this blog is my way of giving back a little bit. Below are some samples of my food art work, with pieces directed both at children and adults.

My purpose for starting this blog is to provide a bit more background for the food I make, so it will not feature instructions for every single Instagram food art piece but mostly more general posts. I plan to show you some ’behind-the-scenes’ photos, post recipes, make a few tutorials, feature inspirational photos made by others and things along that line. I hope this will be of interest to you! For the full range of food art pieces, it’s best to head over to my Instagram account, instagram.com/idafrosk. I’ve also added a selection of my favorite photos under ”Food art gallery” by the header. 

I start off by showing you where the ’magic’ happens, my tiny kitchen! It’s situated in a rented apartment in Oslo, Norway and is an authentic 50s mint colored dishwasher-less setup. Quite cute, quite small but a surprisingly workable space once you get used to it (dishwashing by hand will probably never really be a pleasure though). 

I focus on trying to keep the essential tools for cooking (any kind, not just breakfast) available quite freely so I don’t have to dig into the large cupboards and drawers all the time. Fruits that don’t require refrigeration are usually kept on a tiered glass plate just as you enter the room. Tomatoes, garlic and onion are in a bowl on top of the fridge.

Otherwise the fridge top holds a milk steamer and various bowls, among them this funny frog one. Idafrosk means ’the ida frog’, so it’s quite appropriate for me.  

A work table was added when we moved in because of the limited surface area. I do most food preparations here. 

The top of the table houses various vitamins, teas, oils and of course my Moomin tray. 

I usually keep a box of homemade granola available at all times, pictured here is a variation with walnuts and figs. My absolute favorite is roasted banana nut granola, perhaps I’ll post the recipe later on.

The table also has shelves where I keep my collection of grains, legumes and beans in addition to various nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The latter come in quite handy when I make food art.

 

A small collection of cookbooks rest on the lower shelf, however they are rarely used, as I find most recipes online nowadays. For food art cook books are pretty useless, I haven’t come across any really. I love cooking, and do quite a lot of it. I became a vegetarian 2 years ago, and focus on preparing healthy and delicious meals with seasonal ingredients when possible. This applies to both my breakfasts and the other meals.

The kitchen leads onto a sizable balcony and I simply love how the French doors allow so much light to stream in. When it’s possible (i.e. not in Winter when it’s dark until 10 am), I take most of my photos in front of the doors. Some of you will probably recognize the white floor.

 

Both the morning and afternoon sun visit my kitchen, and provide beautiful shadow play. I keep fairy lights up all year round, it adds such a homely glow to the room.

That was a quick tour of the premises, I hope you enjoyed it. A note at the end: this is my kitchen in its "ideal" state, most times it's a complete mess, haha. Next time I’m planning to show you what is useful to have in a basic food art pantry.

Love, Ida