Food that doesn’t ‘Smile for the Camera’

Inspired by My Half Apulian Table on Substack

Giovanna S.

the author of My Half Apulian Table on Substack was the inspiration for this post. She and I have a shared background, the region of Apulia/Puglia in Southern Italy aka "the heel of the boot”.

We also seem to have a shared opinion about some of the Apulian food pictures we take…they don’t exactly smile for the camera.

Giovanna continues with “Un piatto si mangia due volte: la prima con gli occhi, la seconda con la bocca. literally: A dish is eaten twice: first with the eyes, then with the mouth”.

First with the eyes!

I didn’t scrape these pictures from the web, I’ve taken many a picture of Apulian food over the years, both my own creations and during my travels to Italy. A lot of browns and greens, void of meat, no pillow garnishes of cheese and all fairly typical of Apulia.

I love all these dishes, just so you know. My Mom easily has cooked the potato dish (upper right hand corner) in several different iterations over time and my grandmother would have eaten twice as many greens in the bottom two photos.

How about a bowl of fava beans, peas, artichokes and puntarelle stewed in broth? Sound appealing? Does it really look appealing? When I was a kid, no. Nowadays, I seek it out.

Do these dishes "Smile for the camera"?

Let’s have a little contrast, shall we and head to Rome. Pretty easy to spot and name these four pastas:

Nothing says Smile more than Rome, right?

Back to Puglia now with four pasta dishes

Orecchiette with red sauce and cime di rape typical of Apulia

Everyone likes pizza and focaccia right? This is where I have a bias, I love the bottom two from Puglia (both from Bari specifically) every day and twice on Sunday. The dough is brilliant, the oil and dry herbs, the charring of the edges, the best. But are people turned-off the the non-descript wilted greens and the sheen of oil? The top two are from Rome, heaps of ricotta and bright readily identifiable green squash and caramelized cheesy goodness.

Pizza from Rome or Focaccia from Puglia...I'm partial to Puglia

So back to the big question, do we eat with our eyes first? Is beauty truly in the eyes of the beholder?

Is the fatty, silky, eggy, meaty, cheesy Carbonara what we crave? Or the bitterness of cime di rapa or rapini with a fairly thick, durable, flour and water pasta what we’re looking for? Does the green make us feel like it’s good for us and therefore we reject it?

That’s easy, we’re humans…fatty, silky, eggy, meaty, cheesy over bitter all day.

Carbonara or Orecchiette with bitter greens? You decide

Unless, you were brought up with it. I’ve eaten the dish on the right, orecchiette since I was a kid. I didn’t eat a real carbonara until I went to Rome. I love them both, make them both and seek them out on menus.

I have the visual and taste memory of orecchiette for over 50 years, it’s nostalgia, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, part of my entire food memory. Proper Roman Carbonara has been in my life for about 15 years.

They have both made an impact on my food memory.

I have the same question as Giovanna…”What drives popularity: taste or appearance?” In the age of social media, the visual aspect makes a strong case.

But in the end, you gotta taste it for yourself!

P.S. Let me know if you’d like me to write a little more about food in the future