Must have Foodstyling tools
There are two aspects to food styling – the intangible act of imagining and visualizing; and the tangible process of executing the idea with the help of a set of tools. Yes, tools! Though it may appear that the food stylist – like the conjurer on stage – gives food its “makeover” in a jiffy, depending on sleight of hand, the truth is that food styling is a journey that none can embark on without the requisite paraphernalia. Indispensable to the integrated process of food styling, these tools perform a gamut of functions from modifying the appearance of food to making food articles stay glued to surfaces. It must be noted that the majority of food styling tools are common to both India and the West, but certain tools – such as a gas lighter – are specific to the Indian set-up.
This article is going to give you the complete low-down on 28 essential tools I use for food styling. The tools have been classified under the functions they perform, namely cutting and chopping, pouring & serving, cleaning & wiping, holding & placing, sprucing up, and miscellaneous.
CUTTING & CHOPPING
1. Chef’s Knife: I absolutely love this one. The Chef’s Knife is a large, multi-purpose knife with a curved blade that can swiftly move back and forth, allowing it to slice through hard vegetables and large cuts of meat. The Chef’s Knife can also be used for mincing and disjointing.
2. Utility Knife: Not as large as the Chef’s Knife, the Utility Knife is the most versatile knife in the kit. As the name suggests, this is a multi-utility knife used to chop softer vegetables and nuts, rough-cut herbs and greens, and slice up blocks of cheese.
3. Crinkle Cutter Slicer: One of the fancier knives, this type of knife has a wavy blade used to slice and give a zigzag, crinkly edge to vegetables with hard textures like carrots, zucchinis, potatoes, and radishes.
4. Paper Cutter: This is the kind of tool you wouldn’t think of associating with food, but for me it comes in really handy for special shoots where food has to be served on a banana leaf. The paper cutter is then used to slice off the leaf’s spine so it can lie flat on the surface. Sometimes I also use the paper cutter in place of scissors to cut open packets and bags.
5. Serrated Knife: The serrated knife has a jagged, tooth-like edge, perfect for cutting through food items with a crusty exterior and soft interior such as bagels, baguettes, and other types of bread. Since the knife has a grooved edge, it can cut through soft textures without crushing them, preserving the shape and airy quality of a perfect slice.
6. Butcher’s Knife: Also known as the cleaver or chopper, the Butcher’s Knife is a heavy-set knife with a thick blade ideal for splitting meat from bone and chopping large, thick fruits and vegetables such as melons and pumpkins. The thick edge is especially designed to withstand repeated blows from hacking through bones of tough meat.
7. Y-Peeler: A small but immensely helpful tool, the Y-peeler smoothly takes off vegetable and fruit skins, leaving the flesh unscathed. It can also be used to make chocolate and cheese shavings. The Y-peeler has two variants: the serrated peeler and julienne peeler. While the straight Y-peeler simply peels harder vegetables like potatoes, radish, and carrots, the serrated Y-peeler is used to give them a subtle wavy design. The julienne peeler cuts vegetables into fine, ribbon-like julienned strips.
8. Knife-Sharpening Stone: With so many knives in my kit, this one had to be coming! Knife-sharpening stones or whetstones are used to sharpen or whet the blade of the knife. There are three types of knife-sharpening stones– water stones, oil stones, and diamond stones. Water stones need to be soaked in water before use, whereas oil stones have to be oiled before sharpening. Though more expensive, diamond sharpening stones – not really stones but thin metal plates embedded with micron-sized diamonds – sharpen knives very quickly, helping to retain their shape better than other stones. In India, however, the use of water stones is more widespread than others.
9. Pair of Scissors: I normally have three types of scissors in my kit: a fine-point scissor for trimming bread and bun edges, a regular scissor for snipping chives and spinach and opening packets, and a large pair of scissors for cutting thicker stalks and stems.
10. Pizza Cutter: Consisting of a handle and circular cutting blade that rolls as it cuts, the pizza cutter portions pizza (but of course), pies, flatbreads, and other such foods into small, neat-looking slices.
POURING & SERVING
11. Spoon: This one naturally belongs to the realm of food and food preparation. Small spoons come in super-handy for dishing out items, pouring curries, drizzling sauces, and stirring ingredients together.
12. Fork: Another essential part of my toolkit, the fork is used for placing, removing, and forking up items like rice, pasta, and noodles.
CLEANING & WIPING
13. Tissue Paper: Tissue paper is another multifunctional article that I use to take care of spills and stains. They are occasionally also used to prop up pastas and salads.
14. Absorbent Paper Towels: Whether it is to wipe my greasy fingers, dry my food styling props after washing, or absorb liquid – oil and water – from food, absorbent paper towels never let me down.
15. Table Wipes: Being particular about keeping my work station immaculately clean, I can’t seem to live without these. Drops of sauce, crumbs of bread, or droplets of splattered oil – one stroke using my wipe and they are gone.
16. Q-Tips: Used to absorb tiny liquid spots – soup, juice, sauce, or milk – around the rim, Q-Tips or cotton swabs are indispensable for touch-ups in food styling. Q-tips are adored by nearly all food stylists, including myself.
HOLDING & PLACING
17. Tweezers: Tweezers are the undisputed king of my food styling toolkit. They are used for moving tiny items such as a stray pea, or flecks of pepper and cumin, and for strategically placing garnishes – strands of saffron, slivered nuts, shreds of herb – on food.
18. Tongs: Tongs are another godsend to food stylists. They are typically used for transferring and plating slippery foods such as spaghetti, noodles, salads, and sausage, and placing ice cubes in drinks. Tongs also allow you to turn over bulky stuff such as chunks of meat, baked potatoes and corn on the cob with delicate precision.
19. Super Glue - Fevikwik: The Fevikwik super glue or super adhesive can efficiently fix the tears in the skin of chicken or turkey, repair the broken crown of an eggplant or tomato, and press sesame seeds in place on a burger bun.
20. Reusable Adhesive - Blutack: Unlike Fevikwik, Blutack is reusable adhesive and peels off easily, meaning it does not damage surfaces. Great for keeping round food items from rolling off the plate and making sure that objects stay propped up and garnishes glued.
SPRUCING UP
21. Water Spray Bottle: What do I do when my rocket leaves have wilted and tomatoes look despondent? A quick spritz of water and presto! They’re revitalized and fresh-as-dew camera-ready in seconds.
22. Glycerin: Being thicker than water, Glycerin doesn’t evaporate quickly and nicely clings while adding a modicum of shine to foods that have dried out on the set. I keep a 50/50 mixture of glycerin and water in a spray bottle and spritz it on the outside of my beverage glass to simulate the condensed, water-droplet-dotted look of a chilled drink. Occasionally, I also dab it on sliced meat using a paintbrush, making it look gleamingly moist and juicy.
23. Petroleum Jelly: If my chilled beverage needs a frosty translucent look, I rub some petroleum jelly outside of the glass. I also sometimes use a light coat of petroleum jelly to give my bell peppers and tomatoes a faux-fresh look – just the right aesthetic finish.
24. Blowtorch: A culinary blowtorch lets you cook your food using a direct flame. A superbly handy tool for quickly browning cheese toppings, flame-roasting eggplant and bell peppers, searing chicken or fish for a browner crispier crust, and caramelizing desserts.
25. Fruit Salt: The beauty of a sparkling carbonated beverage lies in its effervescence, which sadly disappears fast. But thank God for fruit salt which can recreate the fizz & froth effect in seconds. I prefer a bottle over a sachet which tends to collect moisture.
MISCELLANEOUS
26. Bottle-Cum-Can-Opener: My Bottle-Cum-Can-Opener is my always-at-the-ready tool for opening a bottle of ketchup or soya sauce, a can of pickled jalapenos or baked beans.
27. Weighing Scales: Weighing scales ensure consistency in food portion sizes, which is necessary when there are multiple shoots and the same dish needs to be prepared and styled more than once.
28. Small Chopping Board: I always carry my own chopping board to cut and slice fruits and vegetables, making sure I am never incommoded by space constraints on the set.
Fancy as all this may sound, the tools mentioned above are hardly difficult to procure. Nearly all the aforementioned articles are available in Indian cities at the following three stores – the kitchenware store, the pharmacy (the beauty and general section), and stationery store. Besides, you could always order online. However, it is important to remember that every tool is an essential component of the food stylist’s kit, and must therefore be cleaned, taken care of, and cherished. I always make sure to count each tool after use on the sets, cleanse them as per instructions, and put them back in their place. I will dispense the same advice to everyone reading this article
In case you wish to check out the LinkedIn video - part of a series titled “Styling Lens” - related to this article, here is the link:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/chefpayalgupta_student-life-knowledge-ugcPost-6717978345948143616-0lAv
Should you wish to buy any of the tools links are below:-
1.Chef’s knife
2.Serrated knife
3.Butchers knife
4.Utility knife
5.Paper cutter
6.Blowtorch
7.peeler
Plain Y peeler
Serrated Y peeler
Julienne Y peeler
8.Scissor
Fine point scissor
Small scissor and Big scissor
9.Water Spray
10.Gylcerine
11.Vaseline
12.Fruit salt
13.Tweezer
14.Tissue
15.Paper towel
16.Wipe
17.Blu tack
18.Knife sharpening stone
19.Bottle opener cum can Opener
20. Pizza cutter
21.Feviquick
22.Cotton swab
23.Weighing scale
24.Chopping board
25.Spoon
26.Fork
27.Crinkle cutter knife
28.Tongs
Though you must be shaking your head in amazement by now, here’s another surprise: there are (phew!) more tools to be covered in the next related article and LinkedIn episode. Till then, stay satiated, stay safe, and keep watching this space!