It happens all the time. Too often. In fact I can feel it coming almost before I put the stand in food on set. The beloved stand in, that is. The stand in food that everyone falls in love with so much that no other will ever do. No other will ever be good enough. All others fail in comparison.....if only the hero could be as lovely as the stand in (holding back tears)......I miss the way it....looked all sweet and perfect...how the garnish was so expressive...how it made me feel.........(yikes!).
I had a photo shoot a month or so ago that went this way. I put the beautiful stand in crown roast on set so the photographer could do his lighting and the set stylist could work with the surrounding props. The roast looked so pretty. Sitting there so regally. Such a nice shape, color and size. It was a beauty. And of course, before I began, I labored over which of the four crown roasts I bought would be the one that I cooked for stand in. Which one was the ugliest? The homeliest? The least likely to win the beauty pageant? It's a hard decision with raw meat since you really are anticipating how they will cook. Will the heat destroy the beautiful shape it starts out with? Will something lurking beneath the skin become evident in an unfixable way once it goes into the oven? What about the bones? Do they lean to left or the right? Which way is preferable in the final usage of the photo? So many things running through my mind when I pick "the least likely to succeed".
So, I decide on one. I am fairly confident that I have chosen the right one. It was a little lopsided. A little too much fat. the bones didn't look evenly spaced. Surely, not the winner. And, if I am proven wrong, I am sure one of the other three will be at least as beautiful as this one.
So, little did I know that while I was furiously working on 3 more crown roasts in 2 different ovens, the set stylist, the photographer and the art director were all falling in love. In fact, I doubt they knew it at the time. Sometimes there is no warning. Until the ugly hero shows up and they miss their old pal. Usually I pick up on this while everyone is talking about the photo. We like this....we hate this....please make the hero look more like that...why does the patty pan squash look like a possum? I am not kidding. I have heard it all. And I am trained to listen. Very Very important. Not only do I have to listen to what they like and don't like, I need to anticipate what they really want by what they are not saying. Or by what they can't quite put into words. In fact, it's a little like the saying "I don't know what I like but I will know when I see it".
Sometimes it's easy. "Make the hero more juicy looking". Ok, easy enough, shine..moisture.....drips. Other times it is not so easy. "It looks depressing". "I want happy". Then I must think realllllllllllllllly hard. They think it is too dark, too many dark colors. They may think the lighting is too contrasty or dim. They want bright and sunny. Or they need a more spring-like garnish like radishes or asparagus. Or happy colors like yellow and orange. I need to listen. And then try various things and see how they react. I must try things until I hear them say "ahhhhhhh....yes!". Until they like what they see. Simple.
So, on the day we shot the crown roast I was not on set too much. I had a million things to do. So I wasn't witness to the love affair. Until.........I brought the "hero" to the table. Which apparently also became the uninvited guest. I was a little taken back by the sour reaction. But, I am not attached to my food so much that I can't accept that sometimes they want their first love and not what I have just put my heart and soul into for the last three hours. Sometimes it happens...and I accept it. That is just the way it goes. And, after all, it is not about me.
So I go and find that stand in. If it's in the garbage already I just dive right in and find it. I have been in many garbage cans in the past to rescue everything from the perfect basil leaf to a full cooked chicken. I'll find it. And I will revive it. And I will make it just the way it was........so many hours ago. Like magic. Sometimes that is all I need....a little magic.....and patience and some vegetable oil.
No comments:
Post a Comment