Fun Fearless Foodie

A few weeks ago I received a call from my favorite person, Phil Gutensohn, the career services counselor at FCI that has helped me land all the great opportunities I’ve had since coming to NYC, and he had on his hands yet another fantastic last minute foodie job that he thought I would be great for. Lauren Braun Costello, FCI grad and food stylist to the stars, was doing a shoot for AOL’s KitchenDaily.com segment Pantry Project hosted by Gail Simmons (of Food & Wine and Top Chef fame) and the team needed an assistant in the kitchen.  I of course jumped at the opportunity and was thrilled to get a chance to not only work with Lauren and Gail, but to get a first hand look at what goes on in the life of a food stylist.

For those of you who are scratching your heads and asking a “food what?”, a food stylist is exactly what it sounds like, someone who makes food look good.  Anytime you see food photographed in magazines, on websites, or shot on camera for commercials, cooking shows, and segments on morning TV, a food stylist is behind the scenes making sure the image you see is inviting and looks good enough to eat.  It’s not all smoke and mirrors either, what you see is real food, carefully executed. The food styling team prepares the recipes just as instructed by the chef or author and works hard to make sure it is picture perfect, from every sprinkle of sugar to each slice of pie.

For the Pantry Project shoot, Lauren was working as the culinary producer and had another FCI grad, Erin Merhar, leading the styling duties. Erin, myself, and fellow assistant and FCI alum Emma were tasked with working in the kitchen to produce the food that would not only be shot by the photographer for the website (called beauties), but also to cook some of the dishes Gail would be using in her demo (known as swap outs). You know when you are watching cooking shows and the host is explaining a step in the process and says “I actually have some already prepared…”, we are the magic little elves that prepared it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you more about the kitchen we were cooking in.  One of the producers from AOL offered up her apartment building in Chelsea to play host to the shoot as they had a beautiful community kitchen that served as the perfect backdrop, and along with the room she also allowed the crew to use her studio apartment as storage, test kitchen, and photography studio for the week-long assignment.  My best guess is that the whole apartment was 500 square feet, maybe. Her galley kitchen housed everything we would need, but with very limited counter space.  I included some photos below of the kitchen and apartment so you could get a visual idea of what we were working with.  Sure it was a tight fit, but if you learn anything in culinary school it is how to work in a tight space, so the three of us were more than prepared to make the most out of what we had.

The basis of The Pantry Project is to show people how to make the most out of items they have in their pantry that they never use or have no idea what to do with.  Remember when you bought that bottle of fish sauce for your adventurous foray into Asian cuisine? Well, Gail will show you three ways to finally get rid of it and make something delicious in the process.  The concept is brilliant, in fact one I’ve thought about trying but have yet to have the time/money/resources to devote to it.  Until then, Gail Simmons is on the job and doing a fantastic one that at.

The first episode from this new season to “air” on KitchenDaily.com features a very timely and seasonal ingredient, canned pumpkin (not that pie filling stuff).  This is actually one of the first ingredients I got to work with when I joined the team and am not only excited to share the recipes with you, but to see how it all came together for myself.  Gail’s demo recipe for this fall favorite is a warm and comforting Pumpkin Bread Pudding made with sweet toasted brioche, cranberries, and a hint of rum. This dish is so simple to prepare I am convinced anyone can make it and it tastes fantastic.  It is the perfect thing to serve at a fall brunch, thanksgiving potluck, or really any time you want a sweet and spicy taste of autumn.

Watch Gail prepare Pumpkin Bread Pudding here, and check out her equally delicious pumpkin recipes that include Pumpkin Rosemary Soup with Bacon and Parmesan, and Pumpkin Cheesecake with Honeyed Walnuts and a Graham Cracker Crust.

This beautiful photo of the Pumpkin Bread Pudding was taken by photographer Francis Janisch and styled by Erin Merhar, compliments Kitchen Daily

Did you see the toasted brioche in the video, I made that!

This may have been my first taste of food styling, but I can already tell that it’s a food job I have a serious interest in learning more about.  Food styling allows you to combine cooking with artistic creativity and can be applied to almost any industry and media application.  I look forward to assisting on future projects and working on my eye for plating and design, and when I finally find some free time to get back in the kitchen to experiment I will share my novice attempts with you here!