I am finding food photography to be exceedingly difficult but I have to do it. I need to take appetizing photos of the food we serve at Famous Mo’s to post on our website and for the education of our staff and for promotional purposes, but it is not easy. I am also finding that food styling is actually more difficult than food photography. I decided to practice some food photography this evening before I ate what I prepared to photograph but the food styling is lacking. It is not something that we serve at Famous Mo’s but it IS something that I have prepared many times before: a recipe called Caprese Eggs “Benedict.” A traditional Eggs Benedict is poached eggs served atop a toasted English muffin with ham and Hollandaise sauce. This is a vegetarian version, poached eggs served on toasted Ciabatta bread with melted smoked Mozzarella, baby spinach and sliced basil, topped with a garlicky tomato gravy. It is delicious, relatively easy, and, I think, an unusual entrée for dinner. By the time I ate it this evening, though, it had cooled considerably and in this photo, it is not easy to identify the food subject. Most food that is photographed is never eaten. In this experiment, I broke the egg yolk and let it ooze down the edge of the toasted Ciabatta but I realized too late that the melting smoked Mozzarella cheese isn’t in evidence at all. I’m not sure what is my favorite part of this dish but the smoked Mozzarella is right up there. Of course the basil, spinach, oozing egg yolk, and tomato gravy each contribute their own wonderfulness to the savory flavor of this dish.
Yum! Recipe please!