Food and its photos fascinate us. We love looking at it, preparing it, talking about it, and, most importantly, eating it. We even like to watch other people use their excellent cooking skills to create something spectacular in the kitchen. Food has always been an essential part of our lives that keeps us going and brings us together. And thankfully, one appetizing corner over on Reddit is a perfect example of that.
“Simple, attractive, and visual,” the moderators write in the community description. But we believe it is so much more than that. With over 4.3 million devoted foodies following the page, it’s the perfect outlet for gourmands to show off their mad skills. Not only that, but they also share mouth-watering recipes, offer advice, and relish in discussions about how delicious-looking food makes us all squeal in excitement.
From glorious homemade meals to aesthetic pastries and desserts, we’ve gone through their feed to bring you a sizzling hot batch of their newest posts to share with you. To warn you, though, look at them cautiously as they might make you drool over your keyboard. Continue scrolling and upvote the most beautiful creations these food enthusiasts have shared. If you’re hungry for even more tasty content, check out Parts 1 and 2 of this feature right here and here. Bon appétit! (H/T)
01. My Wife Attempted A Gingerbread Windmill This Year; I Call It A Success!
02. Daughter Wanted A Pink Birthday Cake With Strawberries. The Filling Is Custard And Strawberry Jam
03. My Wife’s First Attempt At A Charcuterie Board. How’d She Do?
Is there anything a great meal can’t fix? We don’t think so, and we sense that the few million members of this online community agree. After all, food provides nourishment and comfort, and even one glance at a delicious-looking plate makes us jump with excitement. So when we look at pictures shared by these talented community members, we’re presented with a visual experience of food we can almost taste.
Close-up images of juicy and delicious food instantly make us drool and want to scroll down for more. Well, we’ve long heard of the chef’s maxim that sight matters as much as taste. Even the most minor details about a dish’s appearance, like its shape and texture, can alter how we perceive its flavor and smell. In a previous interview, we chatted about this topic with Ellen Manning, a freelance journalist, writer, and founder of the Eat With Ellen blog. “As everyone says, you eat with your eyes as well as your mouth, so how your dish looks matters as much as how it tastes,” she told us.
04. It’s Not Much, But My Best Friend Cooked Us This Meal So That I Would Eat Something After A Few Days Of Depression-Nesting. Some Days You Need Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, And A Great Friend
05. I Made My Birthday Cake! It’s A Chocolate Espresso Cake With A Chocolate Cremeux, Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream, And A Dark Chocolate Glaze!
06. I Had The Perfect Croissant At A Hotel In Paris
Serving and eating from an attractive plate seems extremely important in the cooking universe. But when we asked Ellen about how we could make our food look more appetizing, she told us that a lot of this could come down to preference. However, “arranging food in a way that’s pleasing to the eye is key — think of it as the main part of the dish being the centerpiece, with other elements designed to help it stand out, and to complement it in terms of color.”
“It’s important to think of appearance in three dimensions, not just two, so consider using height (that’s why you see so many dishes with elements stacked up on each other). Sometimes less is more, so try not to make your plate too ‘busy.’ You don’t want people to be put off by a plate of chaos.”
07. Woke Up With Craving For Roast Potatoes
08. Butter Chicken W/ Garlic Butter Naan – Food Photos
09. My Fiancé Made This Incredible Rose Style Apple Pie. It’s As Delicious As It Looks, And I Had To Show It Off
Putting in the effort to create a fabulous meal makes us instantly want to immortalize it by grabbing our phones and snapping pictures. But if you ever tried to capture an aesthetically pleasing photo, you know that it can be quite a task. Luckily for us, the food blogger was ready to lend a helping hand and offer a few pieces of advice on how we could take our food photography skills to a whole new level and make sure our pictures would stand out from the crowd.
10. Straight Out Of The Oven – Greek Spinach And Feta Pie
11. Lavender Ice Cream At Australia’s Largest Lavender Farm
12. [Homemade] I’m 15 And Tried To Make Tonkatsu Ramen
According to Ellen, while there are many different ways to take food pictures, we can keep some handy rules in mind. “45-degree [angle] always works well, but lots of people love a ‘flat lay’ — when you take a picture from above the plate,” she said and added that often it’s all about trial and error.
“Try different angles, or have different elements as the focus of your shot. You might think it would be the steak, but sometimes the best picture might be focused on the chips, with the steak behind them. Play around and see what works. But remember — while food photos are great, so is eating a hot meal!”
13. Japanese Cream Cheese Bun – Food Photos
14. Homemade Rosemary Focaccia
15. Homemade Dumplings, Everything From Scratch!
But this can appear daunting for people who feel hesitant about their cooking skills. Some individuals seem to be born already wearing their aprons and have a natural talent for creating something extraordinary in the kitchen. While it’s always fun to see gourmands in their element, this can damper people who wish to improve their cooking skills yet don’t know where to start. So let’s take a few steps back, shall we?
16. The First Butter Cake I’ve Ever Made. There’s Just Something About It
17. Is It Too Late To Post The Chicken Pot Pie My GF Made For Pie Day?
18. My Girlfriend Made A Prinsesstårta!
Although Ellen told us she’s no expert, she happily shared some of the most common cooking mistakes amateurs make and offered advice on how to avoid them. “From experience, I’d say the biggest cooking mistakes amateurs make are not planning and preparing properly and not allowing enough time,” Ellen said. “Even the best chefs ensure everything is prepared in advance and know how much time they need to execute certain dishes.”
“If you’re less confident, it’s even more important to do this and to build in a bit of extra time so you’re not rushing and getting stressed. I’ve ruined many a meal because I tried to rush, didn’t read the recipe in advance and get everything ready, then ended up trying to do too much in too little time, which inevitably causes mistakes,” the blogger revealed.
19. I Made Strawberry Shaped Strawberry Cake
20. I Made A Poke Bowl At Home – Food Photos
21. Juicy Lemon Bars From The Homegrown Lemons I Made
Luckily, plenty of easy-to-follow cooking tips can immediately boost your culinary game. And one easy way to avoid making a mess in the kitchen is to create a plan and stick to it. “Take time to read the recipe, to check you’ve got the right ingredients, and to plan what you need and what you’ll need to do,” Ellen suggested. “This is even more important if you’re cooking several dishes simultaneously. There’s many an adage that says ‘perfect planning prevents poor performance’ — or words to that effect — and it’s no different in the kitchen.”
22. Munchmallow Cubes – Food Photos
23. Homemade Challah (First Attempt)
24. Birthday Sushi Platter For One
“If you’re making a complicated dish, get everything chopped up, measured out, and weighed in advance. This will help. Also, try to clear up as you go along (or get someone else to do it). Tidy workspace, tidy mind, and all that. It will keep you organized and calm if you’re not working in chaos,” Ellen concluded.
25. I Made Homemade Apple Pie Egg Rolls With A Caramel Vanilla Sauce
26. Bruschetta On Grilled Ciabatta With Pesto And Basil
27. [Homemade] My Best-Selling Strawberry Oreo Sheet Cake
28. Finally Nailed My Ramen Eggs
29. Hungarian Goulash With Butter Fried Sourdough
30. I Made A Burger And Took A Photo Of It
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