Soft core food porn

The use of food and the reliance on it for pleasure is ages old.  No, I do not have a reference here, but think about it for a moment.  Think about the habits of ancient Romans and Grecians, who were historically excessive in their pursuit of pleasure.  Throwing a toga party?  Then that meant a feast, dancing women, and a lot of wine.  Heaping platters of meats, fruits, confections.  In Medieval times not much changed except that that rich were richer and the poor were poorer.  Trying to forget a hard day on the rack?  Have a feast with dancing women, and a lot of wine if you can afford it.  Serve heaping platters of meats, fruits, confections.   The Renaissance brought with it even more attention to rich foods and pleasurable experiences, especially during entertaining.  Fast forward to the Gilded Age and everything is sparkling and oppulent for those who entertain with feasts, dancing women, and a lot of wine.  Heaping platters of meats, fruits, and confections.  And present day?  At Vindaloo's Bordello of Boudin there are frequently feasts, dancing women, and a lot of wine.  Heaping platters of meats, fruits and confections.  Why break with tradition?

Historically, food and pleasure are inextricably linked and the appreciation of food is entwined with the appreciation of other pleasurable activities.  We could certainly have a discussion about dopamine receptors and pleasure/reward and endorphins and satiation levels, but let's leave those details to the behaviorists.  What I'm really interested in is the creation and presentation of food and pleasurable food experiences.  That's really the whole reason that The Voluptuous Table even exists.  I have an almost unflagging desire to transform something that all humans must do on a regular basis into something more than mundanely life-sustaining.  I want food to be a revelation, a gift, a way of entertaining yourself and others, a source of pleasure every day. 

The best way that I can bring that to you as my readers, short of having you as guests in my home, is to give you a virtual experience of pleasurable food experiences through my writing.  The use of imagination, language, imagery and visualization is important in my attempts to do this.  Several of you have asked about photographs of the food I cook and write about.  I have thought about this option for several weeks now and have come to the same conclusion each time the question arises.  Photography is not where Vindaloo's skills lie.  Many people will include pictures with their food blogs and that's great.  Vindaloo is just as visually and gustatorially stimulated by a beautiful plate of osso bucco as the next person.  The aromas, textures, and flavors are easily recalled and I think: "Now, let's go get some veal shanks for dinner," which is what the picture is designed to do--trigger my sense of desire for an unctious, aromatic plate of osso bucco.  Apparently this phenomenon also happens to Guy Fieri, who has commented that his tastebuds do the "Niagra Falls effect."

Recently, several food writers have noted the connection between the food production industry in visual media and the pornography industry.  Hence the term "food porn."  If some of you are surprised or even shocked by this analogy, consider this chain of references from a popular cultural information website:  "'Food porn" specifically refers to food photography and styling that presents food glamorously or provocatively, as in glamour photography or pornographic photography."  Although I normally wouldn't use Wikipedia to support my claims (being trained in more scholarly research methods by the good folk who hang out in the ivory towers), I thought it was the most succinct and relevant reference point.

Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations, whom I absolutely adore for his Bad Boy antics on the Travel Channel and elsewhere (follow him on Twitter, he's pretty amusing), popularized the concept of food porn by producing several episodes of shows that "present[ed] a XXX selection of all that's lip-smacking and luscious in the world of food. For hardcore viewers only."  Notice the the use of terminology formerly linked specifically to pornography: "For hardcore viewers only."  The photography and editing were pretty intense and, I thought, pretty provocative.  For Mr. Bourdain's analysis of this series, specifically the concept of the "money shot" see here.  There is nothing more titillating to Vindaloo than a Bad Boy who is also a Thinker!

But I believe that we are visually over-stimulated in our culture.  We are constantly bombarded with images, both subliminal and overt.  In some studies, visual imagery has been linked with the power to deliver a significant load of dopamine to the pleasure center of the brain.  However, it is as if we are on stimulation overload all the time in our culture.  To make a blatant point, visual overload is what the porn industry relies on.  On another, but certainly not unrelated level, the food industry relies on visual overload to 1.) capture your attention; 2.) trigger dopamine release and pleasure; and 3.) induce desire for a specific food.  If you're still doubtful of my claims, do a little in vivo, highly subjective experiment and pay close attention to the number of times food is glamorized and even sexualized in the printed media, or to the next fast-food hamburger commercial you see on TV.  Remember the controversy and uproar over the Paris Hilton ad for Carl's Jr. hamburgers?  Pay close attention to what happens when you see these images.  I do realize that some of us are just not triggered by images of hamburgers, or by images of hamburgers being eaten by a wet, sudsy Paris Hilton.  But put a food magazine in my hands and my dopamine receptors almost short-circuit if I'm looking at those gorgeous pictures.  In another vein, I have a good friend who says that she can't watch the Food Network at night because it makes her too hungry. 

The way that I want to entice and excite my readers is through visual imagery that relies on much more subtle ways of stimulating those dopamine receptors.  I want to write "soft core food porn," if you please, and plan to supplement my writing with no cheesecake.  As I observe the way in which technology is moving, I fear that writing in such a way is becoming a lost art, swallowed up by the visual media industry.  There are very few food blogs that rely on the printed word only.  But I want to write about the foods I cook, present and enjoy in such a way that you will want to try to create your own pleasureable experiences, simply after reading my posts.  I want you to see the food in your mind, to smell it and taste it in anticipation of a pleasurable experience.  In other words, I want you to use that part of your brain called "imagination."  The comments from many of you so far have indicated that I'm headed in the right direction.

So think of Vindaloo, if you will, as the Anais Nin of food writing.  Or think of Vindaloo as an old-fashioned girl, if you must.  I'm not saying that I will never include pictures of what I'm cooking in my blog, but I am saying that my main focus is on the written word.  It is still a very powerful and persuasive way of connecting to others.  Those of you who enjoy reading already know that.

May your tastebuds continue to dance!