Suthipong Suriya is teaching Thai cooks how to make their food look superbly stylish and appetising

Food styling has come late to Thailand, and even today it's not fully appreciated by many restaurateurs and food lovers. Still, Suthipong Suriya, or "Karb" as he's known to family and friends, is out to change all that with his newly opened Karb Studio.

His mission is to teach people that there's more to food than just cooking and serving it.

"Food styling is like interior design. It's an art that requires both knowledge of cooking and food design. It should be pleasing to the palate and the eye,'' he says.

Karb's passion for food, especially the indigenous varieties at home and neighbouring countries, is in his blood. He grew up by the Mekong river in Nong Khai, helping his parents run Chompunoot, a restaurant serving Thai and Isaan fare. It was during his trips to the markets, that Karb became fascinated by the melting pot of Thai, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese culinary influences in Nong Khai.

But despite his flair for cooking and an obvious artistic talent, his parents encouraged the youngster to study business administration instead.

Not long after graduating, Karb met noted food stylist ML Jirathorn Jiraprawat, and spent the next five years under his critical eye.

"He taught me that food styling is an art form. He encouraged me to stick to it and said that I'd be able to establish myself in the food scene here,'' he says.

During his apprenticeship, he collected international food-styling magazines, his favourites being Donna Hay and Australian Gourmet Traveller. He also helped his mentor design menus for a number of Bangkok's leading restaurants.

"We provided visual images, redesigned the setting and improved the look of the food."

Through his dealings with Thai chefs and restaurateurs, Karb came to realise the need for better presentation. Thai chefs cook well, but ignore the aesthetics, he says, a problem he attributes to a lack of knowledge about food styling.

"This disparity means that the food and the interior design don't match. They need to consult a food stylist,'' he explains.

His clients include Eat East, Dream Kitchen and Thang Long and a commission from the Export Promotion Department to design and project a positive image of Thai shrimps to overseas markets. He's provided photographs for Nestle's cooking classes and often decorates dishes for food festivals.

Besides restaurants, most small enterprises in the food industry fail to realise that the poor image of a product might have a huge impact on the consumer's buying decision.

Karb views the packaging designs of most Otop products as basic and plain, despite their marketing potential.

"These products lack style," he says.

So when he was recently called upon to come up with the packaging for sun-dried honeyed bananas, he discarded the usual translucent plastic box in favour of a silver packet with a blue label featuring a brown honeyed banana decorated with a white bow.

"The blue goes well with the honey hue of the banana and the package stands out from others on the shelf. Products need good design. But the quality of the product must not be compromised. Unless the taste is good, your product won't sell, even with the best packaging,'' he says, adding that community food products in Japan come with impressive packaging.

Form and colour are essential in presentation. When serving tom yum goong, for example, the tail of the shrimp should not be removed and the parsley and kaffir limes used for garnish shouldn't be chopped, but plucked from the stem to retain their shape. Chillies should be cut length-wise to maintain the original shape.

"The idea is to retain the original structure of ingredients as far as possible. But the chef must not spend too much time decorating each dish, otherwise the customer will be kept waiting."

Karb believes design and style cannot be taken for granted by producers wanting to make an impact on the market.

"You need art to lead your marketing plan. Food styling can have a direct effect on product differentiation among customers.

"Most food is packed so it's impossible to see or taste. You need a gimmick to allow the food to be tasted visually. That's when food styling comes in useful,'' he says.

Manote Tripathi

 

The Nation