Pancake art is made by using pancake batter to draw on a grill or pan. The artist creates darker lines by keeping the batter on the pan for longer. After filling in the pancake outline, the artist leaves the batter for a shorter time. Another optional way an artist can add detail is to add color to the batter, so the work can be more colorful and creative.
A pancake artist, Nathan Shields, who goes by Saipancakes, became well-known when his Instagram videos went viral.
“I’m an illustrator, math teacher and professional dad. My family is currently living in Washington state, but I began entertaining my kids with silly pancakes during a nine-month adventure in Saipan,” Shields states on his website.
“I think pancake-art videos have gone viral because people are intrigued by the quickly moving hands forming art, trying to figure out who or what it will turn out to be. I do think pancake art is interesting and this type of art requires talent. Artists need to be able to know how long to cook certain parts of the pancake, which I think is an incredibly developed talent,” Jane Yu, a freshman at Valencia High School, said.
Creating characters out of food can be difficult to do because there are many restrictions and barriers that can block artists. For example, size and texture can be affected by creating art with food. The pancake cannot be too large or small, for the batter has to be left on the grill for a certain amount of time. Also, pancake art can limit what kinds of texture an artist can make with the batter. Timing is also very important when making art with pancakes because heat and fire is being used to cook the food. Matching every point according to a certain time gives different textures and colors to the art.
Other types of food art are bento and cake decorating. Bento originated in Japan, and arranges vegetables, rice, and meat iin different ways. “Kyaraben” is character bento and “oekakiben” is picture bento. They are decorated after objects, people, and characters. Cake decorating has also been sweeping the media as multiple TV shows–including Cupcake Wars and The Greatest Baker–show amazing cakes that are elaborately decorated. Using technology, candy, and rice krispies, six-foot-tall moving cakes are made and decorated.
The use of art in the culinary field is very contemporary. The food’s presentation makes it more entertaining to eat. Because of this growing pace of food art, restaurants may start arranging foods more creatively.
