The latest way of styling food
"The wreath is this season's trend for the table" Coles Magazine
Having, I thought, exhausted the possibilities of the Woolworths magazine, I collected the Coles magazine the other day, and one of the first things I was confronted with was this advertisement from Castello, in which their cheese was arranged, with nuts and figs and other goodies in the shape of a Christmas wreath.
I had vaguely noticed that there had been a few wreaths in the Woolworths magazine - indeed I used one of them to show the difference between Robert Carrier's arrangement of hard-boiled eggs and a modern one. And as I flicked through the Coles magazine I saw more and more, and towards the end, the statement at the top of the page. So I decided to look for other examples, revisiting the Woolworths magazine for a start.
As a side effect of this focus I started to wonder why plates are round. I mean initially I think people ate off of bread or planks of wood. So why did they make plates round? But I think that might be another thing altogether, so I'm shelving it for now. Circles in general too - why are they such important symbols?
And why are wreaths associated with Christmas? Funerals too - but we won't go there. Well wreaths have been used in virtually every culture at some time or another for lots of different reasons, but it became a Christian thing when the Christians adopted the pagan winter solstice decorations which celebrated the return of the sun.
"Advent and Christmas wreaths are constructed of evergreens to represent everlasting life brought through Jesus and the circular shape of the wreath represents God, with no beginning and no end." Wikipedia
And now it's just a tradition - one that we probably don't really understand - like kissing under the mistletoe, and Christmas trees, and holly and all that. None of which really make much sense here in Australia. And neither does the winter solstice. Nevertheless the Christmas wreath is still a tradition - my son and daughter-in-law have one on their front door for example.
"Today, a wreath that's hanging on one's door at Christmas may symbolize the invitation of Jesus into one's home, or it may be inviting the spirit of Christmas into the home along with good luck." Santa's Quarters
Or it might just be one of those things one does at Christmas without really knowing why. I grew up with the Christmas tree, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe, and the turkey and all that, but never Christmas wreaths. I have no idea why.
Anyway - back to food - or rather food styling. It does indeed seem to be a thing. Bundt cakes - those with a hole in the middle are to the fore and almost everything seems to be arranged or made in the form of a wreath. So here are some examples - some of which are really pretty easy and pretty ways to arrange things. So first of all just four examples of arranging things in a wreath formation - and one below that isn't really a wreath but somehow almost is.
In the first one the ingredients are just put together on toothpicks and then arranged in a circle - not the green, red and white of the Christmas colours. The one on the right just has much the same ingredients tucked in amongst each other in a circle. The other two are self explanatory really - the one on the right being an ad for the tomatoes which, in varying combinations with other things are the toppings on mini scones.
Then there's the things you cook in a circle, mostly desserts, but with a few savoury surprises in there too.
You can find the recipe for the Woolworths Paris Brest online, the pavlova is actually an ad for gladbacke, the Garlic roast potato and sage wreath is a recipe from Western Star butter, and the sausage plait, which looks rather revolting I have to say is an actual Coles product.
Then there is this rosemary and olive wreath, which you can watch being made here:
It's actually from last year's Woolworth's Christmas magazine and I was so inspired by its appearance that I made it. And very impressive it was. I think I would make the filling with slightly different ingredients next time though. Maybe a pesto? It's pretty simple to make. You can do similar things with puff pastry too, though most of the recipes I saw for puff pastry wreaths were rather more complicated in the way you put them together. I'm sure it could be done more simply.
And the last idea is a brie cooked in the centre of a loaf.
So if you're planning a party over the holiday period think or arranging your food in a wreath formation - prawns, oysters, lamb chops, even kebabs I guess.
I wonder what it will be next year?
