The amazing multi-coloured food that allows its diner to taste the rainbow
Photographer Henry Hargreaves tastes the rainbow – by creating edible multi-coloured versions of classic dishes. The former fashion model used food colouring from across the spectrum to dye hamburgers, spaghetti and pancakes. The 33-year-old dreamed up the series to ‘play with the public perception of food’.
He said: ‘I’m interested in using food to tell a story. People’s food choices and habits tell so much about someone. ‘We interact with it several times a day but seldom take it out of the ‘get in my belly’ context.
‘I just hope it makes people a little more aware of the way we have been conditioned to act about the way we perceive food.’ The project was sparked by an article about a mother whose son was not interested in eating food – until she used bright colours to entice him.
Tasty sight: A stack of rainbow pancakes are seen changing from Red to purple, a tactic inspired by a child’s disinterest to eat
Festive: This bowl of spaghetti was made using standard supermarket spaghetti dipped in colourings which easily picked up the bright colours
Henry and stylist Lisa Edslav set about experimenting with different foods that would take on different colours.
The best burger patty was white turkey meat as it would take on the yellow and blue colours.
The colourful pasta was made using standard supermarket spaghetti dipped in colourings.
Henry, from Brooklyn, New York, left one ‘real’ element in each dish – such as the buns on the burger, the butter on the pancakes and the cone in the ice cream.
What’s real? As seen with this ice cream cone, the artist left one ‘real’ coloured item in each picture created in his Brooklyn studio
He made the food art in his studio in the city and the work took two afternoons to complete.
Everything is edible apart from the purple lettuce, because normal lettuce would not take on the colour.
Henry added: ‘We are repelled by these colours and assume they must taste artificial – but in fact they taste exactly the same, as the colouring is odourless and tasteless.
‘My main goal is to create work that appeals to me and in doing so hope a few other people appreciate it and that it puts a smile on their face and sparks a little conversation.’
