After fast food and microwaveable food, the latest to bombard consumers with its lip-smacking photographs is Instagram food. However, unlike the first two, which can be bought and eaten (if one so wishes to harm oneself with it), the last is, and remains, an illusion.
What is Instagram food? More importantly, what is Instagram? For the uninitiated, it is a social networking service that is owned by Facebook, where users can share photos and videos with one another.
Created in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, this app has a feature that can help with editing your pictures using various filters and hashtags. It encourages users to make tags both specific and relevant, in order to allow the photographs to stand out. However, recently, Instagram announced that users will be able to upload up to 10 pictures or videos to one post, with the content appearing as a swipeable carousel only.
Right! Therefore, here is a chance that permits everyone’s inner narcissist to finally emerge in the form of self-portraits (or selfies as they are popularly called) taken with a cell phone or a webcam, and share them on Instagram.
But amidst all these vain folks, a section of Instagrammers have materialised, whose sole purpose is to post tantalizing pictures of food, in each and every glossy way possible. Though, it is seldom that photos of broccoli soup or radish salad are shared. Hotdogs, donuts, burgers, steaks and tacos are among the 10 most popular Instagrammed foods – and pizza is bang on top of this calorie-laden list.
So, why do so many people hover over their plateful of Piri Piri chicken, chocolate cake, Pastel de Nata or tiramisu with a smartphone? In restaurants, cafes and even friends’ dinner parties, that is. One is supposed to eat the food, not keep taking pictures of it. Also, does the piping hot food not become cold while one fidgets with the dishes and the lighting for the best shot?
A mental health expert, Dr Valerie Taylor, who spoke at the Canadian Obesity Summit in Vancouver, reported that such obsession with food had the potential to lead to unhealthy weight problems. She said that when all the focus was put on photographing the food, the meal itself became central in the gathering and the rest (the venue, the company and so on) got relegated to the background.
On the other hand, a series of experiments published in Psychological Science, an online journal, showed that people who performed brief rituals before eating enjoyed the meal more, compared to those who simply sat down and consumed it straightaway.
A longer delay between the ceremony and the feast worked even better, as it increased the pleasure anticipations. Therefore, taking a photo of your food was a form of ritualistic behaviour too, as it was synonymous to praying before meals.
Lately, during dinner at a fancy new restaurant in Lisbon, two waiters appeared at our table, in perfect synchronicity. They were carrying some platters that were concealed under metallic dome-shaped covers.
“Voilà!” they exclaimed, uncovering the dishes magically.
“Wow”, I responded admiring the creative presentation.
“You wish to take a picture?” one of them asked.
“No, thank you”, I said picking up my cutlery.
“Picture of the specially curated dish?” the other insisted.
“For Instagram”, he turned to my husband.
“I don’t have an account”, my spouse scowled.
“And I don’t intend to open one”, he added firmly.
“Bom apetite”, they chorused, retreating immediately.
By Nickunj Malik
|| features@portugalresident.com
Nickunj Malik’s journalistic career began when she walked into the office of Khaleej Times newspaper in Dubai thirty-one years ago and got the job. Since then, her articles have appeared in various newspapers all over the world. She now resides in Portugal and is married to a banker who loves numbers more than words.
