Art that has designs on your food

PSYCHOLOGISTS say we don’t like food on a plate that points towards us, no matter how beautifully it is presented. According to new research, anything pointy — a young carrot, perhaps — should be at a 45-degree angle from the diner.

You might doubt the purpose of such research, but food design and our reaction to it has become an industry. Yes, there is design in the layout of a meal, not just in the packaging. Take our beloved Mikado biscuit, with its coconut-topped marshmallow and contrasting, crumbly biscuit base and stream of gooey jam; or the Loop-The-Loop iced lolly, or Licorice Allsorts.

They are functional and attractive, summing up the elements that make for successful design, and are just three of the foods in an exhibition, ‘Appetite For Design: A Culinary Design Experience’ at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny.