Present食物如present公司

本想先套出師承，找出其烹煮及食物造型上的創意源頭，Bonnie卻坦言沒有受過美術訓練：「以前從事市場推廣及公關，根本不知什麼叫生活，是人生轉折令我突然開竅，對Life Style的審美敏銳起來。」

然而商務未必抹殺創意，常到歐洲公幹開了Bonnie的藝術眼界；以往見客用的presentational skills今天亦能用武，只不過以前是用Power Point，現在用的是食物照片：「中菜較難表現，因為往往煮成一團似的，拍攝時要使其有層次，如梅子排骨是拍攝梅子與排骨之間的關係，要拿捏到箇中平衡，才會知焦點應落在哪；甜品體積小，易掌握焦點，拍攝相對易入門。我會想像是在見客，要present一道菜，該怎樣把那道菜最好的一面present出來呢？要令人有『就是要吃這一塊』之感，所以一定要有表達焦點。」

影食物如影女孩子

說到一張合格食物造型照的條件，Bonnie即說「好吃」，「看起來不想吃肯定就是失敗了，所以拍攝食物的人至少要喜歡食，並最好懂食。」她笑言就像影女孩子，攝影者如喜歡相中人，影出來是明顯不同的，攝與被攝兩者的關係能從相中讀出；又舉例說，曾做過一種給麵粉敏感人士的「無麵粉健康蛋糕」，糕身軟塌，攝影師如不暸解，就會避開塌陷，拍出挺身，有違產品特色。 因此若非自己親攝，也必先和攝影師溝通充分，有些攝影師甚至會在拍前先試食，先體會食物神韻所在，出手自然得神。

伴碟裝飾如畫畫

盛器和食材亦很影響人對食物的觀感。Bonnie說西菜較重presentation，白碟就如白畫紙，容許廚師在上面用醬料和調味粉繪畫，畫線畫花；中泰混血的背景也令她在食材和盛器挑選上較環球化，如意大利釀墨魚配西班牙器皿倍添異國風情，蛋糕啫哩上的紅染料是採自老家泰國的洛神花提煉而成 (當然這也出於健康考慮)，這些皆外遊公幹時一點一滴的搜集成果。人或認為麻煩，Bonnie卻指出，一般人在家煮飯亦不宜小看最後的garnishing (食物裝飾)：「我在食譜中示範的都是真正家常菜------ 自小全家愛吃，但非上館子茶樓，而是一起動手煮和做garnishing。有時加上香草、芫茜，不用很貴，整件事已經提升多了。」換句話說，盛器和食材要累積，平時生活經驗亦然。

表達好吃如說故事

食物除視覺外，始終還是味覺最實際，但其它感觀元素作用又有多大？小記本身有習音樂，用餐情緒很受餐廳播送的背景選曲影響。原來部分食物在烹調中亦與聽有關，最普遍有啫啫雞煮時的啫啫聲，鐵板上菜時的滋滋聲。甚至近年大行其道的「分子美食學」(以很科學的方法研究食材在烹調時的變化，從而將研究成果應用於料理當中) 都大力提倡味覺以外的其他感觀元素，如咬下去時聲響和質感的刺激、形態的戲劇性變化等，雖為科學，幾近藝術。

或者你覺得以上經營的都太複雜，只想知怎樣能簡單影好一道菜，Bonnie贈予以下貼士：「靜態的相可拍出動態增人性，如正在淋焦糖、切蛋糕的手。另外我曾拍過一輯相專影『吃完了的狀態』，剩下滿桌吃完剩下的碎片，也可以是代表好吃呀！好吃是沒形態的，好吃是可以好吃到已經吃掉了嘛 (笑)。」同一道理，她影蛋糕時偶會留下切蛋糕時掉落的碎片，以增自然及人性。 影像的故事性亦可來自敘述角度，如執筆用第一人稱、拍攝時鏡頭從烹飪者身後pan過去，會令觀者有從第一身享用食物之感，而非作第三者式的旁觀。

也許在愛吃的人眼中天堂是用美食砌成的，舊區建築、駱克道裝修鋪等似乎與食無關，看在Bonnie眼裡皆可以食材表達；渡邊淳小說《失樂園》裡，多次出現的男女主角煮食場景亦被她模仿多次。 若問創作心得，「冬蔭功芝士蛋糕」可為代表：「膽大心細、無界限束縛，這是每個創作人必備的條件。」

後記：

這並非求職廣場上的一篇行業介紹，Bonnie也不標榜自己是Food Stylist，而在卡片上印著 “Artisan & Writer”，稱自己的風格為著重心思的Country Style。 當初說是介紹Food Styling，卻發現更多是關於個人生活經驗本身，Bonnie所做的Food Styling不只是用相機拍下食物的一瞬，更多是在煮的過程、甚至每天累積的經歷裡面，與其說她是Food Stylist，不如，稱她為一位Life Stylist。

Branding and Representation of Food

When asked about the source behind all the creative food styling, it is surprising that Bonnie Yves actually did not receive any professional aesthetics training. ‘I used to work in the marketing and PR industry, there was no way for me to think about quality living at all at that time. There was a sudden twist of my life, at a point that I had sudden blink in my mind and became sensitive to aesthetics and lifestyle,’ said the artist. Her experience working in Europe helped her with polishing her presentation skills, until then she adopted that in producing the photos for food. Yves shared that Chinese dishes are very challenging to represent, for one has to be very accurate in catching the balance and essences of the ingredients. If one loses the focus of the representation, one will definitely fail to attract people to transcend the visual into tastes. The transcendence should be made not only by the viewers but also by the producers of the representations, so it is very important to have a photographer who is also a food lover. Convincing food photographs are made with both the eyes and the mouth. To give a total experience on food, the savoring always connects with utensils and ingredients for texture affects people perspective about the dishes--- sauces and spices are the paints and the utensils are the canvas for chefs to paint. A local of mixed Chinese and Thai background, Bonnie makes choices that are very international, such as serving Calamari Ripieni (Itlian stuffed squid) on a Spanish serving dish or sprinkling red toppings extracted from Roselle (a tropical plant with thick, red calyx from her hometown) on puddings. ‘Never underestimate the garnishing, my recipes show you all genuine homey dishes that everyone loves, it is the collective effort made by the members in the families that enrich the whole tasting experiences, not about the money you spend going to fancy restaurants.’

When “Food Styling” becomes a Lifestyle —

an interview with Bonnie Yves, the Western Chef & Food Stylist

Reporter: Fiona Lam

It is rather easy to tell the difference between objects like a blackboard, a panda and a zebra, but when it comes to food like ‘Tom Yum Kung Cheese Cake,’ made with refreshing lemongrass--- how would you categorize it as a cuisine? Flipping through Bonnie Yves’ recipes, you can see pictures revealing European flavours used in a Chinese stew using a delicate ceramic pot or fried sparerib topped with sweet fruit marmalade that challenges you sensationally. You will be inspired by the food culture and cuisine that are being introduced. categories and words like ‘fusion’ are not enough for these creations of a new philosophy of cooking and food styling.

‘Tasty’ Storytelling

The sense have vital impact on the whole food tasting experiences for everyone. As a writer and a musician, my mood of having a meal in a restaurant is closely attached to the background music being played. The interaction between different senses is crucial to food culture shared by people around the world like a common language, like the naming of the dishes that relates to the ways how the food is being cooked, in particular the sounds being made in the process. Another good example is molecular gastronomy, (applied scientific methods to study the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking) which creates dramatic effects and new edge sensations in food tasting experiences. After all, it is art, and art is all about people and life. The humanistic angles adopted in the food photos convey the interrelationship between every little detail in life that matters to creative minds, like Bonnie Yves. From architectures in old districts, people’s gestures, novels to cakes’ scraps, they all contributed to cooking and food styling. As represented by the ‘Tom Yum Kung Cheese Cake’ made by Bonnie, one has to be bold, sensitive and detail-minded to explore ways to approach lifestyle infinitively.