Food design: the beauty of functionality … from wars to tourism

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), citizens were urged by the Government in turn to ration their food in the most efficient way possible, as indicated in a brochure-type primer that contained simple recipes for this purpose, using common ingredients. and nutritious that everyone would have on hand. That is a clear example of food design (or food design), Catalan comments Sergi Freixes, historian, food designer and graphic designer, during a recent visit to Guayaquil to give talks on this topic, as a representative of the European Institute of Design (IED) and invited by the Chamber of Industries of Guayaquil to participate as a lecturer in the Expoindustria food and beverage fair, on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 November.

Spain has been working with food design for several years, and in Latin America there is a boom in countries such as Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, among others, and in Ecuador it is just beginning. “There is more demand, there is more interest, because in fact it is a new discipline in the world of design,” he says.

It is logical that the design has reached food, since “Everything that surrounds us is design … there is nothing that is not designed”, And considering that food is a basic and intimate action of every individual, how is it possible that there is no specialty of design dedicated to food and food?

Ash clarifies that the food design He does not seek the aesthetics of a served dish, what is known as “the plating”, but rather to solve problems related to food. However, this specialty appeared as food design only at the end of the 20th century, while the general concept of design was born at the beginning of that century. Another example would be the creation of concentrated cubes of chicken or meat broth, also appeared during the Spanish civil war, with which they helped feed the families in those difficult years. Thus it is clear that food design has a transcendental role in supporting the populations most in need in times of war or serious crisis.

Now, in the midst of COVID-19, food designers are working on how to dignify rationing methods among the most vulnerable populations, says Sergi, to avoid long lines in the streets and adding, for example, special recipe books to consume those products efficiently. Sustainability is another important aspect that this discipline covers, such as avoiding plastic covers and other waste.

“The goal of food design is to find new food systems and new edible products”, Sums up Sergi, born in 1971 in Barcelona, ​​because a good design must be, above all, functional,“it must serve, it must solve a problem, and it is also beautiful … a bad design values ​​aesthetics more than functionality”. This is what the creator of master’s degrees in this specialty, which will be taught from next year in Bilbao and Barcelona, ​​with the endorsement of the IED.

A food designer is not a chef nor should he know how to cook, adds the expert, who He has worked in the design of food to be consumed in outer space, in the development of tourist routes related to gastronomy (each one with its food kit to enjoy picnics), in the improvement of the food system served on airplanes of passengers, in the creation of frozen products that attract young people and in a service of delivery of food from a jail. “(The food designer) must have a brutal knowledge of food ”, which he uses to work with other specialists, such as cooks, nutritionists, doctors, food artists (food artists), economists or engineers, depending on the project.

Another initiative that Sergi promotes is to rethink a product as traditional as the egg, which can lead to such interesting proposals as the vegetable egg, based on soy, and wrapped with recycled shells, a product that already exists as another achievement of this discipline. In short, the possibilities are endless when it comes to giving the sacred act of eating its deserved importance. (I)

Information on master’s degrees in food design in Spain: Patricia Meier de Ferreti, representative in Ecuador of the IED, 099-208-1631.