What you see in front of you is guaranteed to make your mouth water; be it the crispy ghee roast with extra golden-brown spots where the heat was more intense, a juicy looking burger with sauces spilling out, or the goodness of biryani with extra-long rice grains and the smooth boiled egg on top.
But these food items are not for eating; nor are they real. The genre of miniature food art has caught on in recent years – we are not talking of the mass-produced plastic fruit baskets but handcrafted creations in clay.
“It’s kind of a return to the physical touch, especially after the pandemic struck and there was so much of time for introspection and trawling social media,” said media professional Anita Tripathi, who has bought several miniature food artworks during the pandemic.
Social media platforms like Instagram make it easy for artists to post pictures of craftworks that take hours of work and commitment.
Food Platter by CN Miniatures
Miniature food artworks may have been an offshoot of the world famous Shokuhin Sampuru – the perfect life-sized food models displayed outside Japanese restaurants showing the imperfections and other realistic details of food. While the Sampuru are of 1:1 scale, the miniature food art gets it perfect in the scales of 1:24 or even, at times, 1:50. If we are talking of rice-based cuisine, that’s a lot of intricate work!
Why do artists take on such a painstaking craft when there are easier ones to do? That statement, according to Kolkata-based food miniaturist Agnika Banerjee, is incorrect, especially when the pandemic igs on.
“The art of clay sculpting is described as therapeutic and relaxing. Levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, have been known to lower when touching, moulding or squeezing clay. It is regarded as a stress buster and helps in dealing with everyday distress which was required during the pandemic.”
Banerjee is self-taught, having first surprised her mother with a miniature birthday cake in 2017, and has now got a full-fledged business Agnika Creations with presence on Etsy and Amazon (India, UK, USA and Canada) and claims to have sold to ten countries apart from India.
Even if the pandemic has slowed down the output of some artists, the process of making miniature art has been a transformative one. Chennai-based food miniaturist Shilpa Mitha talks of the art being the best career she has landed – she trained as an engineer – with the plus of being transformed into a complete introvert.
“It's a meditative process for me,” Mitha said over an email. “The art did take a backseat for a while during the pandemic since you also need to be in a mentally good space to create. I do take long breaks when needed but thankfully, my customers are very okay with the delays every now and then.”
Her creations, under the name Sueno Souvenir, are typically bought by her social media followers (27,000-plus on Instagram). “Since we are very much focused on food, for me it's important that I make things that really connect with people. Something that reminds them of home, a favourite meal, a particular day! That I believe is what has connected well with the followers.”
Twenty-year-old miniaturist from Bengaluru, Ahona Mukherjee, used the pandemic lockdowns to hone her skills and created personal projects which she had always wanted to do. “The lockdowns actually gave me a lot of time to work on larger projects as I was in between school and college. Although I couldn't take commissions, as shipping was difficult during that period, I made the ice gola, the cotton candy stand and the toy stand and more during the lockdowns. Some of the works are in 1:50 scale.”
The process of creating miniature food is complex. Chennai-based miniaturist Sudha Chandranarayan uses air dry clay (dries at room temperature) while some artists use polymer clay (hardens when baked in an oven).
“I research the food I wish to make by looking at the ingredients and the food pictures,” Chandranarayan explained. “There aren’t any complex tools but the process is highly detail-oriented. I make all the small elements by hand – rice, vegetables, plates, cups – and then assemble the ingredients on a plate or bowl. For some food items, like biryani, there’s a lot of prep work. Each biryani dish has about 1,000 grains of rice, and rolling each one of them is time consuming.”
On an average, it takes about 3 to 5 hours to create a dish, often more. A good work has to have the correct colour, texture and form.
“I enjoy making all kinds of food but it's definitely more interesting when there is a lot of textures and different elements involved in the process,” Chandranarayan said. “Every piece is a challenge since I'm trying to recreate something that must look as real as possible but in a smaller scale. Things like the banana leaf meals are time-consuming mainly because of the number of things that go into it. I don't just make the fake meal. I also need to make my own fake ingredients! A lot of things become important. Like in the curd rice, the focus is on the pomegranate pearls. In dosas and idlis, it is the textures. The curd rice too, you want it to be watery but not too watery because you need to be able to see the rice as well. So really, it all comes down to how every single element is crafted and put together. One thing fails, the entire dish fails!”
In short, a dish is chosen and then researched by going through high-quality pictures of the food, examining the real food, and sometimes, studying the recipe to understand the texture and colour. After giving the clay the shape, colour and texture, the creation is baked in the oven (if polymer clay is used) and cooled. Then the glaze is applied. “It requires extreme skill to replicate real food into a clay miniature with finesse of an artisan,” Agnika said. This is, perhaps, the reason why the miniaturists work alone. “One can’t rely on anyone because this work needs not only talent but also a lot of patience,” Sudha said.
And finally, if creating miniature food is like cooking with clay, how much do they enjoy real cooking? Chandranarayan says she is “absolutely a great cook in real life – my family loves my cooking – I enjoy real cooking and fake cooking” while Shilpa and Agnika say their talent is mainly in fake cooking. Ahona claims that she isn’t even a foodie, and prefers baking to cooking.
But the allure of fake cooking makes them seek food of all cuisines and weave stories around them.
Shilpa Mitha (Sueno Souvenir)
Popular accessories: Magnets, Jewellery
Popular Food: Masala Dosas, Plain Dosas, Biryani
Business Presence: On Facebook, Instagram
Inspiration: Food!
Masala dosa by Sueno Souvenir
Agnika Banerjee (Agnika Creations)
Popular accessories: Fridge magnets and dollhouse food (food miniatures without magnets)
Popular food: Indian Cuisine Miniatures; both savoury and dessert items
Toughest replication has been a custom request from an NRI in the UAE - various kinds of miniatures relating to Bengali wedding rituals
Business presence: On Etsy (International website for handmade and unique products), Amazon (India, US, UK and Canada), Instagram, website
Inspiration: Different cuisines created by chefs, food bloggers and vloggers from all over the world
Seafood paella by Agnika Creations
Sudha Chandranarayan (CN ARTS Miniatures)
Popular Accessories: Fridge magnets, key chains, platters
Popular Food: Ghee roast, paneer tikka, chicken lollipop
Her Maggie noodles reel got 39 million views on Instagram
Business Presence: Instagram, Facebook, website
Inspiration: Real food. There’s so much to explore. I have made about 200 to 250 miniatures so far but I feel there is so much more to do
Food Platter by CN Miniatures
Ahona Mukherjee (Meraki Ahona)
Popular accessories: Magnets, keychains and dollhouse food
Popular food: Miniature installations – cotton candy cart, chaat cart, ice gola stand
Business presence: Instagram
Black forest cake by Meraki Ahona
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