There’s an exhibition about The Art of Food for Festivals at the Getty Research Institute.
“Ornate edible architecture and sculptures were often created
for celebrations in the cities and courts of early modern Europe.”
Yum! Nowadays we often see ice sculptures (which are, strictly speaking, edible) at significant “feasts”. And I’ve seen some spun sugar concoctions, and
glorious wedding cakes that most definitely are works of art. But grandiose food
sculptings are not as common as they were back in other times.
I found an interesting fact amongst the exhibit listings. Sugar
was first sold with drugs and herbs at apothecary shops
and was used as a medicine in addition to being a sweetener as we
know it. Someone once told me that if sugar was discovered today
it would be treated as a controlled substance! I’m not sure how true that is, but it makes some sense.
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