STUDENT SHOWCASE

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Food stylist divulges secrets of the trade

By Samiha Khanna
The Greensboro News & Record

DURHAM - Scalpel.
Plaque scraper.
Pliers.
Blowtorch.

Fred Thompson takes an extensive tool box to work each day. The renovations he is hired to complete often require him to maneuver intricately among at least 30 lighting aids that help him work.

"It's nerve-racking, but I've become immune to them," Thompson says of the light tools, which seem to turn his job into a game of "Operation." "I've just got to figure out how I'm going to get in and how I'm going to get out." If he accidentally bumps one, it's back to the drawing board.

And when his patients go under the knife, or sometimes under the blowtorch, they don't always make it, Thompson admits.

"My biggest problem is food death," he says of those times when the food he is working on loses its star appeal and turns into a wilted mess under the heat of bright lighting.

Thompson, a Greensboro native who lives in Raleigh but works most weeks in Manhattan, is a food stylist. On June 23, he is likely to share some of the stories he has filed away in his eight-year career during a book signing at the Barnes & Noble, 3102 Northline Ave. in Greensboro.

Thompson is part of a growing metropolitan industry in which putting a pretty face on food is a lucrative business. As food magazines, cookbooks and advertising become more prevalent, the demand for food stylists grows. New York alone has about 800 food stylists, but 250 to 300 make a living at it, Thompson says.

Only about 100 stylists nationwide are considered masters of the craft, Thompson says. The key to success is experience because no formal certification is available, he says.

Courses at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and an apprenticeship with stylist Delores Custer, whom Thompson calls one of food styling's "grand mavens," proved to be a smart start for Thompson's career. He now has about 50 regular clients, including Breyers, Stonefield yogurt and the Australian Beef Council.

Thompson had intended to use his 18 months of training to start a catering business in Raleigh, but he liked food styling so much he decided to make a career of it. Now, he cherishes the flexibility of his job: "I get to play with food but don't have to deal with the hours of working in a restaurant."

His clients are eager to show polished products in print advertising, TV commercials, magazines and product packaging. Often, to keep that product polished for the 10- to 12-hour photo shoots, Thompson relies upon some unusual trade secrets.

"A lot of people think (food styling is) like arranging flowers," Thompson says. "It's not."

When working with ice cream, stylists may stuff a hollow sphere with dry ice and cover only the top with a thin layer of the product. And if clients want a glass of their beverages over ice to look like a million bucks on a hot day, their wish will come closer than they think: A single, well-designed acrylic ice cube can cost about $100.

Thompson's favorite photo subject is the Thanksgiving turkey. He has spent years trying to cook one to the perfect golden brown for his work. In the past, a stylist got the same look with paint. Now, trade ethics decree that food should look realistic. This turn away from such aids as unnatural lacquers is a trend started by Martha Stewart, Thompson says.

To keep the food looking natural and beautiful, stylists often have to go to great lengths to make it photo-worthy. Between stories about cutting, reassembling and applying makeup to a salmon to make it just the right size and poking cotton swabs in yogurt for two days to make a perfect swirl, Thompson recalls a venture in which he and an assistant hand-sorted seven 55-gallon drums of cereal to find the perfect set of about 2,100 corn flakes. After four days, the cereal-box photo shoot could begin. The client was billed accordingly.

Often, the hands-on work in food styling takes a back seat to unexpected complications, such as keeping 150 pristine, camera-ready cookies away from a hungry crew.

"Union guys will eat anything and everything you've got there," Thompson says with a hint of a smile. On one shoot, as a result, Thompson had to spend additional hours in front of the oven.

Besides hungry workers, the only thing that ever has threatened his career was Sept. 11.

"Business has fallen off about 80 percent," Thompson says. "A lot of our biggest clients are afraid to come to New York. The easiest thing for a food company to do is stop advertising."

Thompson remains optimistic, though, and says he'll stop working only if he's physically unable. If Thompson's knees ever get too sore from standing during his constant culinary makeovers, he may be able to rely on his interest in writing.

He is known as the "Weekend Gourmet" to the readers of the The News & Observer in Raleigh, and he recently released two books: "Lemonade" and "Iced Tea," homages to his favorite summer comfort drinks.

Each book includes 50 variations of each beverage, from black currant iced tea to strawberry lemonade. Many of Thompson's recipes stem from childhood memories of the tea served at family reunions and the limeade his father would make for family barbecues.

"These are the drinks of times past," Thompson says. "A glass of lemonade does a lot to slow you down for a second. It lets you (re-evaluate) what's important and what's not."

Crabs are important to Thompson, so much so that he anticipates releasing another cookbook next year on the clawed delicacy. He sees that book as part of an effort help people realize their love for cooking.

"I want people to get back in the kitchen," he says. "It's in our tradition and in our nature. We've just forgotten how to do these things."

Thompson's general tips:

When preparing food, slow down and be a little more precise, he says: "Spend 20 or 30 minutes, which is just 10 minutes longer than the frozen entrees take."

To add variety and texture, change the angle of a cut.

Use tongs instead of poking things with a fork, he says as he jabs his index finger at an imaginary pork chop. Otherwise, your dinner may be left with unsightly holes, and Thompson won't be there to salvage its style points with his scalpel.

Thompson's tips for making lemonade:

If you have to use a store-bought lemonade mix, use filtered water. The chemicals in most water systems ruin the taste of premixed drinks, Thompson says.

Avoid refrigerated lemon concentrate. If you can't use all fresh-squeezed lemon juice, it's better to use a frozen lemon concentrate. If you must use refrigerated concentrate, add at least a couple of fresh lemons to achieve a fresher taste.

If you're going to squeeze fresh lemons, get a good juicer to avoid hand strain.

Thompson's tips for making tea:

Never follow the directions on the box: Use more tea bags than recommended.

Never test iced tea for taste just after brewing; its strength of flavor will be true only after it has cooled.

Increase steeping time for a stronger taste.

Remove tea from heat immediately after adding tea bags; otherwise you'll be cooking the tea, not steeping it.

Use iced-tea cubes instead of plain ice cubes to retain flavor and freshness.

Mint is tea's natural partner. Throw a few whole leaves in; there's no need to chop.

Be careful with lemon: it often masks the taste of the tea.