SOCIAL MEDIA

19 September 2014

#ChinaLife: Plastic Food

Something kinda crazy happened in the blog world recently. Through a strange series of events, not one but two bloggers named Rach(a)el moved to China to become teachers within weeks of each other. Besides myself, I am of course referring to this Rachael. We decided that this was a rather obvious opportunity for a fun blog collaboration, so today I'm bringing you the very 1st installment of the new bimonthly blog series:



Jump on over to the other Rachael's blog to see what she's writing about her new stage of life in China today, but I'm here to show you some interesting photos taken at a few of our local restaurants:

Plastic Food Display in China
Plastic Food Display in China

Plastic Food Display in China

Plastic Food Display in China

Plastic Food Display in China

Plastic Food Display in China

Plastic Food Display in China

Before any of these photos of tasty food start to make you hungry, let me warn you: None of it is edible. These are all photos of plastic food displays outside of restaurants that we walk past.

My professors had mentioned plastic food as an advertising method, but I hadn't actually ever seen it regularly until we moved here. Not every restaurant uses it, but there are a large number with displays of dishes meant to be exact replicas of what you could order inside the restaurant.

My fascination with this plastic food is similar to my fascination with dollhouses--I am easily impressed by how realistic and detailed these fake dinners and desserts are while not being real themselves, and I wonder who has the job of crafting fake meals to represent the real ones that you can order, because that sounds like a very interesting job. I wonder, are there just giant factories out there, somewhere, where workers look at photos of restaurant meals and recreate them to the best of their ability...or is this more of a small business/craftsman type of deal? I have no idea.

See anything you'd like to try?
Erika T. said...

I'm wondering how close to the plastic display does the actual dish look? I know over here, things rarely look like the picture.

Claire @ Refining Bliss said...

I definitely thought these were real dishes when I was scrolling through! Does the food actually look like this when you order it?

AwesomelyOZ said...

That's awesome - the food looks so edible! I see it sometimes around here too. Even my friend who makes cakes will build fake ones out of fondant and other materials that are not edible for "display." It is an effective advertising method since it's not wasting food and you can re-use the items! Happy Friday Rachel!! -Iva

Ashley said...

This is amazing! You know, I am kind of obsessed with plastic food too. I don't know why. But every time I see plastic grades used as decor, I want them. It's weird. Anyway, such an interesting concept. And if the real food looks anything like the plastic food, well, yum!

Unknown said...

All that looks amazing, I totally thought it was real at first, although I started to wonder with the ice creams. It still looks delicious, I'd try their food! Also, how fun to have another girl in the same boat as you!

http://howtomakehome.blogspot.com

Shaylee said...

Oh my word, I love your new design! Thanks for joining my little linky! :)

Unknown said...

Oh goody, a new blog to read! Some of those do look real. It's an art form.

SMD @ lifeaccordingtosteph said...

I definitely thought this was all real food. That's crazy!

Bekah Loves Blog said...

First, I LOVE Your new blog design . Second, some of that food looks divine while some looks terrifying! Third, I saw a TV special years ago about how food artists do their work....not plastic always, but fascinating.

Claire said...

All of it..haha! SO YUM!

God bless,
XO, Claire
http://www.littlemissfashionqueen.blogspot.com

Heather@Women in the Scriptures said...

Okay, it makes me a little relieved that it was plastic because some it looks sort of horrifying (aka the hot dogs). Some of the ice cream colors are a interesting-- I wonder if they have different flavors than we do here in the US?. It is so nice to meet you and I'm excited to follow your adventures!

Kristina said...

Wow, I was thinking how good some of that stuff looked.

Inge Jane said...

Ha, how interesting! I did think a few of them looked fake, but they are very realistic looking!

Nina said...

I'd love to try the broccoli with shrimps and tomatoes - all dishes looks very scrumptious!

Miss Nutralicious said...

Ok, I know this is really weird, but I LOVE plastic foods! Every year I order a new batch of fake foods to use at my work and now I pretty much have a full buffet. It's a great hands-on nutrition tool for teaching young clients. I order my plastic foods from here: http://www.ncescatalog.com/MyPlate-Food-Model-Kit-_p_1152.html

I swear, I have a banana and a pork chop that look 100% edible.

Jen Lud said...

That's crazy!! I was seriously like "ooooo" and "ahhhhhh" until I read they were fake! I think I would try all of them....is the food expensive there? Do they have the uppity restaurants like we do here? Seen any Chinese McDonalds yet? HAHA God help us all...

Bethany Carson said...

Oh wow! The plastic food really had me fooled...looks so good and interesting!

Anonymous said...

Whoa! The details on the fake food is amazing! ...and confusing. I got hungry looking at the pictures.

Amanda - Voyage of the MeeMee said...

It's crazy how real they can make it look!

Anonymous said...

Love our collab! The plastic food is crazy, they do that for our school lunches which is so odd!

Anonymous said...

I was totally thinking wow they have some amazing food plates! That plastic food looks so real in the pictures. Better marketing than some of those unappealing pictures you find on menus.

Journeys of The Zoo said...

I always love it when impressions on what a particular thing looks like is so off. Take "chinese food" for instance. It looks so much different and "normal" than I thought it would. Well, except the rice on the waffle. I won't know it until I try it but, um.

Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo

Angela said...

That is seriously interesting! I feel like some restaurants here have those, but they don't look life like at all!

My New Happy said...

Everything is so colorful! How cool that you found another Rachael in China through blogging. Such a small world!

Amber Thomas said...

These TOTALLY remind me of those random dessert trays that servers will bring out to try and get you to buy something sweet to finish of your meal... AND then your realize that pie and chocolate cake looked WAY better on the tray because they were FAKE.