Fake food’s history
Fake food appeared from the time of the Pharaohs of Egypt and perhaps before. When a King or Pharaoh died, people often buried them with everything they needed for their journey to the next world. Foods were preserved and laid to rest with them in their tomb. And now, in modern times, we can see the increased use of fake food. During the early Shōwa period, following Japan’s surrender ending World War II, Americans and Europeans traveled to Japan to help with the rebuilding efforts. Foreigners had difficulties when they read Japanese menus, so fake food was born that made it easy for foreigners to order something that looked good.
Modern use of fake food
These days, fake foods are used in many ways, such as props for backgrounds in movies, television shows, theatrical plays, television commercials, print ads, and trade shows. Fake foods are known more as food models to display lifelike replicas of real foods for restaurants, grocery chains, museums, banquet halls, casino buffets, cruise ships, and in many other instances in which real foods can not be displayed. Fake foods are much more expensive than the food they imitate, but can last indefinitely.
How to make fake food display
Fake food displays are used widely from restaurants and supermarkets to retail store setups, to theater props. While techniques and materials used to create food models are not limited by the imaginations of the artists creating them, here we show you a few quick and easy methods that use readily available materials and uncomplicated techniques.
Step 1
Use shellac to spray on some real foods you want to transform. While not technically “fake,” this method will make real food turn into fake food, permanent and suitable for display. Shellac is a rubbery varnish and you can find it at any hardware store. You will be surprised that the technique is the perfect way to help foods look more wet or oily, so it works best for things that already have a sheen to them.
Step 2
Find the available green fabric at your house and cut green leafy vegetable shapes out of them. This method especially works for darker vegetables, particularly when made from fine-textured fabric like silk. You can use some heavy-duty to spray them, flexible hairspray to give the fake leaves to somebody.
Step 3
You can also create fake icing using a joint compound. It has two types of power, powdered and pre-mixed forms, which are available at hardware stores, look similar to shortening icing, and can be colored with food coloring in the same manner. The “frosting” will dry hard.
Step 4
It will be an interesting thing when building fake ground hamburgers from papier-mache paste. Firstly, you have to shred old paper (tissue and paper towels are best) into tiny pieces. Then you mix it well with some white glue, water, and reddish-brown acrylic paint. And finally, form patty-shaped lumps and allow them to dry.