- Hi, I'm Santos Loo.
I'm a food stylist.
Food stylists are the ones that interpret a recipe
into an image form for TV, print, or social media.
Whenever you see an image of food,
odds are, a food stylist had a hand in it.
I've been food styling for 16 years.
10 of those years I worked at Food Network.
Six years I've been doing commercials, cookbooks, magazines,
then a lot of YouTube shows.
Let me style a PB and J for you.
You've seen one a million times before.
Three ingredients: peanut butter, jelly, and bread.
When I think about a PB and J,
I think about all the different components
and the possibilities.
I think about bread and how it can bend,
it can tear, it can crumble.
I think about jelly,
how it can drip and how if I spread it thin enough,
it can be translucent.
And I think about peanut butter and how thick it is,
how gloppy it is and how it can be a glue
if I want it to be.
Okay, let's start with the bread.
For me, this is the right shape
for this peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
So, let's spread some peanut butter on it now.
So, I'm just concerned about what it's gonna look like
on the edges, 'cause that's what you're gonna see.
And I'm not gonna spread it just flat.
I wanna try and create layers
because layers, in this case, it will say it's creamy.
And I feel like it needs a little bit of texture,
so let's say this peanut butter is chunky peanut butter.
I wanna chop the peanuts myself
because I can control the shape
and I can control the placement.
And I don't wanna place them evenly.
I want it to be random.
I want it to look natural.
All right, now, it's time for the jelly.
I wanna put the jelly
where the peanut butter isn't dripping over the bread.
And again, I want this to look natural,
and so, I need to look at this from different angles.
I'll look at it from the top
and then I'll look at it from the side.
It'd be nice to get a drip here
and also, it'd be nice to get a little bit of drip
on the board.
You know what would look good too
if I put a piece of peanut on the board
as if it just fell over.
Okay, so let me prepare the top slice.
Spread a little bit of jelly on there
so it doesn't look so clean,
and then, I'm just gently going to press it onto
the rest of the sandwich,
okay, being really careful not to mess up all of the things
that you just built up.
And so, what I'm showing you here
is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
where the three components are being shown off
in the best way possible.
The peanut butter looks creamy and chunky
and then you have the jelly
that's got the perfect consistency, right?
It's not too loose, but it's runny enough.
And then, you have the bread, right?
With just a little bit of crumbs around the edges,
a really nice golden color.
And when you're flipping through a cookbook,
this will get your attention.
This is what you'll wanna sink your teeth into.
One way I can create a PB and J for you
is by showing you less.
Let's talk about how little I can show you
but still say peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The bread.
Do I need to show you a whole slice?
No, you've seen that a million times.
Let me just show you a part of the slice.
And what about the peanut butter and the jelly?
Do I need to show you the amount that you would put
in a typical peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
I don't think so.
What if I just show you a couple drops here and there?
And what if I frame it in a way that describes the shape
without showing you the whole thing?
This is an example of less is more,
where I'm showing you a little bit
and your mind is filling in the rest.
That is a more exciting image to look at
than one that is finished for you.
Okay, now, let me show you even less.
I'm just simply gonna put some peanut butter on a knife,
put a jar of jelly next to it, and then a piece of bread.
You have the three components,
but look how little I've shown you?
And if you were flipping through a cookbook
and you stopped at this page,
you would still know
that it's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Okay, let's have some fun.
Let's set the scene for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Okay, we have the plate, we have the knife,
and we have a glass of milk.
Looks good?
Nah, this is boring.
Let's take away the knife,
and what if I draw the knife in jelly?
Still looks like a knife.
All right, now, let me take the glass away.
Let me draw that in jelly.
Okay, now, let's take the plate away,
and let's just do a big circle in jelly.
Now, if I tell you that's a plate, it's a plate,
and actually, let's put milk in that.
Let's see if we can put milk into this thing.
And of course, we have the sandwich on the plate.
This is saying the same thing, but it's different,
it's unique, it's colorful, it's original,
and it catches your eye.
Think about when you're flipping through pages
in a cookbook, you'll wanna stop at this.
You'll probably will because you'll think,
wait, what is this?
That's special, guys.
Every food stylist will interpret
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich different,
and the next time you're looking at a cookbook,
find the story.
There's always the unique perspective
that every food stylist brings to the table.
I love playing with my food.
Food is like paint, it's like clay.
I strip it away, I take it apart, and then, I rebuild it.
It's all for me about adding and subtracting,
about finding its boundaries, finding its breaking point,
knowing what it can do and what it can't.
I want the food to speak to me.
That is the job of a food stylist.
(blissful music)