How can food so small trigger a big appetite? We spoke to different miniature food artists to understand what goes in to 'baking' a trend that continues to rule the internet, and one that has left us drooling.
Shilpa Mitha/Sueno Souvenir
Was that tiny pav bhaji you just saw online edible? Wait, what about that thumbnail-sized plate of clay spaghetti be so deceivingly detailed? Why are so many tiny food videos trending on YouTube? These are legit questions to have when our timelines are inundated with miniature food that's made with polymer clay, plastic and sometimes edible. And you if you find yourself falling head-over-food in love with this trend, you are not alone. This food has amassed thousands of fans worldwide.
Apparently there's even a term for folks who create tiny objects: Miniacs. For those of us who are forever obsessed with food, miniacs give us our daily fix of drooling over their lovingly carved tiny food servings. There¡¯s something satisfying about watching clunky human hands trying to work around food no bigger than a coin or a thimble.
Our fascination with tiny things begins from childhood, we have our tiny kitchenettes - the small ladles, pots and pans. Growing up, not much changes. As adults, our fascination with tiny toys continues, some of us label it a hobby.
Shilpa Mitha/ Sueno Souvenir
As a kid I'd collect tiny toys and little figurines. As an adult, my adoration for tiny collectibles stayed. Even today my book shelves are lined with them. So, my interest was piqued after a quick search on the internet showed me how there are people who specially create tiny furniture for tiny doll houses. But it didn't stop there. People were and are actively creating tiny edible and non-edible food too.
This made me wonder about where and how this trend took birth. Turns out, Japan got fixated with miniature food models, around 1917. A few decades later, by 1932, it had a flourishing mini food following. Given Japan's love for all things 'kawaii'--tiny and cute--this was one trend waiting to happen. And blow up it did.
In 2014, a YouTube channel, Miniature Space, gave the internet its first ever miniature food video. It featured a tiny stove, tiny cups, one tiny fire and delicious-looking brewed coffee. Today, the unnamed channel owner's videos are more than 300 in count while the channel boasts 3.12 million subscribers.
For Chennai-based sound engineer-turned-food miniaturist Shilpa Mitha, it's a full-time job. She spends close to 17 hours making tiny food which is completely inedible. Her Instagram page, Sue?o Souvenir, is an amazing assortment of bite-sized fake food that includes plates of vada pav, poha, biryani, pancakes, English breakfast, Indian thali, pizzas, cheese cakes and a whole lot more. It also has 24,000 followers and counting.
Shilpa Mitha/ Sueno Souvenir
Calling herself an "accidental artist" Mitha said it all started in 2011 when she wanted to make a pair of burger earrings. Interestingly, Mitha was never into clay modelling but a love for food drew her to the activity. "I did try dabbling in other forms of clay craft but kept going back to food," she told Indiatimes.
Talking about the best part of the whole process Mitha admits, for her, it's always the end product. "I'm almost always clueless till I get there. That's like the moment of truth. It's either a hit or a miss. And that's interesting," she reveals.
Shilpa Mitha/ Sueno Souvenir
Mitha is not alone, there are plenty of Indian food miniaturists in India. "There are suddenly a lot of people making miniature food in India. It's easy to find them now. But when it comes to detailing and quality.. there's still a long way to go!"
And don't be fooled. The amount of time taken to create this deceivingly delicious food can vary anywhere between 15 minutes to five days. The real challenge is always in the details. For Mitha, creating something like rice grains understandably takes a really long time.
Shilpa Mitha/Sueno Souvenir
While Mitha's medium for tiny food is clay, Ram Kumar and Valarmathi from Thanipadi, a small village near Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, keep it real.They use the surrounding fields as a backdrop for their miniature gobi manchurian, instant uttapam and kaju katli videos. All of the food here is edible.
While Mitha's medium for tiny food is clay, Ram Kumar and Valarmathi from Thanipadi, a small village near Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, keep it real. They use the surrounding fields as a backdrop for their miniature gobi manchurian, instant uttapam and kaju katli videos. All of the food here is edible. Their YouTube channel, The Tiny Foods, today boasts 689,000 followers, a rewarding number for a couple so invested in their craft they start the shoot at around 3pm each weekend and often surface with results not before Sunday morning.
They work during the week and take out time on weekends to create tiny, edible food.
According to Merry White, professor of anthropology at Boston University, miniature food playfully teases "by miniaturizing, and making exceptional the ordinary.¡±
Nicole Cooley, of Queens College, City University of New York, feels that for the artists ¡°there¡¯s also a level of control that¡¯s appealing.¡± And for the viewer, mental relief can't be discounted either. Of all the things we today find oddly satisfying, miniature food, too, makes the cut.