The Joy of Food

Lynn Shaw, Senior Marketing Manager for Pink Lady® UK shares her thoughts on apples, eating, and the simple joyful moments found in food.

 

When Pink Lady® Moment of Joy award for Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023 was unveiled, what sort of images did you hope to see?

This category is all about the joy we experience through food, and I was hoping to see this expressed in a wonderfully broad range of environments. The joy of eating can be depicted in so many settings, from a humble slice of buttered toast in the kitchen to high tea and champagne in the grandest surroundings; my hope was that this category would show a broad scope of snapshots with the common thread being a human connection to the food depicted.

I also hoped we’d see a range of emotions in the moments of joy captured by each photographer: from excitement and anticipation to pride, satisfaction and contentment, and can’t wait to see the entries!

 

How do you see Pink Lady® contributing to the simple pleasure of eating?

To me, the simple pleasure of eating is about all of our senses, it’s so much more than how something tastes. It’s the smell wafting from the kitchen, feeling ingredients in our hands as we prepare a meal, the sound of a sizzling pan and the beauty we perceive in how food has been presented. There is a great synergy here with a Pink Lady® apple, which is a true multisensory experience combining crunch, juiciness, sweetness and the beautiful blush. The simple joy of eating an apple is a multi-layered experience when it’s a Pink Lady®.

I think the pleasure of eating is also about appreciating the complexity of seemingly simple foods, like the rich textures of a thick slice of fresh bread, the zing and fragrance of a zested lemon, the aroma of torn basil or the crunch and juiciness of a Pink Lady® apple.

 

Do you think that sense of joy in food is growing globally as a phenomenon?

I do believe that deriving joy from food is of paramount importance in today’s world. At Pink Lady®, we are great believers in relishing the small joys of life, with taking pleasure from food central to that.

Cultures and lifestyles across the world vary so much, but food is the common thread which punctuates each day for all of us. Whilst the setting and the food on the plate will vary between cities, countries and continents, the thing which unites these moments is the joy experienced from such a simple ritual.

Food is a lingua franca across the globe, which is the beauty of the Moment of Joy category – even if the setting which is depicted may not be personally familiar or something we’ve experienced first-hand, what comes through distinctly is the emotion in each moment.

 

What would your desert island dish made with Pink Lady® apples be?

I think it would have to be a Pink Lady® apple pie – for me there’s such tradition and warmth associated with an apple pie. I’d have it warm, fresh from the oven, shared with friends and family.