Olivia Artemis Webb – Food Stylist

The beauty of the raw ingredient

Take a stroll through Kallidromiou street on any given Saturday morning and you’ll see a rainbow of colours formed by the fruits and vegetables for sale under a canopy of orange umbrellas.

Greece is a truly bountiful place: it offers a plethora of flavours, aromas, textures and colours. In fact, there are so many that just a few pretty and colourful ingredients cooked simply can make rich and varied meals.

My friends often ask me how it is that everything I make is photo-worthy. Well, it’s simple. For example, take your favourite bowl –you know, the one you brought back as a souvenir from your holiday on Sifnos, or the one you made yourself in pottery class, or your grandma’s vintage bowl– and add four tangerines with their leaves, together with three rosy-fleshed blood oranges, and you’ve instantly added an explosion of colour to your table.

And just like that, the blood oranges can serve to decorate your salad at lunch, or you can take them to work with you. How you chop a piece of fruit or a vegetable, into quarters or cubes, might not seem that important, but trust me when I say that it makes all the difference in the world, both visually and in the taste experience. Think carefully about how you chop each ingredient, and be prepared to let it work its magic.

Let’s plan a Friday evening. Those tangerines from the bowl, the ones I talked about previously? Simmer them with some mastic and sugar and serve them like a chutney, together with some roast goat or a Cretan anthotyro. Pair the dish with a naturally sparkling wine, and that’s what I would call an ideal end to the week.

The above story about citrus fruits is a simple narrative of how much we can do with most of the ingredients our land produces: firikia apples, tomatoes, pears, grapes, strawberries, pumpkins and so many others.
Each season has its own produce, and if you respect seasonality, you can find exquisite ingredients anytime, anywhere.

As a food stylist, I’m primarily concerned with ingredients, which is why I have such a special relationship with them. The fruits and vegetables I work with all go through a casting process: I go for carrots with the prettiest ribbing or radishes with deep green “hair”. My favourite sign at the farmer’s market, found over a stand of tomatoes, says: “Don’t squeeze me, I don’t honk”.

But with respect for ingredients and thinking about how many vegetables are thrown away based on their appearance, I do believe we should not select only for appearance. Why does it matter whether you buy, say, a misshapen carrot?

My go-to advice for anyone looking to cook with herbs is to gather them from the outdoors, from their mother’s yard, or their friend’s balcony, and use them everywhere. Fresh oregano, thyme or rosemary are quick, easy ways to make your dish aromatic.

A little love and simple, pure ingredients, lit by some of Greece’s famous sunlight as it plays across your table, are all you need to entertain your loved ones and share these special moments.