Food Styling with Delores Custer

I mentioned in my earlier blog that I had attended a Food Styling class by Delores Custer. As promised, here’s some of the highlights of what transpired in that beautiful Saturday.

I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to attend this seminar and it was by pure luck that I got in. My former officemate, who was assigned for that seat couldn’t make it. I was sent in his place. I was so excited. After all, Delores Custer will be conducting the seminar.



Delores Custer is a renowned American Food Stylist. She has been in the food styling industry for almost 30 years. Interestingly enough, she started her food styling career at age 38 and had worked for another food stylist as a "trainee" for five years before venturing on her own. She had worked for numerous magazines, advertising agencies, pr firms, TV shows and commercials, film and food companies. Ms. Custer also teaches courses in Professional Food Styling and Recipe Writing and Development at New York University, The New School and the Culinary Institute of America and has conducted food styling workshops in Japan, Chile, Argentina, Norway and of course, the Philippines. She also helped develop the Hearts Kitchen Course of the New York Heart Association and has lectured on the “new cuisine” and taught courses in food demonstration. She has also developed recipes for various food companies and has contributed to several cookbooks. She appears frequently on television discussing food styling techniques or current nutritional concerns. To learn more about Ms. Custer and her career, click here.



I’ve worked with food stylists during my stint in an advertising agency. I’ve always been very fascinated with their work and creativity. There’s nothing like a beautifully plated food that's carefully laid out to romance the camera. I’ve learned many years ago that when it comes to food, nothing is as simple as it looks.

Here’s what I learned during the seminar a.k.a our syllabus:

I. Review of last year’s presentation

• Here Ms. Custer gave some of the food styling secrets, like how to make condensation on a beverage glass (Mix 90% corn syrup to 10% water, mix well using a hard toothbrush, spritz to glass, make sure you cover the parts of the glass that will not have condensation.

• Lemon curls are made by using a vegetable peeler, peel skins, slice thinly, lengthwise then twist on a straw . Use pins to secure. Cover with a moist towel until ready to use.

• Fotoflow adds bubbles to beverages. Available in photography supply shops.

II. Presentation of slides: What makes food look mouthwatering and appealing

I got hungry on this part.

III. Demonstration and lecture: Working with food:

• How to style pasta – This involves choosing the right plate, the right cut for the vegetables and use of a medicine dropper to apply the “sauce”.

• How to style poultry- The poultry is stuffed with aluminum foil and tissue and secured with pins in inconspicuous places and just baked for 15 minutes to prevent the skin from wrinkling.

• How to style cakes and pies – This is a little tricky particularly placing the frosting in the middle of the slice. Cut a wedge in the middle of the slice, with an off set spatula or squeeze bottle, fill in. Holes in your cake? Use Vaseline and leftover crumbs.

IV. How best to promote your food product of food company - This segment is pretty much about making the product you're selling stand out.

V. Working on TV Commercials

VI. Developing and writing recipes - This part is very informative for a blogger like me. It gave me insights on how to present recipes better and more friendly to the home cook.

VII. Working with food in front of an audience or a camera - In this segment Ms. Custer showed us a very funny clip of "don'ts".

Needless to say, I learned tons of stuff on this seminar much more information than what I have posted here. One of the best part (for me at least) was that we got to taste Ms. Custer’s famous carrot cake. Yum! She even gave us the recipe. I can’t wait to bake it. I hope it will turn out as moist and as delicious as hers. Wish me luck!