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A group of guests eats steak in a weakly lit room. Halfway through the meal, the lighting is high and the guests are shocked to discover that the meat on their plates is actually blue. Almost all are violently sick. It is not known whether this experience often cited from the 1970s has really taken place where an urban myth is. But the account nevertheless sounds true because it affirms what we instinctively feel. Blue food is disgusting.
And yet, blue food is everywhere: it is there in the electric color Blueberry balance bowls from loan to Cumane; Tortilla crisps rented in takis blue; It is the basis of the vitamin smoothies of innocent drinks; And in the square staggering in Spirulina served by a former noma chef at the Moss restaurant in Edinburgh. Blue cakes and puddings are more and more a characteristic on social networks; There is also blue in the alley of the grocery store.
Ready to eat Blue balance sheet bowl, £ 4.99
Innocent blue bolts smoothie, £ 2.40, Waitrose.com
In a recent research document, Charles Spence, head of the University of Oxford Research Laboratory, identified three reasons why blue could be considered as not appetizing. First, it is rare and therefore makes us suspect. Second, we assume that it is unnatural, which raises the same way. Third, it looks like mold, which can be ok in the case of Stilton, but otherwise tends to make us step back – we avoid it in meat or fish because we associate it with rot. In an editorial of 2021, Spence even suggested coloring the blue of meat as a means of reducing consumption.
But the use of blue in food as new rather than aroma dates back centuries. The Roman Emperor of the third century Elagabalus served fish in a bluish sauce to evoke sea water. In medieval European banquets, Mawmenny was a dish of Arab origin which consisted of meat in a creamy sauce shade in blue, among other colors. Blue confectionery and cocktails have been an acceptable basic food for decades. The cones of blue candy and blue snow with raspberry are from the 1950s and were followed by a series of “fun foods” intended for young consumers such as fondant snow puppies, sports drinks and chewing gum Hubba Bubba.
Many common synthetic food dyes today, including “Blue No. 1”, were approved in the United States in 1931. In the 1970s and 1980s, increasing distrust of synthetic dyes in processed foods (then supposed to cause hyperactivity in children) have led global food manufacturers to eliminate them in favor of natural alternatives. In 2006, Nestlé dropped blue smarties while he provided an appropriate natural coloring. The smartie was reintroduced in 2008 with a blue derived from algae spirulina.
During the years that followed, the rise of natural food dyes, such as pea flower and dyes, have reintroduced color as natural lines. Likewise, the growing popularity for more artisanal products has also encouraged people to overcome their fears that blue is equivalent to artificial: blue cheeses, for example, are more desirable for their rich veins of indigo. In addition, an increasing appreciation for heritage products means that we no longer think twice in blue corn (a must in Mexico) or blue potatoes. It was only a question of chance, after all, that Walter Raleigh returned from the Americas with a white potato – and not one of the many colorful grape varieties.
Launched earlier this year, the new Blood Banc of Pretty Blueberries takes its blue shade from spirulina and puree blueberries. Some could compare it to moldy yogurt, or to the “blue soup” of Bridget Jones, but the product indicates a major change in the perception of blue caused by the use of spirulina (a superality) in “well live” products. Spence says: “The underlying message is that you buy blue because they are blue and healthy. By coincidence, blue captures your attention.” InnocentThe launch of “Bolt from the Blue” was one of his most successful in 2019 because he also disrupted and drew people's attention to the shelf. The launch was accompanied by a campaign on social networks depending on whether the smoothie (made from apple juice, coconut water, white grape juice, guava, passion fruit, spirulina and vitamins) was, in fact, blue or green.
Blue Food continues to invoke an aura of nostalgia – and subversion – especially with regard to pastry. According to Cakemaker Lily Jones, alias Lily VanilleThe trend for fun, experimental and highly pipe cakes that have taken off during locking have now been merged around cakes that are “garish blue from the 1980s”. During the design of a birthday cake for Amelia Dimoldenberg by YouTube Show Date of the chicken shopFor example, the inspiration of “Bonkers and Different” was well encountered with a cake on several levels resembling a Denney Dalek which was sprayed in metallic blue.
Perhaps this new proliferation of blue foods will lead to greater acceptance. One day, maybe the sight of a blue steak will have people who ask for seconds rather than wanting to vomit.
