Cindy Epstein Food Styling - Cool Summer Soup Series

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Have you ever wondered who makes food look so darn tasty in all of those food photographs you see in magazines and cookbooks? You would think it's the chef, or the photographer, who sets up the food for the picture, but most often it's not. This is where the food stylist walks in. Did you even know that job existed?

Back in May, when I ran off to attend Camp BlogawayCindy Epstein, and she's a food stylist. Cindy has over thirty years of experience in the food industry and has done work for commercial and editorial projects in television, film, video, print, and packaging. Recently a cookbook Cindy did the food styling for, Flying Pans - Two Chefs, One World,Ron Oliver and Bernard Guillas, with photography by Gregory Bertolini, was selected as one of the top 10 cookbooks of the year at the Book Expo of America in NYC!  I met one of the sweetest and funniest gals at camp. Her name is written by chefs

I'm thrilled to have Cindy dishin' in the kitchen today! I'm also very excited to be sharing a series of Cool Summer Soup Recipes developed by Cindy herself. She offered to share 5 soup recipes with us here in the kitchen. Aren't we lucky! Here is the first in the series we'll be running throughout the rest of the summer. Be sure to come back soon so that you can grab all 5 soup recipes. Enjoy!

 Tropical Fruit Soup
created by Cindy Epstein

With a colorful orange hue and a refreshing tropical twist, this soup combines papaya, mango, fresh pineapple, and cantaloupe, cool fruits that taste of summer and sun-drenched beaches. For a beautiful presentation, hollow out the papaya flesh from the skin and serve in papaya “bowls”. This is a quick and easy recipe.

Yield: Approximately 5 cups or 4 full-sized servings using the papaya shells, or 6 servings as a first course.

• 2 medium papayas, to yield 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups fleshPhotography by Carl Kravats
• 1 mango, peeled and seeded to yield approximately 1 cup flesh
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 ½ cups cantaloupe, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 4 teaspoons grated coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened) for garnish
• 4 mint leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Chill all fruit at least one hour before preparing
2. Cut papayas in half, scoop out seeds, and discard. Carefully scoop out the flesh, leaving about ¼-inch pulp attached to the skin. Set papaya shells aside.
3. Blend all ingredients in a blender until pureed.
4. Transfer to a bowl or pitcher and chill for 2 or more hours.
5. To serve, pour into reserved papaya shells and garnish with coconut and mint leaf.

Serving suggestion:
This is a great starter for lunch or dinner, or served as a dessert. It’s great as a first course for chicken salad or a curry dish.

For a text-only, printer-friendly version of the recipe, click here.