Geometry in Foods

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We see geometric shapes everywhere. From the simplest of things like the pencil or pen you use to write, to the complex ones like the structure of your house and other neighboring establishments. They are also present on the food that we eat everyday and the tools or utensils and other accessories needed when eating. Here are some of the foods that we love to eat and we will try to explain the geometric shape present.

DUNKIN' DONUTS NUTTY CHOCOLATE

By Aaron de Guzman

One of my favorites that I explored in the creation of this blog is the Nutty chocolate of Dunkin Donut. Aside from its crunchy and ultra nutty feeling, the flavor of its chocolate cream is in my opinion, immaculate. Even though it appears as simple as it is, the flavor always explodes in my mouth giving me bliss every time I chew. Since my childhood era up until now, it still gives me the chills whenever I have my first bite. I am now 21 years old and I am still purchasing the same old flavor from my youthful days. 

Fig. 1: Torus

Just like the Nutty Chocolate, except their other categorized stuff, most of the products of Dunkin' Donuts have the shape of a Torus (a 3D ring shaped object with a hole in the middle). Given that their brand name is ‘Dunkin' Donuts’, it is not a surprise that almost all of their goods are characterized with this shape. To name a few, there is Blueberry glazed, Choco Butternut, Butternut, Maple frosted with sprinkles, Glazed, Chocolate Frosted, and several more. But Dunkin' Donuts do not only serve these torus-shaped delights, although it isn’t aligned with their brand name, they also provide beverages, breakfast meals, sandwiches, bagels, and many more. There are even products that are similar to the shape of a sphere called munchkins and a cylinder-like food named Dunkin’ Yan.

Torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle.

As good as it tastes, I personally recommend not to order and eat these types of staple too frequently as it could result in bad eating habits. Since it mostly contains high volumes of sugar, if consumed everyday, it could lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, insulin resistance, and metabolic problems (Picincu, 2011). These delights including other kinds of desserts are not meant to be eaten often, it is usually bought only whenever an occasion is celebrated or will be celebrated. So basically, be mindful of the amount of sweets that goes into your mouth. Make sure to limit yourself if you feel as if you’ve already consumed a week worth of desserts during an occasion or your daily routine.

To conclude my observations in this matter, I have realized that geometry is simply everywhere; its application is almost limitless. From the smallest entities like atoms (molecular geometry) to the patterns that exists in plants (spatial geometry), forms and figures of foods, construction of architectural designs (Euclidean geometry), application of shapes in arts (geometric abstraction), and to the body that make up the Milky Way, geometry has a crucial role to play.

"Good food, good mood."

SELECTA'S CORNETTO AND PUREFOODS TENDER JUICY HOTDOG

By David Bernal

Cornetto, the ice cream brand that made the line “Saan aabot ang ₱20 Pesos mo?” a trend. At a quick glance, one could think that it’s just like any other regular ice cream — a coned ice cream with a hint of chocolate and nuts (sometimes a disc of chocolate) on top. I am warning you, do not fall for this facade because underneath those misleading appearances is a heaven awaiting for your arrival— the infamous chocolatey tip. From my experience, almost everyone who eats Cornetto never let go of this part as it is simply the best portion of the ice cream. No matter what the flavor you are holding, it is guaranteed that at the end of your journey, you will still feel the contentment that everyone does (including all the group members).

Due to its delectableness, it has even been acknowledged to be one of the iconic ice creams of the country—up until now. Currently, the country’s inflation rate is sitting at the highest rate ever recorded in the past years. From the ice cream’s price of ₱20, it has risen up to ₱30 per piece. For that reason, the fame that Cornetto once had has gradually decreased but its golden era is still remembered up to this day. The taste and delight that we had in the past is still the same, but the price just ruins the moment.

Cone - a perfect shape for ice cream

Fig. 2: Cone

Generally speaking, the shape and figure of Cornetto suit its type of product—an ice cream. A conical shape towards the vertex with the ice cream sitting on top. Just like any other regular ice cream, Cornetto has it all. One distinct characteristic that I could identify is that in terms of the ice cream’s volume, their brand surpasses most of all brands.

Ever since its golden era (when it was still ₱20), its amount of ice cream has remained the same. Of all the times that I bought one, there was never an instance where there was a void in my cone that was missing a portion of an ice cream. Neither was there any problems related to my favorite portion of the ice cream—the chocolatey tip. My expectation regarding its flavor and volume was never disappointed, that is why up until now, I have been and still am a fan of Cornetto. I guess one of my complaints if I ever have one is that the size of the lateral side of the cone is relatively smaller compared to the regular cones. I really like the crunchiness of its cones, and seeing that the price of it continues to increase, I would greatly appreciate it if in the near future, it will be larger than it currently is.

"Kids can tell."

We Filipinos when it comes to cooking breakfasts don’t mess around. We always prepare the best breakfast. Hotdogs, a food that has a similar shape to a cylinder, is one of the staples in a Filipino breakfast. And when we serve hotdogs, we always choose the best. Tender Juicy Hotdog, dubbed by many as the “best hotdog” along with their tagline “Kids can tell”, was first introduced in 1992 by Purefoods and since then became the favorite of Filipinos, especially children. It comes with many variants: regular, cheesy hotdog, jumbo, cheesy jumbo, chicken, cheesy chicken, cocktail. I myself am a fan of Tender Juicy Hotdog, especially the chicken variant. I always pair Tender Juicy Hotdog with a sunny side up egg with a runny yolk and a bit of ketchup and of course when we want a better meal for breakfast we always prepare breakfast with sinangag or fried rice using our leftover rice.

Fig. 3: Cylinder

DESSERTS AND SNACKS

By Diana Cabalo

How the world works pretty much looked like almost a cylinder for me minus the rectangular lateral face. It is both an upper circle and a downward circle whichever destiny you’ll be diving into. Looking in these hopias made me think that. These cylinder looking foods somehow made me question whether the earth was flat or round. On second thought, why don’t they just make it a cylinder? It both had the flat and the round part? Kidding aside, the hopia on this plate ready to dig in is something that cannot make my hunger go away.

This mouth-watering food with an ube filling is something that is definitely to get your tongues into. Bought all the way from Cagayan Valley’s Baker's Percent, it somehow became a constant ‘pasalubong’ for the ones here in Manila.  Matched with the uniqueness of its taste is the uniqueness of what a cylinder defines for: has two parallel circular bases and a curved surface.

Looking at the top and bottom bases and following the shape of its curved surface on the side, one thing is for sure, cylinders as small as these are not just cute-looking, but are worth examining. Well, other than fighting my temptation to measure the perimeter and the surface area of this food item, I just directly shoved it into my mouth and that’s where the natural melting of this food on my system is what almost made me forget about the existence of other hopia. More than the taste is also the quality of its shape, and I can clearly see how the texture almost looks like it was hand-made carefully.

Other than that of the features I noticed on the cylinders, I would end this with the words on how I view cylinders  that do not end on geometry on my own perspective, but as a solid to balance the circular bases to stop them from rolling over and instead stand and show up stronger.

On to the next, the work of lengths and widths is sometimes making me think how come foods with all the angles and sides work their way out on our system even with their size. I have always been fascinated with how a side length of a prism makes its way to be the base and carry the rest of the food it serves. Such as this cake that we had at the last minute because no other cakes are available during that time. I wonder how the base of it carries the volume and area of the rest of the cake.

Dividing it into regions when cutting it, the prism is like a work of art getting its way out of the museum every time a birthday celebrant cuts it. Being curious on how the baker molded it in a way that it stands on its structure is one of the things that makes it cool for me. The way it was baked by this particular bakeshop called ‘Red Ribbon’, and how this popular cake made its way to the high season of parties is something I surely won’t want to miss.

This is also almost the same with the brownies I got from the Baker’s Percent where the beauty and taste are fighting for each other. If you look closely at the brownies, you can see how it screams geometry right in front of you. The vertical lines on the top base has a clear voice of slanting lines that was perfectly set up.

Another baker’s work on this part is an ‘egg custard’ or what most Filipinos call ‘egg pie’. Looking at the top view of it, the looks on this sweet bread itself already shows off some sweet-indulgence on it. I can clearly remember that when I ate this it made me realize how a triangular prism has a resemblance to this food to the point that I almost measured its base and height. Just Kidding. But anyway, these sweet prisms are more than to satisfy your sweet tooth but also to teach you how our own life is like our own prism of convictions. My work is a self-portrait of my mind, a prism of my convictions.

Fig. 4: Rectangular prism

“The prism through which you experience life is so unique. There is no objective experience.”

- Sterling K. Brown

Indeed, wherever we look, there's captivating and mouth-watering foods that we either crave for or just intend to seduce our taste buds. But more than these foods and its taste, there’s the shape of it that we first see. We first noticed the colors, the styles, and the way it was being presented to us either on our plate or on the food stalls. We first take a look at how it is shaped or what cut it is being divided into. We tend to describe it with its shape and appearance such as ‘the round-looking chocolate’ or those ‘graham balls’.

You see, when we say Geometry is everywhere, it can be even on the food that you eat. Speaking of which, let me now tell you about a ball-shaped dessert that I ate last week. It was very sweet, very colorful, and very delicious. I could eat it all day. Preparing this dessert can no longer be without fun, especially when I am making them with my cousins. Laughing around while shaping the crushed grahams on our palms and would cry in tears if the marshmallows we slipped inside of it would go through. Those kinds of moments are my treasure. Nothing can buy it and you can not just find that treasure everywhere.

Fig. 5: Sphere

More than these graham balls that looked so much like a sphere, we also had these Takoyaki which satisfies my month-long craving for it. I had it delivered to me through Grab by a certain ‘Katsubo Pilar’ food hub and I am telling you, trust my words on this when I say these are the best!

The sauce is very juicy; it can already be the meal itself. The flakes are not that fishy and I don’t really know what kind of potion or recipe they have on these Takoyaki to make me bow down to it. The fillings were tenderly cooked and you can really just swallow it in a whole of that little globe since it is so smooth and delicious!

Other than these, the purple ice creams on top of our infamous ‘Mang Inasal Halo-Halo’ recipe is of course also down the list on these food items. It depends on your scoop to make it a perfect circle and it’s just so peaceful and calm to see it stand out in a perfect way. Also, the pearls and other ingredients on it can also pass as the small spheres for this blog. Will not forget about the pearls on your Zagus or milkteas! A pearl on those is to die for!

We can also never forget our favorite spherical chocolate, Ferrero Rocher! With the gold-foiled wraps around it, it always looked like the expensive one who gets to be gifted to our loved ones. Mighty are the spheres because like how a wheel works in our world, they always come unexpected and unannounced. Like what our Blaise Pascal said, ‘We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end’.

Among the solid foods that I took, this is somehow the hardest one for me to look for. Although the geometry in foods is naturally there and does not even need to look furthermore, this one looked like it was playing hide and seek with me. Given the cut of a watermelon when you buy it in the streets, or the formed style of a rice when you shape it like this, I ended up looking at the Toblerone on top of the cake we bought last time from ‘Goldilocks’.

This saliva-stimulating dessert is surely always on top of my list. Have you already noticed that I have a sweet tooth? I am already weak when it comes to these triangles, what more if it comes with chocolates and sweets which is to win for?

Fig. 6: Square pyramid

Eating Toblerones while studying has always been teaching me how sweet our life is but at the same time, it has a bitter reality of inequality. Like a pyramid, you can always thrive to be on top of it or just stay at the bottom of it. What’s great is when you’re at the top, you can easily come down, but when you’re at the bottom, it takes blood, sweat, and tears to get to the top.

This kind of mindset kind of grew with me to the point that when I see a Toblerone on my desk, I am motivated to do my best to get myself on the top of my own pyramid. It is a reminder for me from time to time to do my best and not give up to create the sturdy destiny that I want.  Like what Charis famously said on her song;

"Pyramid, we built this on a solid rock

It feels just like it's heaven's touch

Together at the top, like a pyramid

And even when the wind is blowing

We'll never fall just keep it going

Forever we will stay

Like a pyramid…"

Geometry is a lot of fun, right? Even a pyramid can have its own song. Well, what can I say? We have been constantly reminding everyone that these geometry solids are more than just the geometry it has. As we multiply the bases and the heights, or look for the volumes and the likes, the look on these food items is something we want to keep for ourselves but at the same time, share to the world the beauty of geometry that we see on it.

This pyramid is another thing to remember. From its altitude down to its slanting height, the vertex until the base, or the lateral faces that it has is a shoot in our destiny and not just in geometry? Why? Because as everyone tells about pyramids, we build it on our own as we journey nonstop on this world.

SQUID RINGS/CALAMARI

By Gabriel Luna

There would always be a debate with my friends whenever we buy calamari together on whether to call it ‘calamari’ or ‘calamares’. Little did they know, while they were contemplating on what to call it, my mind was flying somewhere on what shape this calamari is. Certainly, some people call it a squid ring. But is its shape really classified as a ring?

In the language of Mathematics, this region in the middle of the ring is called an annulus. By definition, it is a region between two concentric circles and informally, it is shaped like a ring or a hardware washer. This solid definitely has calamari on its list. And seeing the calamari I cooked on my own, it made me flash back on how my mom taught me to cook this one. Although it was a little bit challenging with all the sparks of oil it splashes from time to time, the experience was fun!

This food made of squid and flour then matched with a vinegar sauce is always part of my cravings. Other than the unique shape it shows, the way that it was constructed was I can say geometrically intriguing. Like how come a squid’s body part can be cut into this perfect kind of a ring? Although weird as it may sound, the tandem of all the squid rings and together with its other parts is not that pretty nice for me. I would rather let these squid rings be separated from them. Maybe because I’m a bit frantic on shapes? Well, these calamari is something a shape was not neglected.

Fig. 7:  Circular Ring

Seeing the middle part of it made me wonder that if this part was still filled with a flour or a squid’s part, then would it no longer be a ring? Would we classify it as a cylinder already? On the other hand, the looks on this calamari is making me remember how our life has been working like a wheel. Now, I think that our life could also be working like a ring. We sometimes go up, then down, but some of the time we stay in the part we know it’s neither of both and just seems like a lost area in our life. Maybe that’s how the annulus works in our life?

Personally speaking, noticing the shapes on these foods have always given me both the thrill and excitement, but on a unique shape I almost doubt where to classify, it gives me a challenge to take on deeper in studying geometry.

Well, as what they mostly say about rings, it always looks good with a diamond. But little do they know, most rings don’t even need a shiny element to make it stand out, and most rings are not even an item to trade such to these. The ring that I would always look up into is something that could both satisfy the round world that I am living in and the blank space that I am always needing.

Blog edited and formatted by Gabriel Luna.

GROUP 2 | BSED 2MM (BERNAL, CABALO, DE GUZMAN, LUNA)

Assessment Task, Finals Period, SEMA7154 (Plane & Solid Geometry)

University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines