Adeline Waugh is a Miami-based food stylist who runs the super-popular Instagram feed @vibrantandpure — where unicorn food, and later mermaid food, was launched. The first part of the name vibrantandpure is about the colors and sparkle, the second part is about the ingredients — and there you have a combination custom-coded for 21st century likes and concerns. Unicorn food is like the glittery Snapchat stickers of cookies, smoothies, toast and anything else that you can eat — coruscating, colorful add-ons that bring delight and pizzazz to everyday items. It’s like the bedazzling of food, though we’re sure bedazzlers and anti-bedazzlers alike would make a distinction. Why “unicorn”? Because it’s magical.
In an an interview with The Observer, Waugh said she was using a lot of beets and beet juice and discovered a savagely hot pink and adding other natural colors when “my followers pointed out that the hues reminded them of unicorns, and voila, unicorn toast was born.” Of course, Waugh isn’t the first person to color food — any number of people might claim to have invented the unicorn food trend. Inspiration could certainly be found in the Japanese Wagashi-Style dessert craze. Now Starbucks with rainbow frappuccinos and others in the fun food biz are all in on the unicorn game — you could pick one up while you’re hunting equally colorful Pokemon on Pokemon GO.
