Blue food?

April 28, 2005 12:59 PM

Can you think of blue foodstuffs for a party?

I want to be a little goofy and serve all blue food to go with the fabulous blue cocktail I'm still trying to concoct. (Curacao is gorgeous but tastes like blech.) Anyway, I've thought of blue corn chips, bluefish pate and blue cheese. Now I've hit a wall. Any brilliant ideas?

posted by CunningLinguist to food & drink (44 comments total)

pick out all the blue M&Ms. mmmmmm
posted by SheIsMighty at 1:02 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue jello isn't extremely classy, but it's blue.

Blueberries aren't exactly blue unless you blend them into something white -- like a cream cheese spread or mini cheesecakes.

If you have Ranch 99 or similar near you, they make a taro bread that's blue and delicious.

Food coloring will make everything fantastically blue, but it sounds like you're looking for something classier.
posted by Gucky at 1:02 PM on April 28, 2005

pick out all the blue M&Ms. mmmmmm

You can order just blue M&Ms at their website! In fact, they have multiple shades of blue.
posted by Gucky at 1:04 PM on April 28, 2005

Jell-o&tm; Brand Gelatin Berry Blue or Kool-Aid..uh..Berry Blue. You could use the Jell-O to make shots...
posted by plinth at 1:06 PM on April 28, 2005

Smarties? The bobbly ones out of Licorice Allsorts? Jelly Belly?
posted by kenchie at 1:07 PM on April 28, 2005

CunningLinguist, if you look in a copy of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, in the page with the recipe for Satan's Whiskers, you will find the name of what is purportedly a good Curacao, though I dunno if it'll come in blue. (Cocktaildb, operated by the author of the above book, recommends Marie Brizard and Bardinet; MB makes a blue one.) If you have been using Bols or DeKuyper or the like, that is why it is ass.
posted by kenko at 1:13 PM on April 28, 2005

FDA has not approved a natural source of blue food dye.

Currently, any blue or green food on the U.S. market gets its hues from certifiable colors FD&C Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue), Blue No. 2 (Indigotine), or Green No. 3 (Fast Green).

I remember seeing bakeries selling blue bread around the 'burbs at footy finals times.
And don't forget the pepsi blue chasers.
posted by peacay at 1:17 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue crab? If you can get blue corn tortillas you could use them to make more complicated foods with that are still blue on the outside.
posted by kenko at 1:22 PM on April 28, 2005

Gatorade
Boo Berries breakfast cereal.
If you make blueberry muffins and add blueberries in the mixer you will get bluish muffins.
posted by evilelf at 1:29 PM on April 28, 2005

If you can score some liqueur de violette, you could use that to make your blue drink. (If you also get some maraschino, you can make a delicious Aviation.)
posted by kenko at 1:31 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue potato chips. I saw them in a natural food store somewhere.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 1:32 PM on April 28, 2005

When M&M added blue to their collection, I was not too happy about it, and my roommate at the time tried to convince me that I had to stop being old-fashioned, and accept the fluctuations of culture, yadda yadda. Anyway, my response was, "It's not a fear of change, it's a fear of blue food." all the other m&m's are colors which are found everywhere in natural food, but blue is usually artificial...
Which is just to say, your options may be limited.

If you're okay with purple you can get peppers and eggplant... I guess blue corn & blueberries are already on the indigo end of things.
posted by mdn at 1:32 PM on April 28, 2005

B'luga caviar?
posted by sd at 1:40 PM on April 28, 2005

Raspberries are blue, right? What? That's only some crazy marketing thing? Sheesh!

There aren't a whole lot of blue foods out there. As Jeffrey Steingarten points out in one of his books, blue food is not meant to be et. The blue is a warning signal: SPOILED.

Thus all the suggestions for processed sugar snacks above.

To which I'll add my own: you can often find blue-colored ice cream, for whatever reason. I'll bet you can find some blue-frosted Pop Tarts, too. There may be a blue Jones Soda flavor.

Really, that's about all I can think of...
posted by jdroth at 1:41 PM on April 28, 2005

This book has some suggestions for mono-colored dinner parties. But ... no blue!
posted by kenko at 1:44 PM on April 28, 2005

Just a warning:
Back in the sixties Alfred Hitchcock supposedly threw a dinner party for assorted Hollywood types, hiring a gourmet chef who made completely normal food that was tinted blue with food dye.
Most people couldn't even come close to finishing their meals.
posted by Kellydamnit at 1:55 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue smoothies. Blue Airheads. Blue mashed potatoes.
posted by crapulent at 1:56 PM on April 28, 2005

I once went to a meatloaf fest where a participant and created a mold of mashed potatoes dyed blue and shaped like the Blue Man Group heads.
posted by FlamingBore at 2:03 PM on April 28, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Blue ring pops rock plus they turn your mouth blue!
posted by yodelingisfun at 2:08 PM on April 28, 2005

You can buy natural blue potatos. I will never forget the time I ordered a sandwich at a new local lunch place and it came out with blue potato salad. I laughed out loud. It tasted good, too.
posted by wsg at 2:12 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue curacao, if you like SWEET liqueurs.
posted by sleslie at 2:12 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue corn tortilla chips are quite yummy... don't know how you'd manage blue salsa, though.
posted by dagnyscott at 2:20 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue City corn chips, toritilla chips, etc. very tasty
posted by damnitkage at 2:40 PM on April 28, 2005

Yeah, I'd say just load everything up with blue dye, as long as you aren't worried about grossing everyone out.
posted by rxrfrx at 2:48 PM on April 28, 2005

It doesn't really go with a cocktail party, but I remember there were Oreos that were not blue, but when you dunked them in milk, they turned blue/turned the milk blue.

I remember them because I had a friend of a friend who had a phobia of blue food and a second friend played a very nasty prank on him by removing the packaging and leaving them for the phobic friend to eat. Such was his aversion to blue food that he was very ill for several days.

Do they still make those?
posted by Elsbet at 2:52 PM on April 28, 2005

Blueberries will turn purple when mixed into a dish, they need to be served plain or on top of something to preserve the blush if you want them to look blue.

I would serve:
- Blue corn chips with black bean dip (dip will be black/gray, but close)
- Blue cheese on water crackers
- Blue potato chips (can be found at natural foods stores)
- Mini tartlets topped with blueberries (buy frozen tart shells, fill with lightly sweetened creme fraiche and top with berries)
- Decorate platters with small bunches of Concord grapes
posted by cali at 3:01 PM on April 28, 2005

This reminds me of a line from an Erma Bombeck book: "There is no known navy blue food. If there is navy blue food in the refrigerator, it signifies death."

Ms. Bombeck had a capacity for unfunny that simply boggles the modern mind.
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:12 PM on April 28, 2005

Get the aforementioned peruvian purple potatoes and make french fries of them. Mmmm.
posted by stet at 4:20 PM on April 28, 2005

Bombay Sapphire Gin. Mmmmm.. gin
posted by Scoo at 4:33 PM on April 28, 2005

Blue Gatorade is much, much more fun when consumed directly from Windex-type bottles. (Keep in mind that these bottles must be bought Windex-free and empty to avoid contamination.) That's the funnest blue thing I can think of.
posted by koeselitz at 4:50 PM on April 28, 2005

In fact, it would be best if you have everyone at the party, and then start talking about how all you can think about for the last couple of weeks is eating and drinking blue things. Make yourself sound really crazy. Then, get a weird look in your eye, duck under the kitchen sink, and pull out the 'windex.' Down it in one swig, to the horror of the party guests. Smile for a few seconds, gurgle a bit, and then fall over dead.

That would be funny.
posted by koeselitz at 4:52 PM on April 28, 2005

Not the best cocktail food, but red cabbage blanched in water with a bit of base (such as baking soda) added makes it turn a gorgeous shade of blue. Maybe make a blue salad with it?
posted by evilbeck at 4:57 PM on April 28, 2005

If you're lucky, you can find potatoes that are naturally blue.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:09 PM on April 28, 2005

I made green rice once for St. Patricks day - it would work just as well with blue. It was kind of weird eating it. MeFi cookies?
posted by fionab at 5:13 PM on April 28, 2005

I often wonder why there’s no blue food. Every other color in well represented in the food kingdom. And don’t bother me with blueberries; they’re purple. The same is true with blue corn and blue potatoes. They’re purple. Blue cheese? Nice try. It’s actually white cheese with blue mold. Occasionally, you might run across some blue Jell-o in a cafeteria. Don’t eat it. It wasn’t supposed to be blue. Something went wrong. -George Carlin
posted by abcde at 6:08 PM on April 28, 2005

Jello has already been suggested but jello shots might be fun too. Just replace half of the liquid with...probably vodka for blue jello. (For your green party try lime jello with grand marnier and tequila). Prepare them in little paper cups...I get mine at Smart and Final.

As far as blue cocktails go, Blue Margaritas and Blue Lagoons are both pretty nice: the later is a shot of vodka, a shot of blue curacao, and top the glass off with lemonade.

Blueberries and cottage cheese is the start to a pretty vibrant cottage cheese salad.
posted by deanj at 6:13 PM on April 28, 2005

Jone's Soda has blue colored sodas. You can get blue corn (and blue corn tortilla chips, as has been said). Also, some pickled eggplant looks blue.
posted by schnee at 7:03 PM on April 28, 2005

Braised or boiled red cabbage will turn deep blue if put into a basic solution. You can change a good pound or two of the braised stuff blue by adding about a teaspoon of baking soda to the mix-- just cut down the salt beforehand, since baking soda is a little salty.
posted by yellowcandy at 7:21 PM on April 28, 2005

This article mostly discusses how to make food red (for Valentine's, natch), but also has warnings about things which turn blue.
posted by O9scar at 9:03 PM on April 28, 2005

Chocolate covered blueberries are yummy.

blue pancakes, cake in general. blue icing, blue lollypops, cappucino with blue froth, blue whipped cream, blue mayonaise. blue dip, sour cream, cream cheese. all made blue. hard boiled eggs died blue.
posted by sadie01221975 at 10:31 PM on April 28, 2005

Be sure to get white carnations a few days ahead of the party and put them in a vase with lots of blue food coloring in the water. In a day you'll have blue carnations to decorate with.
posted by plinth at 6:13 AM on April 29, 2005

Thanks for all the replies. Just to be clear, the answers I marked are because I want to throw a cocktail party, and stuff like Jello shots, rice and pancakes (sacrilege!), while great ideas, won't do.
I'll post again to let you all know how it went over.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:44 AM on April 29, 2005

I assume you'll be playing blues music as well.
posted by jonmc at 10:46 AM on April 29, 2005

Follow up:

There's a reason, as was pointed out, that there is precious little blue food: humans won't eat it. They scarfed up the blue cheese and the bluefish and the blue crab because they are basically white. But they picked out all the white corn tortilla chips from the mixed bowl and left all the blue ones, and no one touched the blue potato chips. Have you ever heard of a bowl of potato chips going untouched at a party? Even the blue M&Ms didn't go fast. Ultimately, it worked because it gave strangers a reason to start chatting, and everyone had a great time, but I don't recommend the theme if you actually want to feed your guests.


Also, This blue raspberry mixer from Roses produced gorgeous drinks that tasted better than the curacao, but still wasn't very popular.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:30 AM on May 10, 2005