From Jesus in a Cheeto to Susan Boyle in a Yorkshire pudding, and everything in between.
There are two primary reasons why people see faces appear in food and other random objects (water stains, bird poop and so on):
1. Pareidolia, a psychological phenomenon where our brains try to ascribe familiar patterns to randomness. Meh.
2. The chance that they’ll be able to sell their finding to Golden Palace for big bucks.
A recent discovery (see #1 on the list) inspired me to track down some of the better photos of faces appearing in food. Most of them are Jesus, so I had to limit him to just one entry. Here are my favorite 11…
1 | Satan in steak
Satan was just spotted in the marbling of a steak in Mexico. Bonus points for the red eyes, goat-like body (especially legs) and cape. Demerits because it looks kind of like he’s smiling, and it definitely looks like he’s delicious.
2 | Kate Middleton in a jelly bean
The image is pretty good, although it could really be any lady, not just Kate Middleton. Or maybe the Unabomber?
3 | E.T. in a fish stick
Bravo to whoever spotted this, as I can’t even imagine what would lead to someone pausing in the middle of eating a fish stick to examine it.
4 | Elvis in bacon
It’s so good it almost seems Photoshopped. It probably is. I intentionally didn’t research it too carefully because I didn’t want my bubble burst.
5 | Obama in toast
Like with most Obama caricatures, it’s all in the ears.
6 | Jack Nicholson as the Joker in a peeled apple
Not sure why people see the Joker here more than Steven Tyler, but that’s what the Internet says.
7 | Mother Teresa in a cinnamon bun
The bun was on display at a restaurant in Nashville — but was stolen on Christmas in 2005. There were rumors it resurfaced in Seattle a few years later, but it was never confirmed. So the Mother Teresa bun is, as far as we know, still in the wind.
8 | Jesus in a Cheeto
There are so many Jesus foods to choose from, but this delightful Cheeto gets the nod. To blend two Simpsons quotes, yes, it’s fairly abstract, but still sacrilicious.
9 | Susan Boyle in Yorkshire pudding
The resemblance is fine, but I’m mostly happy to finally know what Yorkshire pudding looks like. I would’ve guessed, you know, pudding.
10 | George Washington in a chicken nugget
How fitting that one of the founders of America would be reincarnated as one of the country’s few original foods?
11 | Abraham Lincoln in a French fry
Now all we need is Millard Fillmore in a milkshake and we’ve got our presidential food trifecta.
