For taking pictures of advertising images .... they often used brand new 10W30 motor oil ... it looks thick and creamy and doesn't soak into the food as quickly. And if you cooled down the oil for a while in the fridge, it comes out a lot thicker ... or you could use a thicker grade oil
10W30 motor oil will be thicker (30) when it is hot. Cooling it in the fridge will not make it anywhere near cold enough to thicken up from its thin cold-temperature weight (10).
Also, Joe is connected to so many cool people (many of them also named Joe) like Joe Bennett, who drew the art for Joe's bathroom book.
Joe Bennett is one of two creators of Scavenger's Reign, which I am about halfway through the currently released episodes and it is so good and the art is so amazing. Really reminiscent of the art of Moebius. Nice to see some high quality animation that isn't in faux-anime style. The original animation that inspired it is also on YouTube and is a little closer to Joe Bennett's natural style, as seen in Joe Pera's bathroom book.