Many still life and food photographers steer clear of very short lenses for studio work. The use of wide-angles is neither advised nor taught in this context. Studio backgrounds are difficult to set up if you work with a wide-angle lens, and the camera position is often too close to allow the best lighting.
However, a close viewpoint has marked effect on the relative perspective, and thus the perceived three-dimensional shape, of your subject. The brain looks for straight lines when 'mapping' a picture; that's why even the most extreme wide-angle architectural shot is correctly interpreted by viewers. Round or amorphous objects are a different matter. Their apparent shape, bulk and weight can be changed by using very distant or close viewpoints.
The two pictures here show a small supermarket ready-cooked chicken. If you study the dimensions of the bird, you'll realize that from edge to edge they are the same in the left and right hand versions. The plate is similarly cropped and the 'scale' of the subject is identical. So why does the right-hand shot look so much more tightly cropped, with a far plumper bird?
It's entirely due to perspective and viewpoint. Working on the 6 x 8cm Fuji GX680 SLR format, the long 300mm lens (a favorite for 'accurate' still life shots) shows the true scale of this miserable little chicken's breast compared to its equally skimpy legs and wings. The right-hand version uses the 65mm extra wide angle, rarely associated with studio shots of this type, from a much closer position but similar height. The impression of looking down is a result of the closer viewpoint.
The technique of photographing food, flowers, and the human figure from a close viewpoint to emphasis roundness and three-dimensional bulk is one of the best-kept secrets of successful photographers. It is a method we once used in our own advertising studios to photograph Christmas turkeys. Our ace photographer from those heady days of the early 1980s, Richard Bradbury, now has his own studio in London's Mayfair district - but I'll bet he can still remember being at close quarters with eleven hand-picked turkeys which arrived one very hot summer after a three-day British Rail delay...
Perhaps a better answer would be genuinely plump poultry and a long lens! -DK