11 Aug Our top Food Presentation tips
Are you handy in the kitchen but how your dishes look when you plate them up doesn’t match with how good they taste? Don’t worry, we’re here with our top food presentation tips to ensure your meals look as good as they taste!
Why bother with food presentation?
Making your food look ‘pretty’ may seem unnecessary until we let you in on the fact that diners will determine how good the food is going to taste by the presentation, so it’s crucial you make that good first impression. The top restaurants are aware of this and pull in all five senses, not just vision, to ensure diners have an indulging experience. This is achieved by diners being able to hear the food cooking, with some dishes even sizzling when they reach the table or having a component of being finished in front of the diner. They also ensure that the dishes contain different textures for another sensory experience. You are probably wondering how can you ever recreate this experience in your own home and that’s where our tips come in!
Our top food presentation tips
- Plate choice. First things first is the plate you choose to arrange your dish on. You want to arrange the dish in an artistic way so you need the plate to give you the allowance to do this however you also want to be mindful that the dish doesn’t make your portion look small. Also consider the plate colours, dark for light food and light for dark food, you want the food to stand out so the contrast of a white fish on a dark grey or black plate is much more striking than if it was on a lighter colour and just faded into the plate.
- Think of your dish as a work of art. Of course when it comes to food the flavour is the most important thing but as we’ve learnt here people also eat with their eyes so you need to take the components of your dish and arrange them in the most aesthetically pleasing way. If your dish has a sauce think of this as a paint and try and create a pattern with it on the plate. For garnishes think about presentation as well as flavour so consider having diversity of colours on the garnishes you pick.
- Off centre. Have a focal point however place this on either the left or right of the plate, not the centre. Once you have determined the focal point you can then plan how you will decorate the remainder of the plate with your sauces and garnishes.
- Make an order. To ensure your presentation is neat plan out the order you will plate up the components of the dish. One thing to consider when trying to create a beautiful and neat plate of food is to put moist items on the plate first, for example mash could be put down and then meat propped up next to it. Planning out plating up in this way not only ensures a tidy looking dish but can also help you create structure and interest in how you present the food as you think about how the components can go together on the plate.
We think with these top tips you’re sure to be able to replicate that restaurant experience at home. If you’d like to learn more about food presentation or improve your culinary skills in any other areas then why not book one of our cooking lessons? Contact us today to find out more.
