Adding Visual Appeal to Dishes
Use These Simple Tips to Create an Interesting Presentation of Food
Mar 29, 2009
Most people have heard it especially on food television. “Its All In The Presentation” If it looks good most people are willing to eat a dish. This is what most restaurants do when dining out to impress customers. Why not try this same approach at home when cooking?
Ideas to Give Visual Appeal to a Dish
There are a slew of different ways of presenting a dish, so here are some ideas to try, when it comes to adding visual appeal.
- When cooking pasta, add a tablespoon of turmeric to the cooking water to give a rich yellow color. This gives the pasta a special touch and would be delicious tossed with butter, garlic and olive oil along with fresh herbs. Try adding it also to any grain dish such as rice pilaf, plain white rice, couscous or mashed potatoes.
- Curry powder also gives nice color to a dish and gives an awesome earthy flavor. Curry powder is a blend of spices from different regions, so pick a favorite and add it to a chicken or pasta salad for extra zip.
- Make annatto oil using annatto seeds. The deep red seeds are known mostly in Latin cuisine. Find annatto seeds at the grocery store in the international isle. To make the oil, fry two teaspoons of the seeds with ¼ cup of oil. Discard the seeds before using. Use this colorful red oil to give a richer color to a Spanish Paella or rice
Use White Plates When Presenting a Dish
White plates are standard for presenting a dish because it adds a neutral background when dressing the plate. Try using a variety of sizes such as the round standard 12- inch plate, square and rectangular sizes. Here are a few ideas to use for presenting a pasta dish, ice cream dessert and a crab cake appetizer.
- To make an impressive presentation of pasta, sprinkle around the plate chopped fresh herbs and finely diced tomatoes, with a leaf of fresh basil placed in the center of the pasta.
- Use squeeze bottles used in restaurant kitchens. (These can be found at crafting stores such as Michaels.) Fill these with anything such as chocolate syrup, strawberry sauce, or a flavored mayonnaise such as aioli sauce.
- Using a dessert plate, use a squeeze bottle with chocolate syrup and create a zig zag pattern across the plate. Then take two large chocolate wafer cookies and place one scoop of ice cream in the middle to make a sandwich and place the sandwich on the middle of the plate. Finish the presentation by sprinkling with powdered white sugar.
- When making crab cakes as an appetizer, place the crab cakes in the middle of a small plate. Place finely diced red pepper in the center of each cake. Using a squeeze bottle, squirt small amounts of aioli sauce around the cakes. Finish the presentation with a very light dusting of cayenne pepper for extra spice.
By using some of these methods, adding visual appeal to dishes gives a compelling finish and a nice touch.
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