A dish has the power to attract attention, intrigue, and enhance every ingredient. But how to do it? Here there are some tips for perfect plating.
Procedimento
As you know, in the kitchen palate is not enough and the eye wants its part too. A dish has the power to attract attention, intrigue, and enhance every ingredient. But how to do it? Here there are some tips for perfect plating.
The choice of the dish
The choice of dish is a decision that will greatly affect your presentation. Indeed, colours and shapes of the dish have different degrees of perception and different occasions of use. As for the colour, usually the best choice falls on the classic porcelain white since it is more elegant and easier to match. However, this does not exclude the possibility of using coloured dishes but choose shades that do not overshadow the dish.
The shape of the plate, on the other hand, leaves a little more freedom: round, squared, rectangular, or irregular, the possibilities are many. The important thing, however, is to respect the proportions of the space available. Imagine dividing the dish into four parts and try to arrange the food alternating empty and full, balancing the spaces. Then, usually, each shape requires its own composition: geometric lines for rectangular dishes, sinuous or spiral plates for round ones.
The importance of proportions
As an artwork, proportions are key to giving your plate the right balance. Particularly, it must always be clear what is the main ingredient and what are the side ingredients. To highlight the protagonist of the dish, therefore, you can put it in the center or increase its quantity.
The definition of proportions is also about math: odd numbers of ingredients are usually preferred from a point of view of balance and perception of the plating.
Choose a style and decorate
Combinations and decorations must follow the same style: coherent and homogeneous. As in fashion, even the art of plating requires choosing one or two patterns and decorating with those. An idea could be to combine linear movements created with sauces to powdered spices, without inserting additional decorative motifs.
Beyond the rules: artful chefs
If it is true that plating follows very specific guidelines, some chefs are appreciated in the world not only for their culinary skills but also for the artistic style they use to present their different dishes.
So, we find chefs who every day use the white plate as a canvas to give life to a new work of art, inspired by the most recognizable modern artists. Among these types of plating there are, for example, the “Fish Dripping”, inspired by the artworks of Jackson Pollock, and the “Panna Cotta Matisse”, a dessert carefully designed to celebrate with its colors and tastes the well-known French painter.
Whether we are talking about the art of plating or artful plating, the presentation of food is a fundamental aspect to be considered when we turn off the stove and our dishes pass from the pot to the plate.
