Quick Question. When you cook and serve the food in the plate do you style it? I mean, do you try to make it look pretty? I do… I am not a big fan of putting the food bowls in the table so we can serve ourselves, because the more I lay on the table the more I have to clean up later… So, I usually “configure” the food in the plate and lay it in the table. When I do that, I like to style it and make it look pretty. Just like in restaurants… I mean…don’t you think food is beautiful to the eye…? For me it’s affects all the senses. So why not spending a few extra seconds laying the food in a matter that will make people feel better about eating it? I couldn’t find anything online about food styling that wasn’t related to photography. So I made these tips bellow by observation:
- Accommodate the food in sections. If you are serving rice, meat with vegetables, make sure they have their own space. The rice is one corner, the meat in the center and vegetables in a another corner. You can lay a piece of bread to add a yummy detail.
- The dish should remain clean after you server the food. Sometimes when I lay some food that has sauce, I splash the end of the dish with the sauce… I wipe it with a paper towel.
- If you are serving pasta or soup, laying some cheese on the middle with a little leaf of parsley looks neat.
- For salads, make them bigger in the center and lower in the edges of the plate. Like a little hill. That gives the plate the sensation of volume.
- Colors. Eating is about tasting the food, but when someone lays a plate of food in front of you, the sense that is activated first are the eyes. You see the food before you eat it. What would you think if the food looks ugly? That it probably taste bad… I love my food colorful. That is actually a great way to make up recipes. Example, if the salad is too green, you can add red and yellow tomatoes, quinoa and cheese for white touches.
- Want to get inspired? Pay attention to your plate when you eat out. Also a great source of inspiration are recipes. Usually, they come with pretty photographs on how the dish looks like.
Xoxo,
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