Simple Presentation Tips

A key to good cooking is to understand what all our senses contribute to eating pleasure. The importance of taste is obvious. The role of smell is apparent when you have a cold and can't taste anything. One sense often ignored, however, is sight. An attractive presentation means that something enjoyable is about to happen - good display is good marketing. Cooks who are artistic will enjoy learning elaborate garnishing or pastry decorating skills, but anyone can present an exciting plate of food using the few basic guidelines listed below:

1)       Do not decorate with anything inedible, (except perhaps for birthday candles and toys on childrens cakes). An artificial element does nothing to excite taste buds and often clashes with the underlying food.

2)       Any edible garnish should be compatible with the underlying food. Echo an ingredient used in the dish, i.e. use the same ingredient but in a different form. For a chicken dish in which rosemary has been used, top the chicken with a sprig of rosemary. Or use shaved chocolate curls on a chocolate cake (just use a vegetable peeler on a block of room temperature chocolate). Alternatively, garnish with a natural complement, e.g. lemon slices on fish. Mentally taste any garnish with the underlying food. Chopped parsley would look pretty on a cheesecake, but is obviously unsuitable.

3)       Complex dishes require simple garnishes; simple dishes can handle more elaborate garnishes. Simple chopped parsley on a beef stew makes sense, just as a combination of finely chopped tomatoes, carrots, spring onions would top a plain chicken breast more effectively than just one of those vegetables.

4)      Use your platters. We all have platters, usually gifts or some that came in dish sets. When serving even a weekday meal, put both the meat and side dishes on the same platter. Don't crowd the platter, and when choosing the dishes, remember contrasting color. White mashed potatoes surrounding a plate of chicken breasts is not that exciting. Put a row of glazed carrots between the two and some chopped green herbs or onions around the edge, and a simple meal looks very festive.

5)       Think natural color. Piping artificially colored flowers on the cake (which adds too much frosting, to boot) ruins much meticulous cake decorating. The use of real flowers to decorate cakes (or in salads or on top of soups, etc.) provides vibrant natural coloring that is a lot easier. Buy flowers that are naturally grown, i.e. without insecticides, and either use the petals separately, or put the stem of the whole flower in a straw and insert directly in the food. Go to www.pastrywiz.com/wedding/eatflower2.htm for suggestions on types of flowers and their food matches.

     Fruits are another great natural color additive. For an interesting fruit dessert garnish, frost fruit by painting on some lightly beaten egg white, rolling the fruit in superfine sugar, and letting it dry overnight. Or glaze pieces of fruit with some strained, melted apricot jam.

6)      Whether you're serving food on platters or plates, present it in a geometrically pleasing shape. Making a triangle from a raw carrot is easy, just slice in half and use a vegetable peeler to skim off a thin layer. Or take the chicken breast (or strawberry), make several diagonal slices not quite through the end, and fan out the pieces.

     Alternate the heights of the food items. For example, lean a lamb chop or slices of steak against a mound of potatoes instead of just laying the two side by side.

7)       Use an odd number of pieces on the food or on the plate, i.e. one or three strawberries, not two or four. Odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye.

8)       If you think a food item looks dull and you're not feeling creative, think of two words, "sprinkle" and "drizzle." Sprinkle chopped nuts, herbs, vegetables, powdered sugar, powdered cocoa, breadcrumbs, fruit rind, finely chopped vegetables, etc. to add interest to a dull presentation or, to hide imperfections, (such as in the case of a cracked pie or unevenly frosted cake).

     I keep two jars with holes in their tops full of powdered sugar and cocoa at all times. Alternatively, for liquid items, I keep several squeeze bottles. Think of how hot dogs are always advertised with a wavy, not straight row of mustard, or how chocolate sauce is presented geometrically over ice cream.

For those looking for a little fun with dessert, I will conclude with a recipe for moldable chocolate. This recipe makes chocolate play dough. With this you can add whimsy to any dessert, as my daughter did when she made ants crawling over our Yule log:

Moldable Chocolate:

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

3 Tablespoons light corn syrup.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, making sure not to allow any moisture to get in the chocolate.

Stir in the corn syrup. The mixture will become quite stiff and hard to stir, but stir until the two are completely combined. Turn the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap or into a plastic bag. Refrigerate until the mixture is the consistency of play dough.

When you want to play with it, bring it out and knead it. If the dough is too stiff to knead, allow it to warm up a little.  Then break off pieces to mold. If you plan to use cookie cutters or a knife, first use a rolling pin to roll the chocolate into a flat layer.