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You could be a great home cook but if a dish doesn’t look appealing when you plate it up, there’s a chance that your guests may not love it. While that sounds a bit cruel, the truth is that looks really do matter when it comes to food.
We’re not just being vain either. Many have shown that the sensory properties of a dish – including the visual appearance and perceived textures of food – can influence the expectation of flavour.
As the TV cook, , reminds viewers of The Cook Up on SBS, “we eat with our eyes”. “Being a little bit extra isn't a bad thing because, with a few tweaks, food can go from ‘so-so’ to ‘so good’."
Here are 5 plating tips to help you make your food look so attractive that it ends up tasting even better.
Twirl your spaghetti into a neat pile so your eyes eat first Source: Camellia Aebischer
1. Twirl that pasta
Plating is not about making your food look super fancy. It’s simply about employing a few tricks to prevent your pasta from being slopped into a bowl.
Liaw refers to the classic household example of spaghetti Bolognese - a dish we all know how to make but not serve. His tip is to twist the pasta with a fork (a carving fork works best) into a little nest when transferring it from the saucepan to a serving dish. Once the pasta looks somewhat neat and is sitting in the centre of a plate, drizzle it with extra sauce, some olive oil or add a knob of butter for visual gloss. “It adds a lot of flavour too, but visual gloss is actually quite important.”
You can also add a sprinkle of large salt flakes, Parmesan cheese and parsley to add colour and visual texture to the dish. “For me, food that looks good is food that looks tasty.”
Twirl your pasta up into a little mountain like this sea urchin spaghetti by Andrea Taccone Source: Andrea Taccone, Alba Salentinian Restaurant
2. Think first, plate up next
, co-founder and executive chef of in Sydney’s Glebe, recommends that cooks put some thought towards deciding what’s needed on the plate versus what can be served separately and shared.
He says a good example is mashed potatoes, veggies and meat. While you might want to serve the carrots and lamb on a plate, you don’t have to do the same with the potatoes. “Mash potatoes [always] looks better in a ceramic dish than on your plate.”
3. Choose the right plate
To create a show-stopping meal, choose the right plate size. “You don’t want to overcrowd the plate. Use a large enough plate to leave space. This makes the dish look lighter," says Schroeter.
Don’t forget to ensure that the plate is served at the right temperature to suit your dish. “Use a warm plate for hot food and a cold plate for cold food.”
Martin Boetz's coconut braised beef ribs with hot and sour salad Source: Kitti Gould
4. Slice to show-off
Cooks should also consider showing off each component of the meal so they can maximise visual appeal. Pre-slicing a nicely cooked piece of duck can highlight the beautiful medium-pink centre of the breast and rendered roasted skin. Cutting elements into different shapes or layering ingredients can also give a dish an interesting multi-dimensional look.
Slicing meat before plating also makes it easier to eat Source: Adam Liaw
5. Smear that sauce
Finally, when plating, don’t forget to have fun. Grab a spoon, harness your inner chef, and start artistically spreading sauce across the plate like you’re recreating a Picasso (extra sauce can be served separately).
If you’re dish is as good-looking as it is tasty, then the extra time you put into plating it will have been definitely worth it.
