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197523-ch28.qxd:197523 Gisslen_1p 11/30/09 12:32 PM Page 904
FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY SANITATION AND SAFETY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FOOD SCIING VEGETABLES
ENCE MENUS RECIPES COST MANAGEMENT NUTRITION MISE EN PLACE STOCKS AND SAUCES SOUPS UNDERVEGETARIAN DIE
STANDING MEATS COOKING MEATS AND GAME UNDERSTANDING POULTRY AND GAME BIRDS COOKING POULDAIRY AND BEV
Chapter 28
TRY AND GAME BIRDS UNDERSTANDING FISH AND SHELLFISH COOKING FISH AND SHELLFISH UNDERSTANDTION AND GARN
Tuna Tartare, page 520.
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ES OF FOOD SCIING VEGETABLES COOKING VEGETABLES POTATOES LEGUMES GRAINS PASTA OTHER STARCHES COOKING FOR
S SOUPS UNDERVEGETARIAN DIETS SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS SANDWICHES HORS D’OERVES BREAKFAST PREPARATION
COOKING POULDAIRY AND BEVERAGES SAUSAGES AND CURED FOODS PATES TERRINES AND COLD FOODS FOOD PRESENTA
H UNDERSTANDTION AND GARNISH BAKESHOP PRODUCTION YEAST PRODUCTS QUICK BREADS CAKES AND ICINGS COOKIES
Food Presentation
and Garnish
After reading this chapter, you
ntil this point,most of the focus of this book has been on the should be able to
preparation of food, from the selection of ingredients through 1. Explain why attractive food presentation is
Umise en place and final cooking. We still have not reached our important.
final goal, however. The point of learning and practicing procedures to 2. Serve food that is attractively arranged on
prepare food of high quality is to ensure the food is eaten and enjoyed. the plate or platter, with proper balance of
color, shape, and texture.
In other words, our work isn’t done until the food we have prepared 3. Identify common terms from classical
is arranged on plates or platters and ready to be presented to the diner. garniture that are still in general use today.
In traditional classical cuisine, until well after the middle of the twen- 4. Garnish a banquet platter with attractive and
tieth century, the normal practice in fine dining establishments was to appropriate vegetable accompaniments.
send the food on platters and in casseroles and other serving dishes 5. Plan and arrange attractive food platters
for buffets.
to the dining room, where it would be transferred to dinner plates by
the serving staff, sometimes after carving or portioning. The chefs who
developed nouvelle cuisine, however, wanted to control the appearance
of the food down to the last detail and so began to arrange food on dinner
plates in the kitchen. Since that time, many styles of plating have come
and gone, as chefs have devoted much attention to the appearance and
arrangement of food on dinner plates.
Throughout this book, we stress making food look good as well as
taste good. We talk about accurate, neat cutting of vegetables and fruits,
about proper trimming of meats, poultry, and fish, about grill-marking
steaks, about preserving color in cooked vegetables, and about attractive
plating of salads. In this chapter, we continue the discussion of making
food attractive.
905
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906 CHAPTER 28 FOOD PRESENTATION AND GARNISH
Hot Food Presentation
We eat for enjoyment as well as for nutrition and sustenance. Cooking is not just a trade but
an art that appeals to our senses of taste, smell, and sight.
“The eye eats first” is a well-known saying. Our first impressions of a plate of food set our
expectations. The sight of food stimulates our appetite, starts our digestive juices flowing,
and makes us eager to dig in. Our meal becomes exciting and stimulating.
On the other hand, if the food looks carelessly served, tossed onto the plate in a sloppy
manner, we assume it was cooked with the same lack of care. If the colors are pale and
washed out, with no color accent, we expect the flavors to be bland and monotonous. If the
size of the plate makes the steak looksmall (even if it’s not), we go away unsatisfied.
Your job as a cook and a chef, then, is to get your customers interested in your food or,
better yet, excited about it. You can’t afford to turn them off before they even taste it. Your
success depends on making your customers happy.
Fundamentals
of Plating
When a chef plans a new dish, appearance as well as flavor must be considered. Turn back to
page 82 and look once again at the section called “Building Flavor Profiles.” Remember that
the senses of sight, taste, smell, and touch all come into play when we evaluate and enjoy
food. How a dish looks is part of the identity of the dish, just like how it tastes, smells, and
feels in the mouth.
In other words, how a dish looks is not something you think about only after you have
prepared it. It is something you have in mind from the beginning of preparation. Remembering
this helps you create natural-looking presentations, so the food looks like what it is rather
than like an artificial construction with a complicated design.
Most of us have had the experience in a restaurant of seeing another dish carried past
our table by a server and immediately thinking, “I want whatever that is.” Only rarely is this
thought prompted by an over-elaborate, fussy arrangement. Rather, the dish appeals to us
most likely because it simply has the appearance and the aroma of well-prepared food.
Three Essentials of Food Presentation
Making food look good requires careful attention to all kitchen tasks. The following three
principles should be observed in order to create attractive food. Note that only one of them
concerns arranging the food on the plate.
GOOD PREPARATION AND COOKING TECHNIQUES
If vegetables are improperly cut during prep, the plate presentation will look improper. If meat
is badly trimmed before cooking, a fancy plating design won’t correct it. If a fish is overcooked
and dry or a green vegetable is drab and mushy, it won’t look good no matter what you do
with it. On the other hand, well-prepared and properly cooked food with a good aroma is
usually appealing all by itself.
PROFESSIONAL WORK HABITS
Serving attractive food is largely a matter of being neat and careful and using common sense.
This is an aspect of the professionalism we discussed in Chapter 1. Professionals take pride
in their work and in the food they serve. They don’t send a plate to the dining room with sauce
accidentally dribbled across the rim and maybe a thumbprint or two for extra effect—not
because their supervisors told them not to or because a rule in a textbook says so but because
pride of workmanship prevents it.
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HOT FOOD PRESENTATION 907
VISUAL SENSE
Beyond just being neat, effective food presentation depends on developing an understanding
of techniques involving balance, arrangement, and garniture. These are the subjects of our
next sections.
Balance
Balanceis a term we used when talking about menu planning in Chapter 5. The rules of good
menu balance also apply to plating. Select foods and garnishes that offer variety and contrast
while avoiding combinations that are awkward or jarring.
COLORS
Two or three colors on a plate are usually more interesting than just one. Visualize this
combination: poached chicken breast with suprême sauce, mashed potatoes, and steamed
cauliflower. Appetizing? Or how about fried chicken, French fries, and corn? Not quite as bad,
but still a little monotonous.
Many hot foods, especially meats, poultry, and fish, have little color other than shades
of brown, gold, or white. It helps to select vegetables or accompaniments that add color
interest—one reason why green vegetables are so popular.
Garnish is often unnecessary, especially if the accompaniments have color, but it is very
important in some cases. The classic combination of broiled steak (brown) and baked potato
(brown and white) looks a little livelier with a few asparagus spears on the plate or even with
the simple addition of a healthy sprig of watercress.
SHAPES
Plan for variety of shape and form as well as of color. For example, you probably do not want to
serve Brussels sprouts with meatballs and new potatoes. Too many items of the same shape,
in this case round, looks monotonous or even odd. Green beans and whipped potatoes might
be better choices for accompaniment. Try for a variety of shapes that work together well.
Cutting vegetables into different shapes gives you great flexibility. Carrots, for example,
which can be cut into dice, rounds, or sticks (bâtonnet, julienne, etc.), can be adapted to
nearly any plate.
TEXTURES
Textures are not strictly visual considerations, but they are as important in plating as in menu
planning (Chapter 5). Good balance requires a variety of textures on the plate. Perhaps the
most common error is serving too many soft or puréed foods, such as baked salmon loaf with
whipped potatoes and puréed squash.
FLAVORS
You can’t see flavors, either, but this is one more factor you must consider when balancing
colors, shapes, and textures on the plate. Consult the menu planning guidelines in Chapter 5.
Portion Size
Portion sizes are important for presentation as well as for costing.
MATCH PORTION SIZES AND PLATES
Select plates large enough to hold all the items without crowding. Too small a plate makes
an overcrowded, jumbled, messy appearance.
On the other hand, too large a plate may make the portions look skimpy. If a plate does
not look sufficiently full, customers may feel they are not getting good value.
BALANCE THE PORTION SIZES OF THE ITEMS ON THE PLATE
One item, generally a meat, poultry, or fish preparation, is usually considered the main item
on the plate. It is the center of attention and is larger than the accompaniments. Don’t let the
main item get lost amid excessive garnish and huge portions of vegetable and starch items.
Where there is no main item, as in some vegetable plates, strive for a logical balance
of portions.
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