5 Ways to Plate Food Like a Pro

Presentation is everything when it comes to food. In choosing what to eat, certain colors and textures spontaneously turn us off or on. Think of pale sautéed veggies versus a salad of fresh vibrant veggies. Which one would you pick for first?

Restaurants know about your tendencies and have worked hard to not let a great dish be undercut by a poor presentation. The idea of putting food on a plate in a particular way is called plating, and if done precisely, the fight for the hearts, brains, bellies, and repeat business of customers is usually won as soon as the plate is put down on a table.

With a little practice you, too, can elevate your meals at home into something approaching art. Beyond just looking desirable, proper plating can help picky eaters to try new meals. So here are five ways to give your food an extra dimension with your ability of visual presentation.

1. The Rule of Thirds

Anyone who has visited abroad can attest that the portions in America are huge. We operate under the hypothesis that more food means that we're getting a better deal. But how much food can one really consume?

Keep yourself honest by not crowding the plate. Let what's underneath peek through and give a pleasant contrast between food and plate. The rule of thirds simply says that no more than two-thirds of the plate should be covered with food. You can even use a fifty-fifty division if what you're serving is particularly rich or filling. 

2. Use Different Colors & Textures

Food isn't clothing... feel free to differ! Single colors signal monotony to the mind. Similarly single textures or repetitive patterns. That's because somewhere in our brains, we tend to gloss over something that we recognize as boring and mark it as not worth eating. But our hearts go to something that attracts, anything really that breaks the pattern. 

3. Asymmetry

When something is symmetrical (mirror images when cut in the middle), our brains read it as usual and formal. Government constructions and wedding cakes make good examples of this. They give you a sense of stability, but don't really inspire feeling.

Don't let this happen to your food! Make it asymmetrical and uneven. Imperfection is exciting. And since your first attempts at plating will probably be messy and rough, you'll be seen as a genius for making such bold plating choices!

4. Stacking

This is a fun one. In Japan, one of their seven plating methods is called sugimori, which is a standing or slanting pattern. We're so used to seeing our food lay flat on our plate that when the food appears vertically toward us, we're delighted.

Stacking is precisely what it sounds like: several components are laid on top of each other which adds depth and a different view of texture to your food. In professional kitchens, metal rings are used to make stackable disks.

An easy way to imitate this at home is to use an empty washed-out can. Simply set the food in your can and turn it upside down on the plate. Otherwise, you can remove both ends of the can, place it on the plate, and pile your food within it. Gently remove the can and you've got a sharp-looking base of food upon which you can continue stacking!

5. Odd Numbers

Are you observing a trend? Even-steven is dull, so make sure that if you're setting multiples of anything on a plate, you're doing so in odd numbers. So let's take shrimp. For a really unique plate, put down three, five, seven, or nine shrimp. Don't place even quantities, that's symmetrical. Be uneven and be exceptional!

By: Marriam Tariq (Roll no.: 08)