Actual Plating Techniques?

[bigchef]

The culinary school here on the forum has a great intro to plating but does anyone have actual techniques for using the spoon and how to drag it or whatever to create those popular presentations seen now days?

[dcarch]

To answer your question first, it depends on the spoon's shape and the consistence of the sauce/gravy.

IMHO, that technique is getting kind of over used. It is kind of getting boring.

dcarch

[bigchef]

I agree its starting to go the way of parsley as a garnish but its still a good technique to have. Any thoughts on descriptions? By the way, I used it only as an example. If you know of others, new or old please let us know. Thanks everyone!

[Dakki]

To answer your question first, it depends on the spoon's shape and the consistence of the sauce/gravy.

IMHO, that technique is getting kind of over used. It is kind of getting boring.

dcarch

I'm very interested in reading about your plating in general if you want to write something about it.

[dcarch]

To answer your question first, it depends on the spoon's shape and the consistence of the sauce/gravy.

IMHO, that technique is getting kind of over used. It is kind of getting boring.

dcarch

I'm very interested in reading about your plating in general if you want to write something about it.

Thanks for asking.

Plating! Plating! Plating!

With all these TV competitions, shows, it seems that if you can’t plate, you can’t play!

I don’t know if I am qualified to discuss plating in general, not being an expert myself. Perhaps I can talk about my own silly food-plays thinking/techniques.

First, I don’t do food carving or food topiary. It takes too much time and it can in fact turn some people off. Most of the time I just pile food on a plate.

I believe everyone can plate food well. If you can say, “Wow! That is a beautiful plate!” that means you have a good sense of esthetics. I think that is all you need to plate food well.

In truth a good photographer is really not that good. He/she takes a thousand pictures, and in that thousand, there is one or two which look promising. After a lot of cropping, and darkroom ( now Photoshoping) trickeries, a masterpiece worth framing materializes.

The most important thing about food plating is start doing it and do it as often as you can, even if you are cooking just for yourself. After a while, when you look at the ingredients of a recipe, a thousand images of how you can plate that dish will scroll through in your visual mind, and you just pick and try out the one or two which you feel might work. A little final arranging and garnishing, Voila! “WOW! Too pretty to eat” will be exclaimed by all your dinner companions.

If you Google “How to plate food”, you will get thousands of hits. IMHO, all those “do this” and “do that” are meaningless. Painting by numbers will not make you a great artist. Plating by formula will not encourage you to develop spontaneous creativity.

Have fun. Plating is rewarding, and it is free.

dcarch

[Twyst]

I don’t know if I am qualified to discuss plating in general, not being an expert myself.

From the pictures Ive seen here Id have to disagree with that, you plate as well as anyone Ive seen.

[Dakki]

I don’t know if I am qualified to discuss plating in general, not being an expert myself.

From the pictures Ive seen here Id have to disagree with that, you plate as well as anyone Ive seen.

This.

dcarch, I think your plating is easily magazine or advertisement quality, and knowing that the stuff in the picture is actual food rather than food-based props just makes it all the more impressive.