Niammy Blog

When it comes to wine testing, expert wine tasters visually examine its richness and quality before tasting it. Well, things are no different when it comes to food; food presentation is as important as creating a mouth mumbling recipe. Stylish food presentation acts as visual stimuli and delivers the feel good factor that increases the appetite. So let’s learn some of the most amazing presentation tricks to enhance your food’s appeal:

Smart Tip #1 – Garnishing Science

Just a light touch of color can create wonder effects to your recipes, and there is no scarcity of choices for garnishing. You just need to pick appropriate garnishing items that can creates lovely color combination to your dish, be it fresh herbs, cilantro, cucumber slices, chocolate pieces, flowers, basil, lime cheeks, bell peppers, finely chopped chilies, colorful vegetables, fruits, and the list goes on. Garnishing is a science and one must remember to be patient to learn it; it may take weeks or months to get a good grasp on picking suitable garnishes.

Just like spices and herbs infuse flavors when cooking the food, they can also make food more appealing and livelier by presenting them just right. 

Smart Tip #2 - Size Matters

It is quite common for food bloggers to drown their dishes on a huge plate. For example, if you are planning to style your fish cakes, placing 2-3 cakes in one large serving dish make them look smaller than they actually are. However, if you place each cake in smaller plates and decorate by adding some fresh herbs, a small lime wedge, and a dipping sauce on the sides of every plate, it looks abundant and full. 

The same logic applies when styling foods served in bowls. For instance, an ice cream served in a small bowl looks amazing and full topped with a drizzle of chocolate or caramel, chopped nuts, mint, coffee beans...

Elegance is key! Remember that the smaller your portions, the easier they will be to style. 

Smart Tip #3 – Embrace the Mood

Yes, recipes too have no connection with the mood. In fact, majority of the recipes dictate the mood. As a food blogger, you need to think and learn different suitable moods that various recipes can embrace beautifully.

 For instance, if you are making something comforting and wintery such as a curry or stew then such recipes look great when accompanied by homier styling, lightings, and props.

Similarly, a smoothie or salad looks lovely within a brighter, lighter set-up. The real art lies in learning to establish the mood for your recipe. 

Smart Tip 4# - Be Creative with Your Props

Props present some really innovative and cool ways to style your dishes. Soups, pasta, risotto, and stews create a premium look with a goblet of wine. Similarly, burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and tacos all fit in perfectly with a few glasses of beer. Apart from creating a stylish feel, props add a lot of weight or body to you dishes. 

For instance, a small bowl of pepper/salt or both add rich color and texture. Also you can make your dishes extra stylish by placing them on dark tiles, scratched metals or rustic wooden surface. 

Smart Tip #5 – Channel Your Artistic Side

Food decoration in many ways appeals to an artistic person in you. There are many techniques to evoke emotions and embellish the dish. Build your dish step by step and divide your garnishing process into different parts. 

Start by creating some design in the plate with a colorful sauce or dip; white plate is the most popular choice as it allows food bloggers to express their creativity. Then on top place your prepared food. If the recipe involves sliced ingredients then you can create lovely pattern with them too. Then after, you can place other garnishing items around the food and on top of it to create a full and rich look. Make patterns and chose colors that can compliment your main food. 

Make your dish a visual feast and let people eat the food with their eyes! 

Smart Tip #6 – Don’t Worry about A Little Mess 

A little mess is not a big deal while making meals as they don’t need to be perfect to look appealing. In fact, drips or a few crumbs on the sides look more realistic and balance the composition with props and dining surface. 

Smart Tip #7 Read the clock!

Imagine that your plate is the face of a clock: the centrepiece of your dish (the protein for example) should go at 6 o’clock. Place vegetables at 11 o’clock and the carbohydrate (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes)  at 2 o’clock for slight asymmetry.

Tip #8: Arm yourself with the right kitchen tools like cooking rings, brush and pipette

Cooking rings are very helpful in giving shape to your dishes and to build layers!

Pipette and brush will allow you to be more precise when decorating your plate and creatively applying sauce: points, straight lines or zigzags… the choice is yours!