Perfect Presentation

A Guide to Helping Food Look Its Best

Your seafood is now beautifully cooked and perfectly seasoned. How do you make it look like a magazine photo?

The shopping is done, the decorations are up and the guests are full of cheer. You’ve spent days planning a menu and hours preparing it. Now that you’re about to bring your masterpiece to the table, you realize that…well, let’s just say it doesn’t look like the picture in the glossy magazine. Why not? Because while all recipes strive to help you prepare food that tastes wonderful, few recipes include instructions that help you make food look beautiful.

Ever since a caveman cook first added a little something extra to dress up a drab meal, how food looks has been almost as important as how it tastes. In Ancient Rome, dinner guests were presented with platters of roasted rabbit adorned with wings to look as if they were dining on a tiny Pegasus. Noel Coward wrote of grand dinner parties here in America where tables were so ornately adorned that they included carved pools for pairs of swimming swans. Throughout the world, there are tales of historic feasts and opulent banquets. These events were historic not for impeccable preparation or interesting recipes, but for the grand presentation of the food.

Think how important the appearance of food is. Seeing good-looking food stimulates the appetite and entices us to try something we might otherwise forego. Luckily, few ingredients are as versatile or as easily dressed up as seafood. So, if your holiday plans include a party of historic proportions (or just an attempt to get your family to try something new) try a few of these simple techniques that will transform your meals from dreary to dazzling.

The key to preparing a great looking meal is planning—and that begins with the menu. Choose an attractive menu. Only a culinary wizard could make poached sole in cream sauce and mashed potatoes look inviting. Select menu items that feature variety in color, texture and shape.

Once you have chosen the menu, picture what the plate will look like, and add fresh garnish to your shopping list.

Take the time to trim everything uniformly and carefully place items in the appropriate pans. Remember, if it doesn’t look good going into the pot, it won’t look good coming out. Once your recipe is cooked, don’t fall to the temptation to whisk it right off to the dinner table. Take a moment to do some minor repairs. Remove any unattractive bits, thicken or thin the sauce, mop up any excess moisture that the seafood may have released in cooking. These small steps will add a more polished look to the finished product.

FOLLOW THESE 10 SIMPLE PRESENTATION GUIDELINES!

Now head back to your family or guests and proudly present them with a carefully prepared and beautifully styled seafood dinner. This holiday season all of your recipes can be picture perfect!

1. Choose an item to feature and build your presentation around it. Compliment that item, don’t smother it.
2. Never overfill a dish. Be generous with your portions if you want, but be aware that a glimpse of the plate underneath will entertain the eye and stimulate the appetite far more than a Flintstone-sized serving.
3. Keep the rim of the plate clean. The rim should be used as frame for your plate, not a ledge to pile more food on.
4. Emphasize balance instead of symmetry. Odd numbers always look better than even. Try clustering items. A nice bouquet of greens with a dollop of diced, marinated tomato will look much nicer than sprigs of lettuce here and there with random tomato wedges.
5. Remember that real food is three dimensional. Give it some height! See how high you can stack the asparagus and still get it to the table. Have a fresh herb sprig stand up from the pilaf and call for attention. Never flatten or smooth out your food.
6. Keep it simple. The food will look best naturally, with a light hand to the arranging and garnishing. You don’t want anything to look over handled.
7. Serve hot food hot and cold food cold. Make sure that the serving dishes are the appropriate temperature.
8. Clean up the serving dishes. Before taking the dish to the table be sure the plate rim is free of any splashes or fingerprints. Scrub off cooking residue from your casserole or soup pots with a damp paper towel dipped in salt.
9. Garnish at the last minute. Add a snippet of something fresh and lively just before serving. Sauce your dishes at the last minute to make them glossy and inviting. If something looks drab, shine it up with a little oil, or sprinkle it with some color. A shower of fresh chopped parsley can be lovely, but only if it is still green, moist and aromatic.
10. Keep in mind that if the picture looks too good to be true, it probably is. Food in photographs is sometimes not what it seems. The bag of tricks used by professional stylists can include a surprising collection of unappetizing techniques—even painting the food! At Simply Seafood we take great care to make sure that what you see in these pages is what you get when you prepare the recipes.

SCALLOPS, COUSCOUS, VEGETABLES AND TOMATO SAUCE

COMPONENTS

PROBLEMS
White seafood and white starch lack color and contrast. They can form uninteresting white spaces on the plate and give the dish a flat and lifeless look. Small items are hard to place and can end up looking messy, awkward and over-handled.

SOLUTIONS
Make each component on the plate attractive, then balance with the other components. The shape, color and contrast of the vegetables make them the most important visual elements on the plate, so take extra time trimming and cooking them. Use the vegetables to break up the white of the seafood and starch. Don’t scatter the small pieces or arrange them in a perfectly symmetrical pattern. Instead, group them casually, but neatly. To avoid a “busy” look, use a solid colored plate or a plate with a simple trim design.

PRESENTATIONS

1. CLASSIC

Clearly define each component on the plate, but avoid making three little islands of food. For a more pleasing look, gently link the different components of the dish with a little sauce, a small garnish or a few vegetables. For contrast, serve the light seafood on top of the dark sauce. A glimpse of sauce will break up the area between the white fish and white starch. Try molding the starch in a ramekin or biscuit cutter. This gives it an interesting shape and helps contain it in a defined space. Arrange the vegetables so that big colorful vegetables don’t cover up the main entrée. On a classic, well-balanced presentation like this, use a simple garnish, preferably a fresh sprig of herb or baby lettuce.

2. FAMILY STYLE

Emphasize contrast and color. Avoid white next to white by tossing the seafood in the red sauce to lightly color it. Cluster the mixed vegetables to make the variety more visible. Don’t group similar colors next to each other. Use the rim of the plate as a frame. If the rim looks plain, sprinkle it with a splash of color or dramatically break the frame line with some whole chives or a bouquet of watercress.

3. QUICK & CASUAL

For a more active and interesting look, cut the vegetables and the seafood into similar-sized pieces and toss together. This makes two recipe components instead of three, but rather than dividing the plate into half starch and half seafood, leave a third area open for a spoonful of sauce, a glimpse of plate and a nice garnish. This will create less symmetry and helps prevent an overfilled look.

SALMON, LENTIL SAUCE, SWISS CHARD, MUSHROOMS AND APPLE

COMPONENTS

PROBLEMS
Very dark colors. Big, heavy ingredients that can lie flat and lifeless on the plate. Sauce takes place of starch.

SOLUTIONS
Make the most out of the colors you have. Don’t cover up the light fish with the dark sauce. Many of the components are very dark, so help the light colors stand out. Place the small pieces in such a way that they break up the lines of the big dark pieces. To add variety and texture to the plate, keep the vegetables close to their natural shape so they don’t flatten out. Position the most appealing ingredients so they are most visible. Take extra care to prepare the less appealing ingredients in an attractive way. In this case, large bits of bacon and vegetables have been added to the lentils and the apples have been lightly caramelized in butter and sugar. To add an extra bit of excitement and color, use brightly colored or patterned plates and colorful garnishes.

PRESENTATIONS

1. WARM & RUSTIC

Divide the plate into thirds. In a classic presentation, these positions would be reserved for fish, starch and vegetable. The sauce is also the starch, so use the apples to fill the starch position. Placing the mushrooms between components is an excellent way to break up the three positions and a pleasing sense of unity. Serve the sauce over the fish, making sure that plenty of the fish is still visible. All the ingredients should be steaming hot and have a nice gloss.

2. SOMETHING NEW

Be bold by breaking with tradition and thinking of new ways to add interest to a dish. Here, we served the starch as the sauce and the vegetable as the crust. Slice the entrée and stand it up at an interesting angle. Drizzle bright vegetable flavored oils around the dish or scatter it with edible flower petals to bring in exciting splashes of color.

3. MODERN DESIGN

For a dramatic and contemporary effect, use a large, bright plate. Leave plenty of the plate’s surface visible, but try not to make the dish look skimpy. Food doesn’t have to just lie flat. Stack things up for added excitement. Hide the darker, softer components under the brighter ones. Take advantage of the large size and round shape of the plate by making spokes, rings and circles. Fill in empty or drab areas with sprinkles of bright, colorful, garnishes.

DECORATING WITH STYLE

For a Contemporary Look

Serve smooth, brightly colored sauces under the seafood. Use squeeze bottles to drizzle different sauces in patterns on the plate. Center the food on the plate and decorate all around it. Use dramatic cuts, colors and shapes.

For a More Comfortable Look

Prepare ingredients in large, recognizable pieces. Serve slightly larger portions. Use chunkier sauces over the fish. Cook to a little darker color, caramelize the vegetables lightly. Garnish simply, featuring natural looking items.

For a Splash of Color

PARSLEY, chopped or whole-leaf, is a delightfully fragrant garnish when fresh and moist. Use Italian flat leaf parsley for a change.
CHIVES finely sliced in lengths, or even whole, add elegant lines.
OTHER HERBS, chopped or whole, add lively flavor and color. Be sure to keep them consistent with the recipe.
BOUQUETS OF FRESH GREENS bring a robust and refreshing element to the dish. Try mizuna, frisée, tatsoi, dandelion, red endive or watercress.
EDIBLE FLOWERS AND PETALS like nasturtiums, pansies, calendula, bachelor buttons or clover bring a splash of springtime color. Pluck from your garden or purchase from a produce grocer to be sure that they have not been sprayed with harmful chemicals.
BELL PEPPERS offer all of the colors of the rainbow! Cut them in triangles, strips or dice them up into tiny, bright confetti.
CITRUS ZEST, grated or cut in long curly strips or fine threads, adds a tart and colorful accent.
OLIVE OIL combined with concentrated vegetable or herb juices and drizzled on the plates makes a brightly colored and lively accent. Use beets, basil or carrots to add color and flavor.
CONDIMENTS such as bright relishes, chutneys or even diced, marinated vegetables add a dollop of color and exciting flavor.
SEEDS like toasted white or black sesame seeds, mustard seeds, poppy seeds or even coarse black pepper bring a sprinkling of contrast and interest. Investigate Middle Eastern or Indian markets for edible seeds.
EGGS are a versatile garnish. Cut hard-boiled whites into shapes with tiny cutters. Egg yolks can be pressed through a sieve for a dusting of yellow. For lines of color, cut thin omelets into strips.

TOOLS FOR DECORATING WITH STYLE

Choosing the right tool for the right job is important whether you’re building a porch or making dinner. It doesn’t need to take long to add fine finishing touches to your plates, but having just a few of these tools on hand will help immensely. Some you may already have; others you might consider picking up along the way.

This is just a small sampling
of tools for presentation:

STRAINER: Having a small strainer on hand can mean the difference between a rough-textured sauce and a rich, smooth one; easier to use for small jobs than a full-size strainer; also great for sifting powders or spices over foods or plate rims.

MOLD: Available in all shapes and sizes in kitchen shops, molds can be as simple as a cup or a glass you already have on your shelf; great for molding rice, couscous or other starches for polished presentations.

SQUEEZE BOTTLE: You know those lovely squiggles you see dressing up plates in restaurants? All it takes is a simple squeeze bottle and a squeezeable smooth sauce; you’ll feel like a kid again squirting your sauces free style, and your family and guests will love the results.

ZESTER STRIPPER: This variety combines the two, so you can create long sturdy strips of citrus zest, or the finer shreds of zest for sprinkling; strips of zest can “tie” bundles of asparagus or green beans.

SLOTTED SPOONS: Slotted spoons are important for helping to drain off a maximum of excess liquid from vegetables and garnishes before adding to the plate; Chinese style ladle-strainers are a versatile option too.

TINY CUTTERS: Often called “aspic cutters” these can be used to cut eye-catching shapes from cooked egg white, bell peppers, cheese or citrus zest.