If you’ve ever looked at an Instagram food account, you’ve probably noticed that the presentation of these dishes is just as important as the ingredients themselves. Food that looks beautiful on a lavish grazing platter is more likely to be shared and re-gramme, so learning how to make your meals pop on social media and out pays off. Here are a few tips for making your next meal look like a million bucks (or at least a hundred thousand).
Know who you are feeding
Before you think about how you present this dish, ensure you know who you’re serving it to. Food presentation aims to enhance the experience of eating and drinking; if your guests are not enjoying themselves, there’s no point in putting together a visually appealing plate or glass. When planning a meal, keep in mind individual preferences. If it’s grandma’s birthday, she’ll probably appreciate something more traditional than your latest experimental black truffle dish (no matter how delicious). If it’s an office party for some colleagues who eat whatever they want all day long, go wild with decadence.
Cook with the seasons
It’s essential to shop at local markets. This is an easy way to get fresh, seasonal produce. It also provides a way to meet your neighbours and learn about the local area.
For example, when it’s summer, many different types of fruit are available at a reasonable price. If you make a blackberry tart with plenty of fresh berries on top, it will look amazing.
If you want to save money and make your meal look more attractive at the same time, try cooking with seasonal produce during those months when they’re in season. You’ll be able to get them for cheaper and use them for various dishes because they won’t spoil as quickly as other fruits or vegetables that aren’t in season.
Use a variety of dishes
You can achieve balance by using a variety of dishes to serve the same food. Large, deep serving platters are great for significant portions, but if you’re serving smaller amounts and don’t want to give up the visual appeal of a large plate, try using a grazing platter or even a ramekin instead.
- Use different sizes, shapes, and colours of dishes to create an exciting display. For example, a large round dish surrounded by small oblong ones will create contrast and make your food look more visually appealing.
- Also, consider texture; try including crunchy items like crudités alongside creamy ones like pasta salad or potato salad (or both!) so that the surfaces balance nicely.
Add height
There’s a simple trick to add height to your food. In the same way, you would use a cake stand, platter or cake plate to present your dessert; you can also use an inverted bowl or jug.
A pedestal is another great way of adding height, and it helps keep the food elevated so that guests can see it better when seated at their tables.
Keep it simple
Simple food presentations are always more elegant and beautiful than complicated ones, so keep your eye on the prize. It is recommended to start with a few essential elements: fresh ingredients and a simple plate to showcase them on, as well as something to cut or tear from (think cheese boards). From there, you can build out other items as needed.
Make it easy for guests to eat!
You want people to enjoy themselves at your party, so don’t make eating an obstacle course by using too many utensils or making them work too hard for their food. For instance: if you’re serving hot hors d’oeuvres at a buffet table in the centre of your living room, put things like crackers and toothpicks within arm’s reach of everyone who’ll be mingling around there (but not directly in front of them—that way they’ll have room to move around).
Conclusion
And that’s it.
If you’ve been dying to take your food presentation skills to the next level, now you know how. Just remember: practice makes perfect!
