In the world of culinary arts, presentation is just as crucial as taste. For Nigerian cuisine, this means taking traditional dishes and transforming them into visually appealing masterpieces. Forget Iya Basirah, Mama Putt, even Mr Biggs! Now if you want a husband, client, guest, child to accept and eat your food, also to get good recommendations, the food must be well presented and made appealing to the eyes.
The process of creating anything is a compound of many steps, many different sources of inspirations. What are you serving? What do you want to convey? What ‘plate’ are you serving it on? This will help in creating the visual appeal and balance you want.
Here are some techniques to enhance your Nigerian food plating skills:
Key Elements of Food Plating
Balance: This is the key. When I sketch the plate, I can see the balance of colours, I can explore tastes in my head, I can investigate the options.
Placement: Placement is everything so it is good to give it some thought. And this next point is key - execution may require making on-the-fly changes.
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Consider this example: This was dessert so I didn’t need any ingredient in large quantities. When I placed the coconut pancake cross sections with the chunk of peanut brittle in between, I didn’t like the way it looked. Also, one of the cross sections began to unroll so I set it on its side - proof that the best laid plans will sometimes unfurl different from how you planned. But also from the side.
Visualize the end from the beginning: Understand the food recipe, tools and ingredients you want to work with, create a framework. Know what you are trying to achieve; a Nigerian dish, continental meal, a mix of Asian, chinese, indian dishes.
Essential Tips for Nigerian Food Plating
- Practice Makes Perfect: Don’t give yourself knocks if the food style you are trying to achieve doesn’t go the way you want, continue to try different styles till you become a pro and achieve desired results. Being a good cook is not an innate skill.
- Don't Waste Good Food: Even a mess can be turned to your advantage.
- Mix Different Ideas: Try different angles, food mixes (liquids, vapors and solids).
- Invest in a Good Camera: Samsung, Nikon and Canon has been said to work best for food photography. Take loads of pictures from the setup, during preparation, food plating and final presentation. The difference between an amateur and a pro can be easily noticed in the final picture.
- Plan Your Meal Well Ahead: To achieve balance. Embrace the mood, be creative and spontaneous.
- Buy Necessary Food Moulding Tools: To create spirals, twists, rolled food, dices, square cuts and other various food shapes, you need to use the right tool for the right purpose.
These food masters will inspire and motivate you as you get ready to start or improve on your food plating techniques. Learn from them .
Since I got my Samsung Note 5, I’ve been encouraged to draw my ideas.
For more food plating pictures from all over the world:
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