"z z" > wrote in message
...
> Presentation is an art form separate from the quality of your cooking.
> Watching cooking shows, you will often see them tucking a sprig of
> something for presentation. You can tell who has talent and who doesn't.
> What have you done for presentation?
>
> I like my crisply white Corelle dishware-there is something about
> print/pattern/colored dishware that just throws off the food for me. I
> like to take large grain black pepper and sprinkle quite a bit around
> the food on the plate. Serves two purposes-extra pepper for those who
> like it, and decoration.

When I got my first set of Corelle, I immediately noticed that I disliked
the look of the food on it. The plates themselves were white but they had a
pastel pattern of flowers that covered all by the edge of the plate. I
realize now that I prefer a plainer pattern. My current Corelle is white
with tiny blue flowers around the edge. Just prior it was beige with blue
and a tiny bit of orange around the ede.

I also find that the color of the plate affects me as well. Black plates
are fine for little appetizers and smaller fancier dishes but I'm not sure
I'd want to eat a whole meal on a black plate. I'm not sure that I ever did
do that but it just doesn't sound appealing.

There was a Mexican restaurant on Cape Cod that served their food on HUGE
round white plates and then they did a liberal sprinkling of something green
and chopped around the edges of the plate. I always assumed it was parsley.
It also appeared to be dried. But in retrospect it may have been cilantro.

I was watching some cooking show recently and a female chef recoiled in
horror when someone did this to a plate. Now I can't remember which show I
was watching. I just remember that it was a competition and it was a female
chef who said she hated it when that was done. I actually kind of liked it
even though I didn't actually eat the stuff on the edges of the plate.

I used to like it when we'd get a piece of curly parsley on the plate. I
haven't seen that in years! But I love the taste of fresh parsley and I'd
always eat mine. I guess most people didn't though.

When we lived in CA it was the norm to put a piece of purple kale on the
plate. My daughter thought it was pretty and always snatched it all up and
ate it. Haven't seen that for a while either.

Tonight my plate had a piece of lettuce on the plate with a thin slice of
orange that had been slit to the center and then twisted. I could have done
without that.

There is a chain here called Bob's Burger and Brew. Or something like that.
If you order a side of fries or Jo Jo's they will serve them on a bed of
lettuce. Seriously! I can't imagine why. I always forget to tell them not
to put the lettuce on there so I have to yank it all off right away. I can
see how it might serve a purpose in maybe absorbing some grease from the
potatoes but... It immediately turns soggy. And then when it is soggy it
just makes the potatoes soggy. So no good!

When I was a kid, radish roses were big. They were often used as a garnish
by home cooks. So were carrot curls and celery fans. I used to make those
things.

These days I don't garnish much at all. I will put paprika on deviled eggs.
Also on stuffed potatoes and I will also put some chopped chives or green
onion on there as well. I like cheese and chopped onion on top of chili.

When I made those potatoes for Easter, I did use a couple of sprigs of
Rosemary on top. It looked nice.

I will serve cold stuffed cherry tomatoes on a bed of curly parsley only
because it helps keep them from rolling around.

I have used small heads of various greens to form cups to hold olives or
pickles on a raw veggie platter.
>
> I have one of those 3 tier graduated trays. Once (for someone who had
> just married) I filled it with frosted cupcakes and then took long thin
> curling ribbons, tied them to the top center point, and curled them to
> fall down the sides. However, I skimped on the cupcakes, and learned
> that presentation should never outdo the food.

Agreed. And the food needs to be easy to get at.