Do We Eat First With Our Eyes?

Yesterday we had an introduction to plating food. What Chef Ron called, “letting us play in the sandbox.” Items in our sandbox included:

Julienne zucchini, red peppers, yellow squash, and green peppers

Brunoise (small dice that is 3 mm square) red peppers

Demilune turnips – shaped like a crescent moon

Rice

Grilled chicken breasts

Turned zucchini - a classic turned vegetable has seven sides and is evenly pointed at both ends. The French term for the method of turning vegetables is tournés

Then we got to play. Trying to create a visually appealing meal. Using our plates as the canvas and the food as our paint, we started creating our masterpieces. Well not yet a Rembrandt, at least for me, it was fun, and a great introduction to the importance of presentation. When you work hard to make a great meal, why not spend some time learning how to display it? After all, we do eat first with our eyes.

There is a great lesson on The Basics of Plating at the Roubxe Online Cooking School. I partnered with Rouxbe to give you a free, full-access, no-videos-barred, 14-day pass to their site. Check out the lesson on plating and you will be presenting food like a pro.

Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes

Cheers!