Does anyone here embellish / "plate" their food?

[LibraryLover]

It is just that some of us enjoy doing this. If one likes to cook, finds it calming or whatnot, it's not a huge leap to want your work to make you smile. I love colors of pretty vegetables, and pasta sauce sprinkled with fresch copped parsley or swirls of parmesean, for instance. I suppose it sounds a bit silly if you're not into it, but it's pretty harmless and gives some of us cooks a little thrill. Maybe that's my weirdness. I should add this to the other thread.

 

As far as restaurants, I think they are meant to be social opportunities, a break from cooking, and offers opportunities to taste and enjoy new foods, or foods you don't alway have the time to prepare. I do enjoy a harmonious looking plate of nicely prepared food.

Edited June 26, 2012 by LibraryLover

[jenangelcat]

I am a great cook but once it's done I just want to eat it. It's why I rarely post food photos on my blog. I have no interest in plating food artistically. My husband likes to style it but he also leaves a big mess in the kitchen while he's busy making things look pretty.

[KatieJ]

Embellish,not really. Now that it is just of us, I usually cook just for the two of us and therefore I plate it.

However, when I serve a crowd, and back in the day when I cooked for the family every night, sides, extras and all that were always put on in a pretty dish. I am talking taco or chili night and the sour cream and shredded cheese got their own dish. I rarely served from the pot food was cooked in and we never ate buffet style from the stove. It was always set on the table. I also use/used cloth napkins, but that is a personal preference to avoid waste.

[Guest]

I usually scoop and serve, but occasionally I will "plate" it. Last night this thread was sticking out in my mind, so I made a beautiful potato dish and crossed chives over them. Oh, everyone was talking about those chives. :lol:

[Bang!Zoom!]

It's a penny pinching menu for a couple of weeks is all. It's a repeat of the last three weeks ingredients; so I want to disguise it as new, different, shiny. :)

 

Same stuff, just served in a different look. I have what they call Stackers (they are basically food molds) in fancy shapes. We are using most all meatless dishes, and lots of rice and beans. And then I got all Captain Bulk Foods - and am trying out some odd foods I've never cooked before. They could bomb is what I'm thinking.

 

Stuff like TVP (textured vegetable protein), and some other assorted strange grains & legumes for the first time. I figured if I can make it look pretty, maybe they won't ask what's in it. :D

[ElizaG]

I figured if I can make it look pretty, maybe they won't ask what's in it. :D

Some people say that "nouvelle cuisine" chefs started emphasizing the visual aspect to disguise the fact that the plate had so little food on it. In that case, you're in keeping with the tradition! ;)

 

Seriously, though... I don't know what your ingredients are, but you might try looking in cookbooks from a few generations ago (such as this one, or this meatless one). Families in those days didn't always have access to a lot of different items, so they had to get creative. Common recipes included croquettes, timbales, patties, loaves, pastry cases, things-in-a-nest, and the mysterious but popular "hash." :lol:

 

ETA from the first book:

 

boiled macaroni

baked macaroni in white sauce

baked macaroni in white sauce with grated cheese

macaroni and tomato sauce

deep-fried macaroni and cheese croquettes

deep-fried macaroni and oyster croquettes [this is when oysters were considered a cheap food]

macaroni and cheese sauce

baked macaroni in white sauce with hard-boiled eggs

baked macaroni in white sauce with ham

baked chopped macaroni in white sauce with oysters

 

These are all separate recipes, I kid you not... and then they would do very similar things with rice, or with potatoes...

Edited June 26, 2012 by Eleanor