Home plate: The art of making food look good

Mollies' chef Paul Nanni says food should be as pleasing to the eye as the palate. Pictures / Carolyn Robertson

Remember when food presentation resembled the gravity-defying stacks of old cars in a scrap yard? Julienned strips of carrot teetering on angle-parked courgette wedges, trussed up with pastry structures riding loose on meaty slabs. One prod of a fork, and it would collapse.

Auckland Chef Peter Chichester sighs at the memory of those high-rise meals during the early 90s.

As chef for Benediction Cafe in Newton, and occasionally Government House where he recently cooked for Prince William, Chichester dislikes any foolery around food presentation.

"Keep it simple. I don't believe in upstaging a good product. It's window-dressing for the sake of it."

In restaurant parlance, it's called plating up; at home it's more like dishing up with strict orders to hold the spinach. Host a dinner party, and you want your food to look as good as it tastes.

Every professional chef agrees that presentation brings a plate alive, but after a lengthy bout in the kitchen preparing stuffed filet de boeuf, it's easy to lose your nerve at this crucial stage.

"It's about keeping it simple and relying heavily on technique to enhance the look," says chef Michael Meredith.

It's unlikely most dinner party hosts could replicate Meredith's seared tuna rolled into a perfect tube.

The Grove's head chef suggests home cooks select their favourite recipe for each course and practise several times before the dinner party. After discarding a few burnt entrees and mangled mains you'll have overcome any technical difficulties to concentrate on plating style.

One chef already boned up on technique is New-Yorker Paul Nanni, the new chef at Mollies boutique hotel in Herne Bay.

Raised by a family devoted to Tuscan-style food, Nanni spent four years learning classic techniques at the Culinary Institute of America in New York before joining Aquavit's Nils Noren who he regards as the professor of the avant garde food movement.

The nattily dressed Nanni, has also done a stint of food styling for celebrity chef Marcus Samuelson's Inner Chef series on the Discovery Channel.

Nanni refers to the large square plates at Mollies as his canvas.

"While you're creating the food, you have to imagine how it will plate up. I want it to be as pleasing to the eye as the palate."

His latest work, a saffron-stained squid offset with a dramatic slash of black ink, is influenced by the American abstract expressionists. He also talks of making anti-plating statements, where chefs smash up plates, and serve delicate morsels on the jagged remains.

His latest obsession is cubes, lots of white space and clean lines. Nanni admits there's a downside to such intricate plating.

"I don't like a plate leaving the kitchen if it's not right. I have to instantly re-plate."

Nanni plays around with colour and food combinations like the great Heston Blumenthal from London's Fat Duck who creates smoked bacon and egg ice-cream, and red cabbage pistachio in all its purple glory. But it's best to leave such food explosions to the experts.

Meredith recommends precise proportions. Consistency is important so all dishes look the same.

Amanda Laird, chef and former stylist for food writer Peta Mathias, stresses the importance of leaving space between ingredients to emphasise colour and texture. "Plating hot food for large numbers requires considerable timing skills. Professional chefs take around 35 seconds to plate up and they have the advantage of heat lamps. It's essential you warm the plates before serving hot food."

To liven up desserts, Laird suggests serving them on different shaped plates and add a little gloss.

A light sugar syrup made with one part sugar to one part water and infused with vanilla bean or citrus adds gloss to cakes and tarts - and a circle around the plated dessert adds extra polish.

Take four chefs, five ingredients and no plate-up will be the same. But there's one thing they all agree on; redundant garnish should be banished. The former staples of plate presentation - tomato roses and miniature rabbits carved from olives - have been expelled from the modern kitchen.

Chichester, whom critics have praised for his almost magical touch with salads, is a fan of British chef Nigel Slater and his unfussy presentation.

"I don't like putting anything on the plate that doesn't have anything to do with the dish. Some places will garnish with things that have nothing to do with what [the customer] ordered."

Nanni loathes any garnish that you can't eat as easily as the food - and Meredith insists that garnishes have more than eye appeal.

"They have to complement the final product and add texture. Certain garnishes like the micro herbs, which are popular in restaurants now, look beautiful but often have a strong taste that can easily overpower a dish."

Laird suggests combinations of gremolata - lemon zest, garlic and parsley very finely chopped - or a lively mix of freshly torn mint and coriander leaves mixed with finely chopped roasted peanuts and strips of red chilli.

The key to good plating is preparation and that means having all your sauces and garnishes on standby. If you insist on getting the potato as rigid as spikes on a punk's head, then at least have the piping bag handy.

A final piece of advice from the three chefs; no amount of fancy plating makes up for bad food.

Tips from the experts

1. You can forget key ingredients when plating up, so make a list for every course.

2. Mixing salad greens, vegetables and noodles in a bowl by hand before plating ensures even distribution of the dressing.

3. A small squeezy bottle (with a tiny hole) is perfect for circling the food with quality oils and vinegars.

4. For perfect mounds of spaghetti, twirl the plate as you serve it up.

5. Odd numbers on a plate have more impact than even.

6. For thicker sauces use a spoon, for thinner use a ladle Remember it's always better to add sauces after plating in order to control the finished dish for flavour and aesthetics.

7. Use coloured or patterned charger plates, with white dinner plates, to accentuate the food while incorporating the colours of the table setting.

8. Don't be tempted to overload the plate; less is more.

9. Keep the rim of the plate clear of food and garnishes, and remember to wipe clean any dribbles.

10. If food is sitting for a few moments, drizzle extra virgin or flavoured oil over vegetables or meat just before serving to add freshness, flavour and gloss.

11. Individually plate salads with the heaviest ingredients forming the foundation upon which lighter ingredients are added, thereby achieving the required height.

12. Keep food well within the edges of the plate to provide a frame and separate components - especially effective with entrees and desserts.

13. Put dessert plates in the freezer for a few minutes before plating to prevent icecream or whipped cream from losing its grip and sliding around.