How to make food look as SCRUMPTIOUS as it tastes
From pretty poached eggs to super smart salads, a leading food stylist reveals the tricks of her trade in a mouth-watering new book
OUR quest for the perfect, most photogenic plate of food grows more intense every day.
More than 300million photos of all kinds are posted daily on social media site Facebook — a fair proportion of them showing food, and it’s estimated that one in five of us post photos of food online at least once a month — curated, titivated and then drooled over by millions.
But it’s not just about social media. Scientists have proved that an aesthetically sparkling plate of food tastes better than one that looks like a dog’s dinner. More than the aroma, it’s the sight of a dish that dictates how much we want it. As a food stylist, I know better than anyone how important it is to make what we put on a plate look good.
I’ve spent years poring over dishes — nudging with tweezers, painting on mayonnaise, pegging with cocktail sticks — all to make sure the food in the picture looks tantalising when blown up on the side of a bus, or splashed over a doublepage spread in a glossy cookbook.
Over the years, I’ve learned dozens of tricks to make food look amazing — and taste fab, too. So whether you’re cooking for a dinner party or sharing pictures of your supper on social media, here are my top food beauty tips!
BREAKFAST TIPS FOR PRETTY POACHED EGGS
SET a sieve over a bowl and crack your egg into it. This gets rid of the excess loose white. Transfer the egg into a wine glass — it’s easier to lower the egg into your simmering water from a curved shape.
Stir your water into a whirlpool. Position the glass close to the surface of the water and then tip the egg straight into the centre of the vortex you’ve made.
Trim the straggly egg white on your cooked eggs with a pair of scissors.
PORRIDGE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL, TOO
PORRIDGE is often regarded as a comforting humble breakfast, but with a bit of care it can be beautiful.
Swirl yoghurt; sprinkle pomegranate seeds, pistachios or flaked almonds; add apple matchsticks or frozen raspberries and blueberries, or drape redcurrants over the top.
I like to pre-soak and cook my oats really slowly (as you would a risotto, stirring regularly) allowing them the time to get really creamy while still retaining a little bite.
CLEAN MUSHROOMS WITH A TOOTHBRUSH
TO CLEAN mushrooms, use a toothbrush or special mushroom brush. Avoid washing them with water at all costs —they absorb it like a sponge and will seep liquid as they cook instead of getting that lovely golden hue.
IMPRESS WITH AN AVOCADO FAN
TO SLICE an avocado fan, take a stoned avocado half and peel away the skin. Put the shelled avocado cut-side down on your board. Leaving about 2cm at the top, cut it into 1cm slices lengthways.
Gently press the top of the avocado down and to one side to fan it out. Your avocado will need to be just on the point of ripeness for this method to be successful.
LUNCH LESS IS MORE FOR BIG-IMPACT SALADS
TO BUILD a beautiful salad, think of colour — in the same way you’d dress yourself. It’s easy to get carried away with colours in salads, but for the best visual impact you should stick to similar shades.
Think about the natural shapes of the leaves and leave large ones, such as round lettuce, chicory and lollo rossa, whole. They can act as a vessel for other components.
Less is more: try to work with five main components or flavours. More confuses the taste buds and looks messy. If I’m plating individual portions, I often use my hands to build the leaves on top of one another so they stand tall and perky on the plate.
CREATE GORGEOUS CHEESE TOASTIES!
ON PHOTO shoots involving melting cheese, some stylists use warmed palette knives and DIYshop heat guns to get that perfect shot of runny cheese.
But the semi-soft Italian cheese taleggio heats to stringy perfection by itself, and requires no trickery. I like to allow — in fact I positively encourage — the cheese to spill out from the sides to get a golden veil around the outside.
MAKE THE SUNDAY ROAST LOOK SENSATIONAL
O ADD vibrant pops of colour by glazing roast lamb with pomegranate molasses, then scattering pretty pink pomegranate seeds over the top; or serving pork with rhubarb steeped overnight in vinegar and sugar.
O CARAMELISE sprouts in a saute pan on the hob and steam your carrots; the contrast of cooking methods is not only easier to juggle in a small kitchen, but makes for a more interesting variety of flavours and textures on the plate.
O INVEST in a carving knife, or at least make sure that you have a suitably sharp knife for carving a
joint, as this is the only way to achieve a good clean cut.
Chopping boards can be a nice serving option, allowing you to carve directly at the table
O IMPRESS your guests with a stunning circular potato bake instead of roasties.
Cut potatoes into 2mm slices using a mandolin and arrange them in bundles, standing upright, around the sides of a buttered dish into which you’ve tipped some finely sliced onion.
Work inwards in concentric circles until you’ve filled the pan, inserting dollops of butter between the slices as you go. Arrange sprigs of rosemary on top, cover in foil and bake for 20 minutes, then brush with melted butter before serving. It’s a real wow dish.
A HINT OF MOTHER NATURE FOR VEG
WHEN I prepare vegetables, I try to keep their shapes looking as much like their natural incarnation as possible. This reminder of Mother Nature evokes an idea of freshness that makes your veg all the more appealing.
Ditch carrot batons and leave the tops on (trim all but a centimetre off). Leave more on beetroot tops (around 3cm). Scrape excess dirt off the skin with a paring knife and leave the skinny tail on — it adds character. And stop chopping cauliflower and broccoli — instead, pull away the florets with your hands like tiny little bouquets. GENERALLY, this is en papillote. It produces perfectly cooked fish, whether whole or filleted.
Cooking within sealed parcels allows you to steam the fish while infusing it with herbs and other colourful aromatics.
I like letting people unwrap the pretty little parcels themselves at the table. It adds to the enjoyment of the culinary experience.
CHILLING OUT WITH PERFECT PIE TOPPINGS
KEEPING your pastry well chilled is essential if you want to make an impressive — but really not too tricky — design on top of a pie.
If my kitchen is particularly warm, I roll out the pastry then slide it on to a chopping board and into the freezer. If you aren’t in the mood for creating a bespoke topping, just use a cookie cutter.
PHOTOGENIC SPAGHETTI? JUST GIVE IT A TWIRL
WHEN we style spaghetti on a photo shoot, we often arrange it into nests to make a neater portion. Use tongs or a fork and spoon to twirl it in the same way that you would a mouthful of pasta before eating it.
DITCH THE PARSLEY, USE DILL OR CORIANDER
CIRCA 1970, curly-leaf parsley was king and solitary sprigs hovered over every plate. Fast-forward to today and going curly is the ultimate foodie faux pas.
Clippings of coriander or delicate dill fronds now reign supreme. The best rule of thumb — for home cooks and professional stylists alike — is to garnish with a herb only if it is adding flavour or aroma. To refresh wilted herbs before using them as a garnish, plunge them into iced water, then dry them off.
TRY A SPRINKLE OF MICROMANAGEMENT
INTRODUCING edible flowers and microherbs or microgreens (the small seedlings of herbs and vegetables, such as baby basil or baby watercress) into your cooking is one of the easiest and quickest ways of making something look stunning with just a few sprinkles.
Use them sparsely and always with the intention of adding substance as well as style to the plate.
STICK TO ODD NUMBERS WHEN PLATING UP
WHEN you’re serving, remember the ‘rule of three’, which dictates that an arrangement of three will always look better than a formation of four. Overlap, layer, create height, and play around with the composition — but stick to odd numbers.
And don’t fill the plate. Smaller looks daintier and more special, and of course you can always go back for seconds!
LOVE YOUR PEELER — IT’S YOUR BEST FRIEND
A PEELER is a food stylist’s best friend, essential for creating ribbons of vegetables and flaky thin shavings of hard cheese such as parmesan (much more visually interesting than grating it, in my book).
The simplest and most basic one, shaped like a ‘Y’, is all you need.
LEAVE THE PRETTIEST ELEMENTS UNTIL LAST
COOKING FISH THE FOOD STYLISTS’ WAY
HANG on to a few of the prettiest elements of your dish to position them at the end.
This could be the best-looking segment of orange or the curl of carrot you are most happy with.
It gives you greater control over the composition of the plate and means all those lovely colourful bits won’t get lost under a bed of spaghetti or kale.
O THE New Art Of Cooking by Frankie Unsworth (Bloomsbury, €26.93, blackwells.co.uk).