Chefs weigh in on plating debate
The 2017 Cuisine Good Food Awards category winners share thoughts on the art of plating up.
Jeremy Rameka, Pacifica
Smear: Has been bastardised and can lead to a look of laziness if not executed well.
Foam: If used intelligently it’s a technique for delicate infusion of flavour and/or texture. Dust: Love the dust. Flowers: Get used too much for looks, not flavour. Smart application can enhance the dish.
No rules: You need to know the rules to be able to break them.
Myapproach: I try to plate how I like to eat, looking particularly at what needs to be eaten together or separately. Presentation has always been secondary to flavour. I’ve learnt to leave out what doesn’t add to the flavour and texture of a dish.
Ed Verner, Pasture
Smear: Well and truly dead. Foam: Natural foams such as dairy, which naturally aerates when heated, are OK. Most people seem to really enjoy one on the top of their coffee each morning.
Dust: I’m not sure about the word ‘‘dust’’, but powders can be very useful.
Flowers: Only if they have a purpose – they are too often used just for looks and colour.
No rules: Only Massimo Bottura would be capable of doing that and having it end up edible and attractive.
Myapproach: My main consideration is how the dish eats, followed by keeping only what is essential on the plate. Sometimes a dish is just about one ingredient and I purposefully keep the colours and style very muted to focus in on that ingredient. Other times it can be more playful and I’m looking for contrasting colours and textures.
Sid Sahrawat, Sidart & Cassia
Smear: Is out as it doesn’t add to the dish unless it is to build the components of a dish.
Foam: A good way of saucing a dish but with less volume because of the air introduced.
Dust: If there is a relevance to the dish, helps in the aroma of the dish.
Flowers: Flowers of herbs or vegetables are a great way to finish a dish.
No rules: It’s not my thing but I guess for some chefs the plate is like a canvas.
Myapproach: I first decide the core ingredient, which doesn’t always have to be a protein. Then I work around that ingredient and its composition. I plate a dish the way it will eat the best.
Vaughan Mabee, Amisfield
Smear: Not my style any more – it’s dated and boring.
Foam: It has its place in some dishes, but the espuma version.
Dust: Sounds like a grandma’s living room – we use powders (such as seaweed or mushroom) for flavour enhancement.
Flowers: We use wild onion flowers or sage flowers. I hate micro greens.
No rules: I love Massimo, I really do, but with a global team, without rules there would be complete chaos.
Myapproach: I think of what we are cooking, where it came from, and plate it back to where it’s from. We honour its life. We create a flavour from what we remember and revive it.
James Beck, Bistronomy
Smear: I love the smear, the smudge, the swoop – done well.
Foam: Why the angst against the foam? I use cream foams (sparingly) because it’s a great way of lightening a sauce.
Dust: If relevant. We serve beef short rib with a smoked marrow and nettle bone broth. As well as infusing the broth with nettle, we make a powder of nettle, which we dust over the dish. The server pours the broth at the table, which dissolves the powder, creating an extra nettle aroma and infusion.
Flowers: I love the flowers of herbs where appropriate.
No rules: If everything goes out looking like a train smash, your guests are going to start thinking you’re not trying hard enough.
Myapproach: I think about how I want my guests to eat a specific dish. No 1 rule… If it doesn’t have a good reason to be on the plate, don’t put it there.