You want your food to look great, no matter if you’re hosting a dinner party or family gathering. Properly plating food appeals to all three senses: sight, smell, and taste. Many home chefs find it easy to make the food taste great. The most challenging part of cooking is preparing and serving the food with garnishes and other special touches to make it look delicious. You don’t have to be a professional chef to cook at home. Many home chefs struggle with confidence in their cooking skills. If you have the right tips and tricks, it’s easy to properly plate your food so that it looks like top chefs prepared it. You will soon be creating mouthwatering dishes worthy to grace the pages of Bon Appetit with a little bit of knowledge and lots of experimentation. These five steps will give your meals that extra visual boost.
- Prepare and organize, plan ahead
- With more than 500,000 guests, dinner parties are still the most popular form of entertaining in America. 12,000 monthly online searches for dinner party foods . Cooking at home has many advantages, including the ability use healthier ingredients and greater control over portion sizes. You also have the freedom to make whatever dish you like. According to a recent survey, more than 34% of Americans want to cook more home-cooked meals. Preparation is key to success in all aspects of life. The same applies for cooking and preparing food for a dinner party. It will save you time, stress, and money by preparing your ingredients and kitchen tools in advance. Keep these things in mind:
- Take Note of Each Step: It can be very enjoyable to prepare your meal ahead of time with some music, a relaxing drink or even a friend. It’s helpful to note every step of the process, from what tools you use to how many ingredients. Make sure you list all ingredients in the correct order so that you don’t forget any. It is best to write down the ingredients. Using your phone to follow a recipe can make it difficult. Scrolling and reading small text can cause you miss one step.
- Use the right tools Having the right tools in the kitchen is as important as the right ingredients. You need everything, from pots, pans and bowls to utensils and essentials like foil and parchment paper. Squeeze bottles are essential for creating the perfect glaze or decoration for your dish. Long tweezers allow you to arrange smaller and more delicate foods. Paintbrushes, tools to create spirals or julienne, and ladles are all useful tools. You should make sure that your tools work properly and that your knives are sharpened.
- Make As Much Preparation as Possible in Advance: While it is important to ensure fresh ingredients, you should prepare as much in advance as possible without compromising the quality and freshness of your ingredients. Some items, like avocados or greens, can brown or wilt if they are not cut quickly enough before being eaten. You can cut, peel, and trim as many parts as possible and then put them in bowls or containers. Sauces and marinades can be prepared in advance, then stored in squeeze bottles. Some ingredients can be placed in pots with lids and put them on the stove. To ensure that the final dish looks great, keep the final product in your mind when you prepare each ingredient.
- How to organize your workspace: A well-organized workspace will improve your productivity. You can organize your kitchen and place your tools on the counter according to the order you plan to use them. It is worth the effort to clean up after your entire meal has been prepared. It is important to clean up after you’re done using them. This will allow you to keep your kitchen and mind clear. For a later stage of the recipe, you may need the space or the particular tool. Too many meals have been destroyed by chefs who had to rush to clean a kitchen tool or clear out a space in the kitchen. Clean workspaces allow you to concentrate on the meal and enjoy your guests, while minimizing cleanup.
