How important is food plating and the visual appeal of a dish?

How important is the visual appearance of a dish?

  • Extremely important

    Votes: 3 20.0%

  • Very important but taste is most important

    Votes: 4 26.7%

  • Somewhat important but not a particular priority

    Votes: 8 53.3%

  • Not important

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    15
Morning Glory

Morning Glory

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To me, the good plating and visual appeal of a dish is as important as the taste. Well almost... I obviously eat things sometimes (like a bowl of porridge) which don't exactly look amazing. But generally and especially when I'm developing a recipe, the visual appearance is extremely important. I think about colours on the plate (or in the dish) as much as I think about the flavour combination. See here for an interesting article about the science of food plating.

How important is careful plating and visual appeal to you?
 
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I've heard the expression we eat with our eyes first so many times that I'm tired of it, but that doesn't make it any less true. A less appetizing plate will psychologically color our perception of how the food is tasting, while a prettier plate will similarly confer positive benefits. My "purple rice" wasn't as pretty as the black-and-white chessboard I had envisioned on a plate, and so I feel like I'm not enjoying it as much as I would have. But, that doesn't mean I don't love the taste.

My concern with plating generally ends after I take a picture of it when I'm making food for myself (which is the case for most of the food I make). Most of the food I make is consumed at work, where I don't have the luxury of time or ideal conditions. I do take a small amount of time to arrange things before I dig in, but that's about all.

Having said all that, seeing people who do spectacular work plating (like you!) does inspire me to do better. :thumbsup:
 
There are some things that just don't plate well, but taste great. Refried black beans, for instance. (Refried any beans, for that matter, I just happen to prefer the black beans...) Yes, I could creatively put cilantro (coriander) over the top, but considering the nearest supermarket likely to carry that herb is a 35 minutes drive from here, it ain't necessarily going to happen. I only drive into town when it's a multi-purpose venture. (I need to grow my own; I'm working on it.)

I try to make things look good for food photography, or for when I'm serving guests, but if it is just me - meh. I am finding my turn-on is in my olfactory sense more so than the visual. And of course there are those who say certain types of offal (tongue, for instance) can never look visually appealing - I do beg to differ, since I grew up with it, but mileage varies...

I've slowly acquired plates and bowls for food photography. I don't always use them - but I have found a great set of four soup bowls, four different colors (you can see one in this current MISO challenge); a large deep cobalt blue plate, a couple white square plates - all for cheap. I have a small set of 5 white fish-shaped plates perfect for serving fish dishes and sushi/sashimi either for guests or for food photography. I've also saved most of those rejected tile samples for the house - and they've appeared in my food photography instead of plates, though I wouldn't bring them out for guests, and wouldn't bother for regular meals I don't wish to photograph.

In my working days, bringing food to work for lunch (healthier than the cafeteria choices), I'd just jam my meal into glass microwavable containers and call it good... Even when it was salad to be eaten cold, that's all I'd do.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I've heard the expression we eat with our eyes first so many times that I'm tired of it, but that doesn't make it any less true. A less appetizing plate will psychologically color our perception of how the food is tasting, while a prettier plate will similarly confer positive benefits. My "purple rice" wasn't as pretty as the black-and-white chessboard I had envisioned on a plate, and so I feel like I'm not enjoying it as much as I would have. But, that doesn't mean I don't love the taste.

My concern with plating generally ends after I take a picture of it when I'm making food for myself (which is the case for most of the food I make). Most of the food I make is consumed at work, where I don't have the luxury of time or ideal conditions. I do take a small amount of time to arrange things before I dig in, but that's about all.

Having said all that, seeing people who do spectacular work plating (like you!) does inspire me to do better. :thumbsup:
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Don't sell yourself short @The Late Night Gourmet . I see your pictures from work and when I compare them to the majority of desk lunches I see throughout the company (we work for the same company), yours are superior.

I, too, follow his pattern. Cook, take photo, pack for lunch. One thought he may have overlooked is color contrast. Even at lunch, I love to see bright veggies mixed in with a rich dark sauce.

In the end, it is the taste that makes the difference.

Great response @The Late Night Gourmet
 
Mountain Cat said:
There are some things that just don't plate well, but taste great. Refried black beans, for instance. (Refried any beans, for that matter, I just happen to prefer the black beans...)
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So right @Mountain Cat . It is not easy to make refried beans look good.
When I want to plate fancy refried beans, I will drizzle some mexican table cream on top of the beans and border the beans with a small portion of shredded lettuce and petite cut tomatoes.
 
Awesome thread @morning glory.

There is a entire category on Reddit called "Food Porn" dedicated to the most luscious food photography. Most of the photos are staged though.
Here on CookingBites there are food photos that are fabulous. @murphyscreek is one of my favorites.

Of course @morning glory posts some great photos too. I too would like to improve my food photography skills, but I tend to get too damn hungry :hungry: before I have time to shoot "the perfect photo". :pics:
 
TodayInTheKitchen said:
Awesome thread @morning glory.

There is a entire category on Reddit called "Food Porn" dedicated to the most luscious food photography. Most of the photos are staged though.
Here on CookingBites there are food photos that are fabulous. @murphyscreek is one of my favorites.

Of course @morning glory posts some great photos too. I too would like to improve my food photography skills, but I tend to get too damn hungry :hungry: before I have time to shoot "the perfect photo". :pics:
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Guilty here of not taking pics ready to serve, as well.

Russ
 
Very good points well made. Two other considerations:

1. In real life cooking, it is often difficult to make the whole meal look photogenic. Take a Sunday roast, the sliced meat with a drizzle of gravy and bit of watercress on top can look very nice. The difficulty comes when you add the rest of the food you actually eat with it to the plate.

2. Totally agree with eating first with your eyes (actually second, the smell comes first) but this only works if the taste actually delivers on the promise. A plate of unappetising food is even worse if time has been taken to make it look pretty.
 
TodayInTheKitchen said:
Awesome thread @morning glory.

There is a entire category on Reddit called "Food Porn" dedicated to the most luscious food photography. Most of the photos are staged though.
Here on CookingBites there are food photos that are fabulous. @murphyscreek is one of my favorites.

Of course @morning glory posts some great photos too. I too would like to improve my food photography skills, but I tend to get too damn hungry :hungry: before I have time to shoot "the perfect photo". :pics:
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Thanks mate. I agree the eating before it gets cold can be a big factor, and I often end up going "that'll do" even though deep down I know I could get a better pic if kept at it. This is especially so with my YouTube dishes, as I stop videoing to take stills of the end dish, and then have to set up the video again to do the tasting.
 
If it is a "Special Meal" I might be more attentive to plating. Everyday meals are usually served from pot to plate and taking pictures is usually an after thought. Karen usually remembers to get a pic or two. Like refried beans, a mess of crawfish or blue crab spread over newspaper isn't all that photogenic.:D What I really like are step by step pics of prep to finish like the one I did for "Muffin Tin Thighs".

https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/cupcake-muffin-tin-thighs.12160/
 
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CraigC said:
If it is a "Special Meal" I might be more attentive to plating. Everyday meals are usually served from pot to plate and taking pictures is usually an after thought. Karen usually remembers to get a pic or two. Like refried beans, a mess of crawfish or blue crab spread over newspaper isn't all that photogenic.:D What I really like are step by step pics of prep to finish like the one I did for "Muffin Tin Thighs".

https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/cupcake-muffin-tin-thighs.12160/
Click to expand...

Fantastic series of pics there.
 
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