Busayo Oderinde: The Art of Plating

When did it first come to your consciousness that plating a meal properly was important? I mean the aesthetics, the look, feel, the clean lines, the presentation of the food that increased the entire appeal of the food? I mean before the media ingrained it in us. When did you come to this realization personally?

For me, it was when I was a child. I can’t remember what happened exactly but I told my mum I wasn’t eating the food I was served because I didn’t like the way it looked. I liked food as a child (Now, I LOVE it, it got deeper and better like fine wine) so it was a big deal for me to reject food and my mum hated hunger strikes. Throw your tantrum another way, but don’t use not eating as a tool to act out. I got an ass whooping but somehow the look of my meals improved and a lightbulb went on in my little brain; so the experience stayed with me.

The second significant time was several years ago, when I had my first proper date at a fine dining restaurant. It was a first for me. When the meal was served, I was in awe and spent several moments just staring at the food. I felt like it will be a crime to cut into this beautiful thing. The date and ‘datee’ got an elevated status in my mind.

They say you eat with your eyes first, and while quality of ingredients, textures and blend of flavours are the key elements in a successful dish, presentation comes a very important second.

Plating is a huge deal in the culinary world. From Asia with clean lines and aesthetic feel, to Europe with the elegance, North America for the decadence, South America for its exotic flair and Africa for its straight forward unpretentious presentation.

Personally I am a simple girl, I can do without the “serenren”. If it is good food that is inviting, I am sold; but I also get the place of artistically innovative meal presentation. I follow #TheArtofPlating on Instagram and probably owe this article to the page but oh my, the meals are Works of Art and I wonder at the amount of time that would have gone into conceptualizing and executing the meal.

There was an article by Chef Fregz here on BellaNaija where he deconstructed Semo and egusi soup and he credited The Instagram page TAOP for inspiration; the end product to me looked like food from India, like cubes of goat cheese and couscous and veggies. The creativity blew me away but left me pondering, in trying to give our dishes international appeal, do we lose our identity? {Click here if you missed it}

Did you know that in the Western world there is a profession called Food Styling? Food Stylists are people who make food pictures perfect. They are mostly consultants for Cookbooks, Hotels and High end Restaurants and Clients. They do the same thing a fashion stylist will do with outfits in trying to make you camera ready.

The day my sister and I watched a Food Stylist doing her work on TV, she couldn’t stop talking and being awed. This woman gets paid to ‘style’ food? I understood her shock. It is a very Nigerian thing. All this ‘senrenren’ for food? It reminded me of when an older aunty shook her head in wonder at Food Network asking why there was a whole station dedicated to food.

All is not lost though, we are evolving. I mean years ago we didn’t have fruit towers and dessert stands at parties, but they are now staples at a lot of events. I won’t be surprised if Food Styling becomes a profession in Nigeria.

A friend showed me a picture of a dish of Eba that blew his mind. He had never seen anything like that before. I have also seen several memes that depict creatively plated food with the caption ” If your girl plates food like this, Marry her!”.

So ladies (and men also), these are tips I have picked up for plating like a pro:

Use White Plates
You have to agree that I am on to something here. Somehow, white plates came onto the culinary scene and took over. Most restaurants, Cookbooks, Food blogs all plate their dishes predominantly on white plates. When was the last time you ate in a restaurant that served in a different coloured plate? I guess since White is such a stark primary colour, the colours of the food are more vibrant on the plate.
My tip is stock up your kitchen with white plates of different shapes and sizes.

Incorporate Colours in Your Dish
The more colours in your dish, the better it will look. Use a lot of colourful veggies like green, red and yellow peppers, spring onions, carrots, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, asparagus, cabbage, lettuce, gherkins, eggplants e.t.c The possibilities are endless and you also have the added health benefit.

Think Outside the Box
Plating is about creativity. I have eaten a meal out of a coconut husk and a bread bowl once. People serve meals in Pineapples, Orange barks. In fact some Carribean Countries cook and serve a lot of food in tropical fruits. I saw a scene in a TV series “Girls” where people were drinking shakes out of chocolate cups, so you also eat your ‘cup’.

Don’t be afraid to try out seemingly odd utensils to serve food, I mean these days appetizers like gizdodo are served in martini glasses which amuses me but hey it looks posh so whatever floats your boat.

Small Quantities Look Better
This is the truth; you can manoeuvre smaller portions and make it look better. This is not a hard and fast rule though because I know a casserole fresh out the oven with the ooey gooey cheese melting on top looks great.

Use Moulds/Cutters
This works very well with carbs, the starch helps hold them together so Rice, Eba, Pounded yam etc will mould well and also desserts look good with these devices.

Embrace Your Creative Side
Above all, embrace your inner artist. Don’t be afraid to use brushes, airbrushes, flame torches, spray bottles, pastry bags etc. Know what you are going for and the crowd you are trying to impress.

Two other rules I saw online was repetition of items in a dish e.g. cuts of meat in a synchronized pattern works well and placing food in a way that height and elevation is achieved. Maybe these rules could be for the very professional, but it doesn’t stop you from trying.

Everyone knows that we eat with our eyes first and therefore presentation is key. Most cooking contests award large number of points to contestants based on plating and presentation alone. Oh by the way, I have been asked to be a judge for a Cooking Contest for young people, so if you can throwdown foodwise, go to youngandcerebal.com to enter.

So there you have it, my take on The Art of Plating, what is yours? Have a fab week ahead.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Kolotype