I wanted to share a quick word with you on plating. I’ve recently gotten increasingly into having fun with plating and have found that it’s a very simple way to ‘dress up’ something commonplace. A plain plate allows the food to take center stage- and are easy to find, as they’re all the rage at the moment- and displaying ingredients well can cause a major uplift in perception of taste. Take, for example, a slice of toast. You can place it, as I often do, on a brightly-coloured striped plate, unadorned, near a jar of jam or the pot of soy butter… you could also take an egg and place it on a similarly busy plate design… and for what purpose? Yes, it’s practical, but no, you’re not giving it the attention that would cause its taste to suddenly seem so much more magnificent.
I decided to experiment with this by taking a subject who usually eats food incredibly quickly (the boyfriend) who may or may not notice all the elements of a dish. Rather than serve him his oft-had toast and sunny-side up eggs in boring fashion, I decided to have some fun with it.
Two scoops of vanilla yogurt drizzled with drops of honey, peach jam for the toast, and blackberries with cinnamon sprinkled on top sit in this fun 3-piece tasting plate. The same ingredients could easily be served in their containers, but why not make it more exciting (though, granted, it is one more dish to clean). Add on the toast (with a small dollop of soy butter) and eggs on a similar single-colour tasting platter and voila. One of the simplest breakfasts of all time, made immediately classy simply by its plating. The boyfriend ate it far less quickly than usual, and seemed more satisfied after having eaten it. I rest my case. :)
