Week 4: Plating, Food Modifying and Acids- Oh BOY!


 

The visual presentation of a dish is essential to its overall enjoyment, as it is often noted that our initial perception of food is influenced by its appearance. Some basic principles to plating incorporate:

  1. Resist the urge to “draw” with your ingredients
  2. Use odd numbers of things, like 3’s or 5’s
  3. Keep a 1” border and don’t over clutter the plate
  4. Sauces should go under an item, which allows the eater to decide how much sauce they choose to use 
Keep it simple and be playful, use your plate like a canvas. 

A word on Acids..
Acid adds sourness to foods, but all acids are different. A red wine vinegar has complexity compared to its counterpart white. And lemon juice is far sourer and slightly more acidic in PH than red wine vinegar. Even fruits which are considered acids, will possess different features depending on where they are grown and harvested and even what part of the tree they grew on. 

Acid can also change the colors of vegetables and fruits. Greens like spinach can come out dull and brown while red cabbage and chard will turn brilliantly bright. Fruits that are susceptible to browning like apple and will retain color with a small amount of acid added

Layering acids include 2 different methods, fast and slow. A slow acid is a cooking method that incorporates mellow flavors that transform the dish over time. These include red wine vinegar, mirin or apple cider vinegar. Garnishing or fast acids are used at the end of the recipe. Lemon juice squeezed at the end of a Caesar salad or tomato salsa onto of braised pork. 
      
Food Modifiers for Therapeutic Diets 
Guidelines For Flavor Balancing













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