How much does the presenttion of your food....
Discussion
By no means do I have the expertise to prepare to the level you do, OP, but if the meal lends itself well to it, then yes, I'd say it does.
My thing is slow-smoked bbq. A slab of ribs, coleslaw & potato salad and cheap stodgy wonderbread all dumped on a piece of foil does nicely in this instance!
My thing is slow-smoked bbq. A slab of ribs, coleslaw & potato salad and cheap stodgy wonderbread all dumped on a piece of foil does nicely in this instance!
even if i'm cooking for myself its important, but depends what mood i'm in. if cooking something for the first time or trying to improve upon a previous effort i'll do i properly,. if i'm starving its just slapped on the plate and scoffed. i don't 'dress' my plate though unless i'm cooking for someone besides myself.
5% same as all that nonsense about restaurant 'ambience'. That is just an excuse to rip people off. Charging people for the restaurant's decoration is the ultimate in theft. For a start it's offset as a business expense together with depreciation. It's a finite cost. Therefore, once it's paid off and say a 10% profit is made, do the prices go down?
Good, honest food needs no 'ambience' and the presentation is natural, no artistic rubbish trying to make a plate look like a bloody Picasso.
Good, honest food needs no 'ambience' and the presentation is natural, no artistic rubbish trying to make a plate look like a bloody Picasso.
Edited by Silver993tt on Wednesday 12th August 19:29
I came across this recently as it happens:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18424793.000...
I've always thought the context of the meal (rather than ambience) is important in its enjoyment. Meals invariably taste better outdoors (as long as it's not too cold so it all goes cold too quickly), food is invariably tastier when you're hungry and when you've been working hard physically. Food is usually better when someone else makes it for you and when you have to do nothing at all in its preparation such as shop for it or wash-up afterwards.I suspect this is also partly why it's difficult to recreate restaurant meals properly at home.
Mrs.S. will frequently piss me off by eating any old crap when we're out and declaring how nice it was when I know for a fact that the equivalent meal at home is so much better - she just has this thing about it being somehow special if it's cooked for her to order. I do agree with her but to a lesser degree.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18424793.000...
I've always thought the context of the meal (rather than ambience) is important in its enjoyment. Meals invariably taste better outdoors (as long as it's not too cold so it all goes cold too quickly), food is invariably tastier when you're hungry and when you've been working hard physically. Food is usually better when someone else makes it for you and when you have to do nothing at all in its preparation such as shop for it or wash-up afterwards.I suspect this is also partly why it's difficult to recreate restaurant meals properly at home.
Mrs.S. will frequently piss me off by eating any old crap when we're out and declaring how nice it was when I know for a fact that the equivalent meal at home is so much better - she just has this thing about it being somehow special if it's cooked for her to order. I do agree with her but to a lesser degree.
Im not really into presentation. If I cook something well it usually looks good on the plate. If I cook something badly then it looks bad on the plate.
Put it this way, cook a really nice bit of steak on a griddle and put it on a plain white plate. It will look juicy, with nice seared lines in it, when you cut into it it will cut easily and you will see a bit of pink in the middle.
Chuck a nice steak into a frying pan and cook the hell out of it, put it on the same plate and it will look like garbage and need a very sharp knive to put a dent into it.
If you cook something well it will look good. Plating it up and putting some parsely on top or drisling some olive oil round the plate won't make a huge amount of difference, but its what you pay for when you eat out.
Put it this way, cook a really nice bit of steak on a griddle and put it on a plain white plate. It will look juicy, with nice seared lines in it, when you cut into it it will cut easily and you will see a bit of pink in the middle.
Chuck a nice steak into a frying pan and cook the hell out of it, put it on the same plate and it will look like garbage and need a very sharp knive to put a dent into it.
If you cook something well it will look good. Plating it up and putting some parsely on top or drisling some olive oil round the plate won't make a huge amount of difference, but its what you pay for when you eat out.
For me, presentation and ambiance add tremendously to a meal.. it's all part of the overall experience and memory.
I love the feel of a good wineglass too, not the lightweight stuff they sometimes try and foist on you be default.
If it's for me at home, then I'll agree it's less important, more so as I'm just not that good at it.. but If I'm out with someone special then I want the whole experience (ok, maybe not the violinist every time!) but I'm certainly a believer in ambiance, setting and service.
I love the feel of a good wineglass too, not the lightweight stuff they sometimes try and foist on you be default.
If it's for me at home, then I'll agree it's less important, more so as I'm just not that good at it.. but If I'm out with someone special then I want the whole experience (ok, maybe not the violinist every time!) but I'm certainly a believer in ambiance, setting and service.
Serious response. Presentation is in my mind is often equally important when the food is not just food for nutrition's sake, but for enjoyment, especially when eating out.
When I was younger I waited tables in Bentley's just off Picadilly. Full silver service at the table. Fish filleted for customers in front of them, fat chip stacks built layer by layer hand like jenga towers, etc etc, all had to be done just so. Restaurant theatre. Presentation was all part of it. How I scoffed at the time. I often wonder now what's going through the servers mind when I eat out.
And some old habits die hard, even now when I'm throwing together a fry up for one, I'll wipe the rim of the plate with some kitchen roll to mop up any errant sauce before starting.
When I was younger I waited tables in Bentley's just off Picadilly. Full silver service at the table. Fish filleted for customers in front of them, fat chip stacks built layer by layer hand like jenga towers, etc etc, all had to be done just so. Restaurant theatre. Presentation was all part of it. How I scoffed at the time. I often wonder now what's going through the servers mind when I eat out.
And some old habits die hard, even now when I'm throwing together a fry up for one, I'll wipe the rim of the plate with some kitchen roll to mop up any errant sauce before starting.
Edited by CY88 on Wednesday 12th August 22:32
JamieBeeston said:
For me, presentation and ambiance add tremendously to a meal.. it's all part of the overall experience and memory.
I love the feel of a good wineglass too, not the lightweight stuff they sometimes try and foist on you be default.
If it's for me at home, then I'll agree it's less important, more so as I'm just not that good at it.. but If I'm out with someone special then I want the whole experience (ok, maybe not the violinist every time!) but I'm certainly a believer in ambiance, setting and service.
perfect restaurant marketing fodder I love the feel of a good wineglass too, not the lightweight stuff they sometimes try and foist on you be default.
If it's for me at home, then I'll agree it's less important, more so as I'm just not that good at it.. but If I'm out with someone special then I want the whole experience (ok, maybe not the violinist every time!) but I'm certainly a believer in ambiance, setting and service.
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