The art of serving and decorating dishes is addressed primarily to the taste and imagination of a particular person, however, for your creation to become a real work of art, it must comply with certain rules. That is why in this field, as in all others, expert advice is always a certain guarantee of success.
The ability to make a dish beautiful is one of the components of cooking. For this purpose, decorations made from a wide variety of products (vegetables, herbs, fruits, etc.). These decorations may themselves represent independent dishes: in the first case, these will be appetizers, salads or fruits for dessert, in the second – just decorations that are placed on plates or on the table (dinner or with cold appetizers).
KITCHEN TOOLS
Before you start making the jewelry you have chosen, make sure you have the necessary tools at hand. They are quite simple and will successfully complement a standard set of kitchen utensils.
The most complete set includes sharp knives, scissors, different sizes noisettes (hemispherical spoons with sharp cutting edges), an egg slicer, a knife for zesting citrus fruits, special devices for indentations, for coring an apple, several metal cookie cutters and tips for a pastry bag or syringe, and a brush. Do not be confused by this long list - most often we are talking about tools that can be easily purchased at any specialized store.
RULES TO FOLLOW
Finally, you have acquired all the necessary kitchen tools. However, this is still not enough to immediately move into the category of masters in terms of decorating dishes. There are also certain rules, the observance of which will allow your culinary creations to make the right impression on your guests.
Remember the main thing: the dish and the decoration that complements it must be combined with each other. In fact, most often it is enough to adhere to the generally accepted combination of certain products, and the originality should be ensured by the decoration itself. So, potatoes - but in the form of mushrooms or buttercups - will perfectly complement meat. Lemon in the shape of a rose or butterfly will decorate fish and seafood dishes.
Simplicity
Very often to achieve best effect you have to limit the number of decorations. Some dishes look much better in their own way in kind. If the main, “crown” dish is beautifully decorated and looks great, you should not diminish the effect it produces by overloading the rest of the dishes with all kinds of decoration.
Location of individual elements
Carefully consider where and how all decorative elements will be located. Remember that any dish with decoration attracts much more attention than without it. Choose dishes that cannot compete in beauty with the food you have prepared and decorated.
Color harmony
To make your jewelry look more impressive, use contrasting color combinations. To get green, use vegetables such as leeks, cucumbers, parsley or watercress, orange - carrots, red - tomatoes or beet juice, white - hard-boiled eggs or turnips... Your imagination will do the rest. It is also useful to have patrel seasoning in the kitchen: with its help you can color Brown color neutral-colored vegetables, such as potatoes.
Clarity, precision and accuracy
Your jewelry will be attractive if it is done carefully. When cutting out individual parts of decorations from products, make sure that the lines of decorative cutouts are clear and concise, use whenever possible various kinds recess molds. Sharpen your knives regularly. In addition, before serving food, do not forget to wipe the edges of the plates.
Products used
The base foods used to create decorations are not always meant to be eaten. They are often used to make various jewelry and their parts. raw foods which should not be exposed culinary processing, since they thereby lose their decorative qualities. For example, raw, and therefore hard, potatoes or turnips are used to create white flowers, and red flowers are cut from raw beets. The same applies to carrots, which must be raw and fresh so that they can easily be made into various sculptural forms. Lettuce leaves, Bay leaf, mint, spring onions, leeks, cucumber or sweet pepper peels can be successfully used to make leaves and stems of culinary flowers. And finally, lemons, oranges, watermelons, and melons are easily transformed into all kinds of baskets, sailboats, and funny animals.
Combination of taste and color
Color, as a rule, serves as one of the means of creating or emphasizing the taste of food. If you must resort to dyes, use natural products, pleasant in color and taste. For example, to tint vegetables, saffron and other spices (paprika, curry) are used, and to give the desired color to sauces, for example, mayonnaise (or sour cream), ketchup is added to them, tomato paste. In addition, mayonnaise (or sour cream), which is often served with cold fish, fresh vegetables or hard-boiled eggs, can be colored green color using parsley juice or adding finely chopped spinach leaves.
For hot dishes, decorations are prepared in advance. After all, they need to be placed as quickly as possible before the food gets cold. Otherwise, it will lose most of its taste.
Immediately before serving dishes of fish, meat, grilled or skewered poultry, “walk” over them with a brush lightly dipped in vegetable oil. This will add shine to the fried crust and make the dishes even more appetizing. To enhance the color and shine of cold dishes and snacks, they are coated with a thin layer of edible gelatin.
Orange pomander with cloves
Pomanders are French crafts that have been an integral part of fragrant decoration winter festivities. The word “pomander” comes from the French “pomme d’ambre”: during the Renaissance, this was the name for aromatic ambergris balls that were produced in Venice and were used to aromatize living spaces.
Over time, the word “pomander” began to refer to round bottles made of silver, gold or Ivory, allowing you to preserve the pristine tart aroma for a long time.
Fruit pomanders appeared in France at the beginning of the twentieth century. French women hung pomanders in their linen closets to add a sophisticated scent to their linens.
For this we used regular apples, dried with spices in a special way.
Citrus pomanders appeared in England. They were made from oranges, cloves, cinnamon and other spices. This scent has become a symbol of Christmas and New Year.
Pomanders can be made from apples, lemons, oranges and limes.
Exists classic recipe spice mixtures for pomander (based on 4 fruits):
– 1/2 cup ground cinnamon
– 1/4 cup ground cloves
– 2-4 teaspoons (heaped) nutmeg
– 2-4 teaspoons ground allspice
– 1/4 cup chopped orris root
Manufacturing:
Take a wooden stick and pierce the peel of the fruit. We insert a clove of cloves into each hole, sprinkle generously with a mixture of spices and place in a beautiful fabric bag. The pomander will gradually dry out and emit aroma throughout the room for about six months.
In a simplified version, we simply stick cloves into the orange and lightly sprinkle with a mixture of spices. For New Year's decor The heads of the carnations are sometimes tinted with gold paint.
You can hang these fragrant balls around your apartment or give them to your loved ones... They will bring joy and Christmas mood to any home!
Deep-fried "Roses" from potatoes (turnips, beets)
These deep-fried “roses” can be made from potatoes or turnips (“white roses”) or beets (“red roses”). Red roses can also be made from potatoes by coloring them with beet juice. It is advisable to take potatoes that are not young - slices from new potatoes They turn out quite fragile.
It is convenient to cut the “petals” of the future “rose” with a thickness of 1-1.5 mm from raw potatoes on a special grater for vegetables.
And if you don’t have it, then try to cut it with a sharp knife as thinly and evenly in thickness as possible. The “petals” should be thin and translucent.
We cut one plate thicker (3-4 mm) in order to cut it into long square bars for the central “buds”, around which we will wrap the “petals”.
Then soak the “petals”, “buds” and toothpicks for chopping the “rose” in a bowl with cold water, to which you must add salt (1 full teaspoon of salt per 1 liter), for 2-3 hours. This will soften the petals by dissolving some of the starch and make them much more pliable when rolling the roses.
Toothpicks need the smallest ones you can find on sale. If you do not first soak them in water for 2-3 hours along with the “petals,” they will burn when frying the roses in hot oil.
Let's start making roses:
Take the central “bud” and wrap it tightly with one petal. Then we take another petal and twist it in the other direction. After this, secure the bud with a piece of toothpick.
Like this:
After this, we wrap the other petals, moving them slightly from above, so that the “rose” turns out to be open, “blooming”.
The rule must be strictly followed: one petal goes clockwise, and the next petal goes counterclockwise.
The larger you want to make the “rose,” the more petals and toothpicks to hold them together.
Then lightly shake the “roses” from the water and set them aside on a napkin to dry for 3-5 minutes. Otherwise in hot oil excess water will “explode” and splash. (If you put a wet rose in boiling oil, then you will have to spend a long time and tediously cleaning the entire kitchen from scattered grease.)
While the roses are drying, put a small cauldron of vegetable oil and heat to the desired temperature.
To check if the oil is hot enough, take one petal from the bowl, dry it with a napkin and drop it into the oil. If it sizzles happily and bubbles appear, then the oil is ready for frying, but if it sizzles weakly, then you need to wait a little longer.
So, the oil has reached the desired temperature.
We lower the rose head down and try not to let it tilt to one side for 1-2 minutes. At this time, all the petals will open. Now carefully turn it over and fry on all sides until golden brown.
When the “rose” acquires a crispy color, it is ready.
Remove it from the cauldron onto a paper napkin to allow excess oil to drain. Lightly sprinkle with salt.
When the “roses” have cooled down a little, remove the toothpicks. It is easier to pull them out if you turn them a little around the longitudinal axis before pulling them out.
Ready “roses” no longer want to fall apart into “petals”, and they can be carefully transferred to a plate and served as prepared separate dish as a decoration for dishes.
"Pearls" from balsamic vinegar
You need: -1 glass of odorless vegetable oil, put in the freezer for at least 30 - 60 minutes (the oil should be cold, but not frozen); -150 ml balsamic vinegar; -2 g (vegetable gelatin); -syringe (you can also use a pipette)
Bring balsamic vinegar + agar-agar to a boil, stirring (do not boil), let cool for 5 - 10 minutes.
Fill a syringe and pour the balsamic vein into the cold oil, drop by drop.
Using a slotted spoon, collect the pearls and rinse in a container of cold water. Drain the water and use the pearls in salads.
The answer to the question why all this? This is done in order to surprise your loved ones and guests with a new format. usual product. It’s very interesting when the “eggs” burst on the tongue, leaving the taste of the sauce.
New Year's ice for drinks
Pour well-boiled water into a layer of pre-boiled water (to make the ice clear) into ice molds and freeze.
Pour a thin layer of water onto the frozen ice and lay out bright, beautiful berries.
We freeze again so that the berries are thoroughly frozen and cannot float.
Fill the molds to the top with water and place in the freezer until completely frozen.
Sugar roses
We rinse the roses with cold water, carefully shake off drops of water from the flowers and dip them into a slightly warm (but not hot!) jelly solution of one and a half or double concentration (what is written on the gelatin package).
Sprinkle generously with sugar or fructose and place in the refrigerator until the jelly solution has completely cooled (about 2-3 hours).
We use sugar roses to decorate various desserts, cakes or serve as decoration. tea table and sweets.
Cucumber “Christmas tree” for decorating the New Year’s table
You can also make “Christmas trees” from cold cuts and cheese.
Original potatoes for decorating salads and snacks
Using a thin and sharp knife, cut the potatoes into thin, almost transparent slices.
Or use a grater to cut thin chips.
Place a sprig of parsley on the slice.
Cover with another slice and trim the edges so that both slices are the same size.
Fry in hot vegetable oil on both sides.
Season the fried slices with salt and serve hot.
Potato decoration
New Year's decoration of potato roses.
We cut out stars from sweet peppers (yellow, red, green) and place them on the rosettes after baking before serving.
The New Year's roses in the photo are prepared with double the amount of yolk.
Needed: 0.5 kg potatoes 3 tbsp. l. heavy cream 3 tbsp. l. parmesan, finely grated 1 yolk
Dry the potatoes boiled in salted water a little after they are ready, drain the water at the end of cooking and remove the lid over very low heat.
Then, without allowing it to cool, knead quickly and thoroughly until smooth.
Add the yolk, cream, cheese, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
Mash everything thoroughly again and beat lightly with a spoon.
The puree should not be liquid, homogeneous and without lumps of unmashed potatoes.
By using pastry bag Using a “star” attachment, place “roses” on a baking sheet covered with cooking paper (see above the previous recipe “Potato roses for decorating dishes”).
Bake the roses in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. Leave in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
The finished “roses” can be sprinkled with spices to taste.
New Year's apple
New Year's apple for decoration festive table.
To prevent the cut from darkening, it is lubricated lemon juice or solution citric acid. You can cut a heart from an apple of a different color and insert it into the cut hole.
Cookies with wishes
Ingredients:
cookie dough, shortbread or flavored shortbread, or sweet with soda and sour cream, or gingerbread, or ginger - this is your choice (the dough can be tinted with cocoa or dry berries grated into a fine powder)
sugar-white glaze(180-200 g powdered sugar and 1 chicken protein)
food coloring for tinting glaze
pastry bag and tip No. 1 (or a plastic file with a corner cut off)
paper
scissors
satin ribbons
Preparation:
Knead the dough, roll it into a layer about 7-8 mm thick, cut out shaped cookies with die-cuts and make 2 holes in them, as shown in the photo.
It is convenient to make holes with a cocktail straw.
Then we bake our cookies and let them cool completely.
Recipe sugar icing Quite simple - gradually grind 1 chicken protein thoroughly with 180-200 grams of powdered sugar.
There should be enough powder High Quality to avoid the formation of lumps.
The amount of sugar in the glaze is selected based on the convenience of painting with this glaze - it should not be too thick or too thin.
You can leave the glaze white and decorate the cookies she painted with colored ribbon - it will be very beautiful.
You can add a few drops to the glaze food coloring desired color and stir thoroughly.
Use icing to carefully outline the cookies and around the holes for the ribbons.
Then we cover the space inside the outline with icing.
Let the icing on the cookies dry sufficiently - at least 6 hours, preferably 1 day.
Using the dried glaze, you can make various patterns with glaze of a different color and let it dry for another 1 day.
While the glaze dries, we print on paper with a printer or write by hand our wishes, congratulations, and predictions.
The size of the pieces of paper should be close to the size of the cookies.
We roll up the leaves with the inscriptions into rolls and tie them with ribbons to the cookies with well-dried icing.
Options for decorating cookies with congratulations:
Funny snowmen made from eggs
Note: Because 2017 is the year of the Rooster, so you only need to take quail eggs. The result will be not snowmen, but snowmen! 🙂
Ingredients:
hard-boiled eggs (chicken - 8-9 minutes of boiling when placing in cold water; quail - 5 minutes)
carrot
wooden skewers for shish kebab
Preparation:
We cut off the ends of the eggs to make them stable.
To make a snowman's hat, cut two carrot circles of different diameters. Cut a large circle from the thick end and a small circle from the thin end.
We cut a wooden skewer from one end to a length equal to the height of two eggs placed on top of each other. When cutting, make sure that there are no splinters on the cut.
Our prepared skewer has one sharp end and the other blunt end.
Using the sharp end of a skewer, make holes in the centers of the carrot circles.
Then insert the skewer into the circles with the blunt end, as shown in the photo.
Note: For quail eggs You can use wooden toothpicks.
We place two eggs on top of each other and vertically stick a skewer with a carrot hat into them on top.
The snowman is assembled.
All that remains is to decorate it with black peppercorns (these will be the snowman’s eyes and buttons on the stomach) and a wedge cut out of carrots to represent the nose.
Note: If the snowmen are intended for children, cut out the eyes and buttons from black olives or from the crust of black bread.
We insert the peppercorns and carrot nose into the recesses made in egg whites the sharp end of, say, a skewer.
Decorate the snowmen with parsley sprigs and serve.
"Love Heart" made from tomatoes
Plum tomatoes are suitable. Cut in half diagonally. Glue a cut-out shape from a white sheet onto the blunt part of a skewer or toothpick.
Cheese baskets
For cooking cheese baskets rub on fine grater 200 grams hard cheese. Mix with a full tablespoon of corn or potato starch, add crushed garlic to taste.
As an option. You can only use grated cheese durum varieties without adding starch and garlic - this is to taste.
In a well-heated frying pan, lightly greased with vegetable oil, or in a dry frying pan with a non-stick coating, spread 2 tablespoons of the resulting mixture over the surface in the form of a pancake... the middle should be denser. As soon as one side has set, remove the pan from the heat, hold for a minute and remove from the pan, placing the pancake on an inverted cup, glass or any other vessel that you want to shape the product.
To prevent the cup from straightening out at the initial moment, you should grab the basket on the cup with a thin rubber band or press it with a napkin until it cools. Place the baskets in the refrigerator for a while...then fill with salad and serve.
"Christmas tree" made from beets
They will look beautiful and tasty on the table beet Christmas trees. Boil the beets, cut into even circles about 1 cm, but no thicker. You can make a cream layer as in the photo: 1) Mix cheese with lemon zest, chopped garlic and ground pepper. 2) Remove the avocado pulp with a spoon, add sour cream, ground pepper and mash thoroughly with a fork. Pipe the cream using a pastry bag. Garnish with fresh herbs.
Have you finally decided on the menu for your restaurant? In this article you will learn how to present dishes to visitors. In the restaurant world, everyone knows that one of the most important indicators of the success of an establishment is the presentation of the dish. To what extent will it be able to interest your clients? How to encourage visitors to order from you.
First impressions are the most important emotions of your guests. The right combination of colors and serving the dish. The presentation will determine whether the visitor wants to stay and order something else, whether he will return to you next time. Here are some tips for success in food presentation.
There are many ways to serve and serve food. Learn the basic rules of restaurant etiquette and food presentation. But the most interesting thing is to use original ways submissions and win the love of visitors at first sight. Unusual cutlery or original serving of drinks - and now you have already made an impression on the guests. This article describes modern methods design of dishes that you can later use to satisfy even the most sophisticated gourmets.
Responsible for serving food in a restaurant
Depending on the type, type and size of your establishment, the person in charge may be your cook, bartender, or staff specially trained for these activities. But no matter who serves the food in your restaurant, he or she should be familiar with the basic rules for food presentation.
Basic rules for serving food in a restaurant
- the plate should not be overloaded with food, but should not seem empty;
- food should not be too close to the edges of the plate;
- For beautiful presentation It is recommended to create color contrast on the plate;
- forget about symmetry, people like chaos;
- combine light and dark colors, large and small items, crispy and soft, etc.;
- Don’t overdo it with sauces; it’s better to serve it separately.
If you need to submit chicken skewers, meatballs or shrimp, use an odd number of ingredients to serve and they will look more interesting on the plate.
There is also one old method of serving dishes that is still used in many establishments. Imagine that the plate is a clock. Simply arrange specific types of foods according to the time of day.
At 11 o'clock, carbohydrates are suitable (pasta, rice, potatoes, for 2 hours, put vegetables, and at 6 o'clock - proteins, the main meal (fish, meat, mushrooms). This old-fashioned way of serving dishes has its own positive sides and allows you to decide on serving sizes. This aspect is a very important part of inventory, as well as for calculating costs and its impact on the final profit of the restaurant.
Japanese food serving style
The Japanese serving style has had a great influence on the world of restaurant art. Minimalism is present everywhere in Japan, including the kitchen and culinary arts. This is a harmony of beauty and simplicity.
The Japanese never put the entire dish on one plate. Side dish and fish can be served in different small plates. This method of filing greatly simplifies the process. You don't have to arrange large compositions of foods on one plate. The main goal of the Japanese kitchens - simple separate food in small portions. This allows you to fully experience the taste of the dishes and have time to try all the items.
Even if in your restaurant European cuisine or fast food and you think that this serving method is unlikely to suit you - just look at what this serving of French fries looks like)
Elements for decorating dishes in a restaurant
Decoration is a very important aspect that should complete the presentation of a dish. Fresh flowers have long been used to decorate dishes. There are many ways to decorate dishes, but it is recommended to use edible ingredients and spices, which will not only become a decorative element, but will also highlight the taste of the dish or become a smart addition to the main dish. For example, fish is traditionally served with lemon, and various desserts are topped with syrups.
Children's menu design ideas
Another one the target audience your visitors are children. For them, the visual image is perhaps the most important factor in serving a dish. If you can arrange healthy food(For example, vegetable stew) so that the child will be happy, you will win the sympathy of the parents, and next time they will come to you. Try to think it through children's menu restaurant so that the dishes look like the result of a child's imagination. These can be fairy tale characters, popular heroes, famous toys. Here are some ideas for decorating dishes for children.
Creative ideas for serving dishes in a restaurant
One of the ways to promote your restaurant must include creative presentation of dishes. How would you react if you received the sauce in an alchemical test tube? I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Free your imagination from the canonical ways of serving dishes. Alternative cutlery and glassware can help make a lasting impression. Serve soup in an unusual bowl, bring juice instead of a jug in a beautiful vase and you will see that your visitors are happy.
Organic serving utensils
While worldwide famous chefs It is advised to use only large white plates for presentation of dishes, why don't you go further and use utensils made of wood or stone. This will not only allow you to serve the dish in an original way, but will also have a certain impact on visitors. Organic cookware is safe, environmentally friendly and will leave a positive impression. Clay dishes are great for serving soups. It retains heat perfectly, is practical and completely environmentally safe.
Preparing and serving dishes in front of visitors is an element of restaurant promotion
This method is usually used in establishments where the menu does not involve cooking. complex dishes With for a long time preparations. The key factor here is that the visitor will see how his order is prepared and placed. This will attract guests to your restaurant. This method demonstrates trust and openness. In addition, the chef's skills will certainly interest all guests. So why not organize such events periodically for your guests?
What you can cook right in front of visitors:
- Salads
- Steak
- Fondue
- Simple desserts
- Flambé - cooking food by burning it is a great idea for the evening.
Many people would like to see how chefs work when creating their culinary masterpieces. A popular restaurant chef can put on a real show with elements of acrobatics.
There are establishments that specialize in one dish and prepare it right in front of visitors - for example, raclette (the French equivalent of fondue). The cooking process is simple, fast and very interesting. Choose what to cook in front of spectators according to the specifics of your restaurant, and you will definitely be able to surprise your guests.
Equipment for food presentation
If you want to achieve excellence in original presentation your products, it’s worth finding a store and purchasing the appropriate kitchen accessories to optimize the process. Here are some tools you'll need:
- Kitchen scissors
- Culinary tweezers of various sizes
- Various knives and scalpels for carving fruits and vegetables
- Choppers for fruits and vegetables
- Molds and rings
- Spoons, tongs, needles
- Spatulas and brushes for decoration.
After reading our article, you can choose what your establishment needs. Use your imagination and you can design your dishes in accordance with the concept of your establishment. Correct delivery dishes are not only a reflection of your creative nature, but also concern for visitors. We are sure that they will definitely appreciate it.
Decorating Easter cakes is no less important than preparing them. Beautiful Easter cakes needed for going to church for consecration, and for delicious Easter gifts for family and friends, and simply for creating a festive mood for Easter. Of course, for all these purposes you can buy ready-made Easter cakes, but it is much more pleasant and interesting to prepare and decorate them with your own hands. Children will especially love this activity! The Culinary Eden website has collected the brightest, freshest, simplest and original ideas for decorating Easter cakes - choose! ›
You can decorate Easter eggs different ways, but one of the fastest and most effective is decoupage. Even special decoupage napkins are sold, so decoupage easter eggs available to everyone who wants to make the Easter table brighter and more joyful. ›
A cake decorated in a simple style always has clear lines, subtle patterns and one to three colors in the design. All attempts to decorate a cake in a classic style using butter cream will be doomed to failure: it is “tailored” to other forms (the same roses, for example). Frosting will help transform your cake into the epitome of elegance. ›
How to decorate eggs for Easter so that it turns out beautiful, original, and not like the relatives invited to the holiday? It seems that it is no longer possible to come up with something fundamentally new in the matter of decorating eggs. However, nothing is impossible, and every year new ideas and new masterpieces appear. ›
IN Holy holiday Easter along with traditional dishes Our table is always decorated with eggs and baked goods. It is impossible to imagine the Easter table, like the holiday itself, without them. After all painted eggs are a symbol of the birth of new life. They are the first to be eaten Easter table, they give it to relatives who come to congratulate neighbors, and they take it with them when they go to visit. ›
The art of serving and decorating dishes is addressed primarily to the taste and imagination of a particular person, however, for your creation to become a real work of art, it must comply with certain rules. ›
Making sandwiches is an art. Beautiful and delicious sandwiches can be prepared for almost any occasion: for breakfast, as a quick and inexpensive snack during the day, as an accompaniment to the main course, or as a chic main course. ›
Dying eggs for Easter and giving them to friends and family is a wonderful, good custom. There are several types of Easter eggs: krashanki - painted in one color, specks - with patterns obtained by dyeing, malyvanki - hand-painted with paints, drapanki - with a pattern scraped out of the painted shell. ›
You can save time and simply paint the eggs, decorating them with decor found in the store, but decorating eggs for Easter with your own hands will turn out to be a much more interesting activity, and the result will certainly delight you with its originality. ›
Easter is the brightest Christian holiday of the year. It is preceded by Lent, promoting the spiritual and physical cleansing of a Christian. The last day of fasting is Holy Saturday. And from midnight on Bright Christ's Resurrection Christians can already eat various holiday dishes. But before you eat them, you need to cook them. ›
Bake is not enough a delicious cake, you also need to make it beautiful. Do you think the task is impossible to accomplish at home? In fact, create from regular cakes You can create a real work of art at home, without resorting to large financial expenses and without using expensive decor kits. All you need is chocolate, foil, parchment paper and the desire to create, surprise and delight others with your culinary talent. ›
Caramel is a delicacy known since childhood. It was a rare child who, after eating a cockerel on a stick, did not try to melt the sugar and make candy on his own, and many succeeded. It would seem that decorating a dessert with caramel - what could be simpler? Indeed, making caramel is quite simple, but working with it requires additional tools, talent and patience. ›
PAPILLOTES(French papillote - paper wrapper). Used in restaurant kitchens, paper tubes with various cutouts and scallops are used to hide the ends of animal or poultry bones protruding from the meat. Papillots also play the role of a handle, by which you can hold a portion without getting your hands dirty with fat, and make it easier to cut the portion into smaller pieces.
Papillots first appeared in the 19th century in French restaurant cuisine, from where they quickly spread to many cuisines around the world, incl. and to Russian restaurant cuisine. Curls were especially widely used in Soviet restaurants and in communist Kremlin cuisine.
To decorate fried game, cutlets and chops with bones, and hams on the bone, paper papillots and rosettes are used.
For curl paper, a sheet of paper is folded three times in length, then the edge of the paper 1-1.25 cm wide is folded in and strips are cut evenly across the entire width of the paper with a sharp knife or scissors. The paper is cut into 4 strips, rolled onto a round stick, giving the appearance of a flower, and its ends are folded.
To make a rosette, paper measuring 12:12 cm is folded into 4 layers (in half and in half again), cut obliquely and corrugated using a thin cloth. Then the sharp tip of the rosette is cut off, the rosette is unrolled and put on the curler and on the bone (see below).
"...I have never written about how to cook fish in curler cases. A curler, dear thickhead, in cooking is a twisted cut piece of paper that is usually put on the bones of cutlets or fried poultry. Well, except that Giedrius managed to cook catfish in his lady’s curler-paper, which was twisted into her hair.”
(excerpt from Lithuanian literature of the twentieth century).
Scheme for making the simplest papillot:
1. The paper should not be very thin - printer paper is best.
2. Take thick white paper and cut out a strip about 8 cm long and 4 cm wide.
3. Fold the strip along its middle lengthwise.
4. Cut the folded paper along the fold with scissors into even cuts - you will get something like a fringe.
5. Wrap the cut paper in a spiral around a round stick, the diameter of which coincides with the diameter of the bone.
6. Glue the end of the paper strip with food glue made from brewed starch or flour, or gelatin, or attach it with tape.
NOTE. Although in Lately For simplicity, papillots are often glued with tape, but it must be admitted that tape does not fit well with edible products, so food glue made from flour or starch, or gelatin is always more preferable.
7. Trim the bottom of the cuff with scissors.
Use ready-made papillots to decorate the bird.
Photo step-by-step production the simplest papillote:
First impressions are the most important emotions of your guests. The right combination of colors and serving the dish.
There are many ways to serve and serve food. Learn basic restaurant etiquette and menu presentation. But the most interesting thing is to use original ways of presentation and win the love of visitors at first sight. Unusual cutlery or original serving of drinks - and now you have already made an impression on the guests. This article describes modern methods that you can use in the future to satisfy even the most sophisticated gourmets.
Basic rules for serving food in a restaurant
the plate should not be overloaded with food, but should not seem empty;
food should not be too close to the edges of the plate;
For a beautiful presentation, it is recommended to create a color contrast on the plate;
forget about symmetry, people like chaos;
combine light and dark colors, large and small objects, crispy and soft, etc.;
Don’t overdo it with sauces; it’s better to serve it separately.
If you need to serve chicken skewers, meatballs or shrimp, use an odd number of serving ingredients and they will look more interesting on the plate.
There is also one old method of serving dishes that is still used in many establishments. Imagine that the plate is a clock. Simply arrange specific types of foods according to the time of day.
At 11 o'clock, carbohydrates are suitable (pasta, rice, potatoes, for 2 hours, put vegetables, and at 6 o'clock - proteins, the main meal (fish, meat, mushrooms). This old-fashioned way of serving dishes has its positive aspects and allows you to determine the portion size This aspect is a very important part of inventory, as well as for calculating costs and its impact on the final profit of the restaurant.
Japanese food serving style
The Japanese serving style has had a great influence on the world of restaurant art. Minimalism is present everywhere in Japan, including the kitchen and culinary arts. This is a harmony of beauty and simplicity.
The Japanese never put the entire dish on one plate. The side dish and fish can be served in different small plates. This method of filing greatly simplifies the process. You don't have to arrange large compositions of foods on one plate. The main goal of Japanese cuisine is simple, separate food in small portions. This allows you to fully experience the taste of the dishes and have time to try all the items.
Even if you have European cuisine or fast food in your restaurant and you think that this method of serving is unlikely to suit you, just look at what this serving of French fries looks like)
Elements for decorating dishes in a restaurant
Decoration is a very important aspect that should complete the presentation of a dish. Fresh flowers have long been used to decorate dishes. There are many ways to decorate dishes, but it is recommended to use edible ingredients and spices, which will not only become a decorative element, but will also highlight the taste of the dish or become a smart addition to the main dish. For example, fish is traditionally served with lemon, and various desserts are topped with syrups.
Children's menu design ideas
Another target audience of your visitors is children. For them, the visual image is perhaps the most important factor in serving a dish. If you can arrange healthy food (for example, stewed vegetables) in a way that the child will be happy with, you will win the sympathy of the parents, and next time they will come to you. Try to think through the children's menu of the restaurant so that the dishes look like the result of a child's imagination. These can be fairy tale characters, popular heroes, famous toys. Here are some food decorating ideas for kids.
Organic serving utensils
While world-famous chefs advise using only large white plates for presentation of dishes, why not take it a step further and use wood or stone utensils. This will not only allow you to serve the dish in an original way, but will also have a certain impact on visitors. Organic cookware is safe, environmentally friendly and will leave a positive impression. Clay dishes are great for serving soups. It retains heat perfectly, is practical and completely environmentally safe.
Preparing and serving food for guests
What you can cook right in front of visitors:
Salads
Steak
Sushi
Fondue
Simple desserts
Flambé - cooking food by burning it is a great idea for the evening.
Many people would like to see how chefs work, creating their culinary masterpieces. A popular restaurant chef can put on a real show with elements of acrobatics.
There are establishments that specialize in one dish and prepare it right in front of visitors - for example, raclette (the French equivalent of fondue). The cooking process is simple, fast and very interesting. Choose what to cook in front of spectators according to the specifics of your restaurant, and you will definitely be able to surprise your guests.
Equipment for food presentation
If you want to achieve perfection in the original presentation of your products, it is worth finding a store and purchasing the appropriate kitchen attributes to optimize the process. Here are some tools you'll need:
Kitchen scissors
Culinary tweezers of various sizes
Various knives and scalpels for carving fruits and vegetables
Choppers for fruits and vegetables
Molds and rings
Spoons, tongs, needles
Spatulas and brushes for decoration.
After reading our article, you can choose what you need. Use your imagination and you can design your dishes in accordance with the concept of your establishment. Proper serving of dishes is not only a reflection of your creative nature, but also care for your visitors. We are sure that they will definitely appreciate it.
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