Great Plate. Creating a. Express THIS CE ARTICLE IS SPONSORED BY: CULINARY CONNECTION

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by Rocky Dunnam, CEC, CDM, CFPP Express Creating a Great Plate 1 HOUR CE CBDM Approved CULINARY CONNECTION THIS CE ARTICLE IS SPONSORED BY: Painters have ir canvas paint palette.

1 by Rocky Dunnam, CEC, CDM, CFPP Express Creating a Great Plate 1 HOUR CE CBDM Approved CULINARY CONNECTION THIS CE ARTICLE IS SPONSORED BY: Painters have ir canvas paint palette. Sculptors have ir base medium. Musicians have ir instrument /or voice. And, just like se artists, culinarians have ir own tools of trade: plate food. It s easy to take for granted small details of our artistry, like plate or a garnish, when we are busy plating hundreds of meals or more each day. But what separates great from mediocre is in details. We need to consider several details when plating food we ve spent hours or even days preparing. Aestically, we look at details like color, height, negative space. Then we must think about mouthfeel in terms of texture flavor profile of our dishes. It s when all se details come toger that we create a masterpiece that is visually appealing positively affects multiple or senses. Let s look at factors noted above that impact overall perception of our plated dish. COLOR The attention to colors on a plate is queued well before plating process itself. When developing menus, we must use our mind s eye to picture final dish. We also must think about color when cooking. At one time or anor, most of us have accidentally turned our broccoli Continued on page 2 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE EXPRESS February

to an odd brown color, or our roasted vegetables lost vibrant color y had when raw. So we have to be aware of techniques that can maintain color in many of nature s most beautiful foods.

2 Continued from page 1 Rocky Dunnam, CEC, CDM, CFPP is Executive Chef for Bivins Foundation, Bivins Pointe, EJB Culinary Center, NINE- TEEN49 Catering, Rock D Recipes in Amarillo, Texas. to an odd brown color, or our roasted vegetables lost vibrant color y had when raw. So we have to be aware of techniques that can maintain color in many of nature s most beautiful foods. One tip that works well with most vegetables, including broccoli, is to blanch shock se veggies before your final preparation step. To do this, simply drop vegetables quickly into boiling water until you see desired hue, n shock m in ice water to seal in that color. Now when you go to plate bright green alongside a contrasting color, like white mashed potatoes brown roast beef, each color pops off plate. The goal here is to use as many contrasting colors as possible, while still maintaining flavor coherency. to stack, layer, or shingle different components that go toger. For example, you can put mashed potatoes in center of plate, place roast beef directly on top of potatoes. Then spoon gravy or au jus over entire dish. Now, when you add a few florets of that bright green broccoli around outside edges of plate, you ve composed a beautiful, three-dimensional dish. be honest, that crowded plate may overwhelm detract from individual elements. In direct contrast, French cuisine utilizes idea of height (which creates negative space) to create a clean, elegant look to any dish. It s no wonder n that French cuisine is most closely associated with fine dining. HEIGHT Height, in my opinion, is easily most impressive look to a well-presented plate. Often, we see components of a dish placed beside one anor in an effort to fill plate. This is functionally incorrect. We perceive world in 3-D, meaning we lose an entire dimension when we don t have height on a plate. There are a few simple ways to add height to any plate. Don t be afraid NEGATIVE SPACE Negative space is simply space around rim of plate that does not contain any food. Many people feel need to fill entire plate, all way to rim. However, this practice appears haphazard usually pretty sloppy. Often in Mexican cuisine we see something on every inch of plate. Now don t get me wrong, I love Mexican food but let s TEXTURE Appearance is only part of detail-oriented process we think through to create a great plate. Anor is concept of mouthfeel or texture of each component of dish. The different properties in a dish that comprise how y feel to us when we take a bite are impacted by one or more of approximately Continued on page 4 2 NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE EXPRESS February 2017

Color specialist Latrice Eiseman points out parallel between how color impacts human behavior how color behaves in nature.

3 SET THE MOOD WITH COLOR THEORY Following is a blog entry by Hoffmaster addressing how colors impact dining appetite beyond plate. Experts agree color affects everything from our mood attitude to our sleep habits appetite. Color specialist Latrice Eiseman points out parallel between how color impacts human behavior how color behaves in nature. For example, color blue, often associated with blue skies, evokes feelings of stability calm as sky is always present. We all have our personal preferences, but authorities on color recommend delving into psychology behind color in lieu of choosing color schemes on design trends alone. Learn more about psychology of color food, how color ory can be used to set mood for any culinary event or occasion. Red is associated with happiness. It stimulates energy, raises RED excitement, is associated with promotes happiness. liveliness, It stimulates which energy, makes it raises perfect excitement, color for dinner promotes parties liveliness, garings. which makes Behavioral it perfect investigator color for dinner Vanessa parties VanEdwards garings. describes red Behavioral as passionate, investigator attention-grabbing, Vanessa VanEdwards appetitestimulating. describes red as passionate, If you don t attention-grabbing, plan on painting appetitestimulating. walls with it, but want that If pop, you don t try red plan table on covers painting tulip walls cups with to rouse it, but both want appetites that pop, try red energy. table covers tulip cups to rouse both appetites energy. Orange ORANGE is anor is anor appetite appetite stimulant. stimulant. It can It energize, can stimulate, energize, stimulate, increase oxygen increase supply oxygen to supply brain. to Mary brain. Lawlor, Mary manager Lawlor, of manager color marketing of color at marketing Kelly-Moore at Paints, Kelly-Moore says that Paints, orange says is that a color orange...best is a reserved color...best for kitchen reserved or for dining room. kitchen or dining room. CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLORS to accompany your cuisine is as important as ingredients that go into it. Color can affect appetite, attitude, mood, more. Look to color ory psychology behind color food to ensure you set right tone when you set your table. BLACK is dramatic modern works great as an accent color. Known for eliciting feelings of staying indoors, it is often used in tem with or colors to create a pop. Try it in small doses, perhaps for beverage napkins. GREEN is very prevalent in nature suggests restoration, comfort, relaxation. Natural tones of green can encourage patrons to sit back, relax, stay awhile. Restaurant management software company Upserve says it is also...a great color for restaurants trying to communicate freshness healthy options. Feng Shui expert Dana Claudat Green points out that browns wood paired with green are making an appearance in many health food restaurants. WHITE suggests brightness, purity, cleanliness. When it comes to plates, it is a common color chosen by restaurants. Some chefs say it not only makes food look better, but taste better, too. Although many agree re is a place for color on plates, round, white plate takes cake. For ideas on how to make your tables trays more attractive, visit NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE EXPRESS February

Continued from page 2 See next page for CE questions. 4 20 separate perceived textures. A few of prominent textures we perceive easily include dryness, gumminess, hardness, uniformity, smoothness.

4 Continued from page 2 See next page for CE questions separate perceived textures. A few of prominent textures we perceive easily include dryness, gumminess, hardness, uniformity, smoothness. In previous example of using roast beef, we see a dense cut of roast beef paired with a smooth, creamy mashed potato perfect viscosity in au jus, gravy, or demi-glace. Then you add perfectly al dente broccoli a nice garnish (like a fried onion or cuts of scallion that bring a crisp component). OUR TONGUE (palate) has five separate sensory perceptions that are distinguished on taste receptor cells. When we utilize multiple varied textures, composed dish is now visually texturally appealing. FLAVOR Now let s discuss most obvious but often overlooked detail of a plate flavors of food itself. Much of same artistic detail applies here, too. The more complementary flavors we use, better foods taste. There s a very scientific reason for this, but luckily for you, I m a chef not a scientist. So I ll break it down in terms we use. Our tongue (palate) has five separate sensory perceptions that are distinguished on taste receptor cells. They ve been scientifically identified as salty, sour, bitter, sweet, umami. They are located on different parts of tongue. Let s look deeper at those perceptions. Salty Our tongue perceives salty flavors on front of palate to eir side. This is why we tend to feel a sting on end of our tongue when we taste something that is overly salty. These receptors detect an obvious ingredient salt. NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE EXPRESS February 2017 Sour The sour receptors are located on back of palate to eir side. This is why we tend to clench our jaw at its hinge when we taste something sour. These receptors detect ingredients like citric acid, vinegar, many popular cies. Bitter We perceive bitter flavors on very back of our tongue. This is why we make that pucker face when we taste something ultra bitter. It s our face s response to bitter receptors. Ingredients like coffee, beer, citrus peel trigger this reaction from our taste buds. Sweet The perceptions that most of us love are those that come from sweet receptors located on tip of our tongue. By gr design, this is receptor that perceives first when we take a bite. It s also area that s smallest, meaning that we can overload our sweet receptors rar easily. Obvious ingredients, like sugars, are tasted here. Umami Umami translates roughly from Japanese as delicious. This perception is felt literally on entire palate. Rich savory ingredients that are perceived as umami are things like meat, fish, shellfish, mushrooms, butter. So we have to look at ways to add combinations of se perceptions to influence multiple points on our palate. In doing so, we make tongue very happy. Easy ways to add more flavors include sauces like gravies (where we experience umami, salty, sometimes sweet), reductions (where we have concentrated flavors of salty, sweet, umami, sometimes sour), gastrique (sweet sour), ever-popular vinegar oil (sour umami). These components can easily be added to virtually any dish. In our roast beef example, we can add vinegar when cooking roast to increase its acidity, add butter to mashed potatoes for more of an umami feel, a pinch of salt to elevate our au jus. SUMMING IT UP We need to keep concepts outlined above in mind as we prepare plate food for our clients. Dishes should combine multiple flavors, textures, colors, depth to create an eye-appealing plate that brings a flavor mouthfeel that s sure to delight diner. E

CE Questions: Culinary Connection 1 HOUR CE CBDM Approved Sponsored by Hoffmaster Reading Creating a Great Plate successfully completing se questions online has been approved for 1 hour of continuing

5 CE Questions: Culinary Connection 1 HOUR CE CBDM Approved Sponsored by Hoffmaster Reading Creating a Great Plate successfully completing se questions online has been approved for 1 hour of continuing education for CDM, CFPPs. CE credit is available ONLINE ONLY. To earn 1 CE hour, access CE quiz in ANFP Marketplace. Visit select Publication, n select CE article at left, n search title Creating a Great Plate purchase article. 1. What are some of details that go into plating? A. Height, texture, flavor profiles B. Time, speed, force C. Vegetable, tuber, protein 2. What is a common technique for maintaining color of vegetables? A. Add food coloring B. Serve m boiled in salty water C. Blanch shock 3. Why is height so important to a plated dish? A. Makes servers balance better B. Adds a third dimension to plate C. Makes food sit closer to mouth 5. How many taste perceptions are re? A. 2 B. 10 C What does umami mean? A. Half of a tropical storm B. Delicious savory C. Root vegetable 7. What is an easy way to add anor complementary flavor to any plate? A. Sauce it B. Only boil or steam most food C. You can t add more flavors to many plates 4. What is negative space? A. The clean area around rim of plate without food B. The void in solar system that we cannot see C. The area of kitchen where a negative person works NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE EXPRESS February

SENSORY EVALUATION OF FOOD

SENSORY EVALUATION OF FOOD Influences on Food Preferences Physical: Issues that can affect the ability to detect flavors: Body chemistry Number of taste buds Age Gender Influences on Food Preferences Psychological