Do you put any effort into proper plating if you're just cooking for yourself?
And how do I get better at plating? I don't go to fancy restaurants often so I don't have much exposure.
Do you put any effort into proper plating if you're just cooking for yourself? And how do I get better at plating?
plating, like most photography, is 90% lighting. you need either brighter more natural light or a stage where it's all bright lights (i don't know the exact kind but i do know your scene is not well-lit). i'd probably pivot the dish so the edge is facing the camera. also you need to get an actual camera (no phone cameras) like a DSLR or mirrorless, put it on a tripod, and set the f-stop and shutter speed appropriately
I wasn't talking about for photography reasons, really. You're right that this photo is shit though.
yes but only because i dont want my food mixing at all most of the time
fuck no. everything gets sloughed into the same bowl i eat everything out of.
that said, i do work as a chef and plating is the part i hate most about the job. i haven't worked in fine dining for years now, but if your food is cold, it's probably because old mate spent forever fucking around with the microgreens. i worked with one dumb chink who, every time he drizzled some shit onto a plate, looked like he was casting a retard spell.
>that said, i do work as a chef and plating
So maybe give some helpful advice to OP then, instead of sharing your boring chink colleague story.
get fucked, fat boy. there is no correct way to plate something, it's all dictated fucking instagram and tiktok trends now. fifteen years ago everything needed height, today it's all about bright colours and negative space. by today's standards, op's plate looks like shit, but in the 80's that would have been a fucking masterpiece. if you can't make something look "good" on a plate, it's probably because you lack imagination.
>if you can't make something look "good" on a plate, it's probably because you lack imagination.
There you go, wasn't so hard now was it? fuckface.
I feel like even something as small as the detail of the lemons makes a difference. You should have just gone full symmetrical with equal size and quantity of slices on each side. Or go full send and went with multiple slices in multiple sizes but on a single side. Otherwise it looks like you just threw stuff last second on the plate
Yes, visuals are an important aspect to taste. However I don't take things to the extreme, I'm not the sides of my bowl with a towel, I'm not individually placing my garnish, and I'm not laying out my sauce in a fancy patter unless I can achieve it with the serving/eating spoon.
That actually seems good, thanks.
>by today's standards, op's plate looks like shit
🙁
I intentionally try to avoid being too symmetrical with things because I default to that and it always feels soulless.
>It always feels soulless.
Agreed, that's why I think placement of the lemons still seemed odd, like if you're gunna go for no symmetry then do something like three different sized slice layered on eachother on one side of the dish kind of thing
It's rotationally symmetric. That's also why it's shit though. Avoid all kinds of symmetry it's always bad.
>proper plating
there is no such thing.
0 effort. I like mixing my food up. Never worked in an upscale restaurant so the only semi-fancy plating I did was tuna tartare.
>I'm gray if I was green I would die
wholly fucking mackerel
You should slice your scallions more evenly and distribute them more carefully. Look at the big inch long one on the asparagus on the left. Also the little skinny one in the middle of the salmon. For me, these look better distributed across a small area in the middle of the salmon.
Also
>Lemon overlapping asparagus because there's not enough room on the plate
I mean the front left one not the little slice in back, that one looks intentional & OK.
Otherwise good job here anon my only other comment is that having symmetrical asparagus and a square dish and a square salmon and a square meal makes it all look very mathematical. The lemons break it up nicely. This service has soul and needs only a little refinement.
And to answer your OP I take effort to plate dinners sometimes but a lot of the time I'm eating just because I need food in order to get on with more important things. But I ALWAYS take time to make a good coffee in the morning and I do take care in presentation.
>You eat first with the eyes
I put it into a Pyrex bowl while slamming gulps of whiskey till I pass out
Most stuff I make just for myself goes in a bowl. I'll still pile it in nicely to layer stuff but no special attention to the visuals of the thing.
As far as plating goes,
- slice your scallions thinly and on a bias
- unless you're charring the onions the lemon round will almost always look bad
- avoid direct symmetry at all costs (parallel asparagus on the plate, lemons) it makes things look forced
- whole asparagus is hard to plate nicely. Maybe just for me but I struggle
Nice char on the salmon skin though
charring the *lemons
you plated it like a loving mother would who doesnt know better
its comfy though and thats all that matters
I don’t know about plating. But I know something about design. Either everything needs to match, or nothing should match. That plate there has a bunch of right angles and queued up asparagus, and then just randomly plopped, random sized scallions. And then lemon wheels. Wedges would work better. See? Either orderly or chaotic. Not both.
>Do you put any effort into proper plating
nope
Yet you managed to accomplish a proper plating here.
A little but usually theres too much shit on the plate. For example i would make that meal with at least half a pound of asparagus and probably twice the rice and twice the meat.
>proper plating
what is this thing you talk about?
you don't need to go all fancy schmancy. just a clean plate and fit everything nicely. should take less than 20 seconds of your time. like folding your clothes so that it's not wrinkly.