EDITOR’S Note:

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it may be too late to reserve a table at a posh restaurant, but why not just create a special meal yourself? Shang­hai Daily recently recruited Michelin-starred chef Kirk Westaway, as well as chef and photographer Simon Stauffer, to share their expert advice and handy tips to help you along the way to present a romantic dinner at home for your loved one.

As an old saying goes, “You eat with your eyes first.” If you want to wow your loved one on the special day, a thoughtful presentation of the dishes you create is crucial.

Certainly, it takes years of study and effort to polish one’s culinary and food plating skills, but there are a few quick handy tips to get you started.

Plan and visualize

Sketching plays an important role in food plating, as many chefs use it to visualize their ideas or simply get a rough idea of their creations before they start cooking. “Pre-plan­ning is essential,” stressed Kirk Westaway, chef de cuisine at the one-Michelin-starred JAAN at Swissôtel, The Stamford in Singapore. “I tend to plan a little map in my head with a list of ingredients.”

If sketches are not your thing, here is an alternative: “use some dummies or raw ingre­dients and plate the dishes to get a feel for it,” suggested Simon Stauffer, chef with the award-winning Restaurant Courgette in Australia.

Choose the main ingredient

When creating a dish, you can start with a specific ingredient that you want to use as the main component, according to Stauffer. “From there, I start researching flavor combinations that could work. The key is to keep it simple,” advised Stauffer.

Take a creative approach. Anything can actually be the main ingredient. It “can be the protein, be it fish or meat, or (vegetables) like beetroot or tomato,” said Westaway. “With every ingredient, I come up with a mini recipe and put all of them together.” This practice can be extremely handy and help guide you through the plating stage.

The right plate

Oversized dishes are all the rage in the fine dining world. Many chefs love using big plates because “it’s like a canvas, where I can use different sections of it,” explained Westaway. “Every plate is different.”

But things like plates are very much down to personal preference. “I usually stay away from bright colored plates. The eye will be drawn to the plate instead of the food,” said Stauffer. “Hand-made plates can really help to make the food pop and add another layer of interest.”

Still having trouble making a decision? Never fear, our chefs agree that any plain white plate should also be just fine.

Create contrast

Stauffer’s food photos have helped him at­tract over 27,000 followers on Instagram. “Any rule that applies to design can be applied to food plating,” he suggested. “Creating contrast can make a dish really interesting. Contrast doesn’t just mean light and dark or color contrast. There is also contrast of size and contrast of shape. Use white space.”

Westaway’s creations are great examples of contrast too. “Personally, I like to bring out the contrast of the dish against the plate. If I’m working with a dark meat, I’d choose a dark plate as this would bring out the contrast between the meat and other ingredients on the plate,” he explicated.

Order matters

According to Westaway, plating order greatly depends on what ingredients you are using. But “always start with the base — for example, rice, risotto or puree.” You can map out your ingredients when working with purees. “I draw my outline on the plate with the puree. Next, I move on to the protein and the vegetables would be on top,” he indicated, “The final touch would be the delicate herbs, flowers and leaves.”

Balance look with taste and flavor

Flavor and texture are key elements too, as you don’t want to end up with a dish that only looks yummy. “It’s rare that everything just works from the very beginning,” explained Stauffer. “You have to balance the look of a dish with its texture and flavor through plan­ning, trial and error.”

This means don’t give up as you work on a dish, since even renowned chefs often fail a few times during the creation process.

Less is more

It’s important not to overload your dish as “it’s very hard to make a dish aesthetic,” said Stauffer. “My secret is simplicity. Less is more.”

Special tips for Valentine’s Day

Your meal doesn’t always have to be red or pink. “I’m very inspired by nature,” said West­away. “Valentine’s Day falls between very early spring and late winter, so the color scheme should be darker hues of brown and green, tulip golden and sandy yellow. The colors then slowly brighten up to greens, yellows and light orange as we move into early spring.”

It’s also wise to “go with comfort food, a dish you know and love,” suggested Stauffer. “Keep it simple. Choose something which can be prepared in advance. Don’t overload the plate. You can always offer a second serving. Have a backup plan for difficult parts of your dishes in case something goes wrong.”

Good luck and have a great time with your food plating adventure!

Q&A

KW: Chef Kirk Westaway                  SS: Chef Simon Stauffer

Q: What tools do I need for basic food plating?

KW: A spoon and tweezers. A spoon can help to create different shapes and styles of the sauce and drain off excess oil. I use two spoons – one is a regular one, another has holes in it.

SS: A sharp knife. There is nothing worse than meat cut with a blunt knife. A spoon is essential for sauces and such. If you want to do little dots with purees and gels, a squeeze bottle helps a lot.

Q: How can I highlight the key ingredients?

KW: Key ingredients in a dish generally highlight themselves. You can enhance them visually by adding in additional ingredients, ideally fresh and green.

SS: You could follow design rules like creating contrast, rule of thirds or leading lines.

Q: Do I have to drain all ingredients?

KW: It is good to remove excess emulsions, especially when glazing is involved, to prevent the ingredient from “bleeding” on the plate.

Q: How to choose a focal point on a dish?

SS:  Usually, the focal point is like the color given by the chosen ingredient. The art is to balance it out.

Q: How can I control the drizzling of sauces?

You can also click the following links for the recipes.

Recipe for Sunchoko beef and heirloom polenta

Recipe for Spring lamb braised lettuce

Recipe for Blood orange & Japanese kumquat

Recipe for Shortbread, crème pâtissière, macerated strawberries (lemon juice and angostura bitters), strawberry-gel, meringue and bee pollen

Recipe for Coconut truffle, marinated strawberries and cardamon ice cream

Recipe for Passions fruit mousse