Most culinary students try to improve their plated food presentations by adding stuff. They try to add because they think that by adding something, anything — like an extravagant garnish for instance — their plate will always look better. They think it can only add to the presentation.
Unfortunately, the overall beauty of a food presentation most often relies on the specific beauty of each of its elements. No need to add anything. In other words, if you want to plate a chicken breast, some mashed potatoes and a few sauteed vegetables, you'd better first pay attention to how the chicken breast, the mashed potatoes and the sauteed vegetables look individually, before you even pay attention to the overall presentation.
We have already talked about the importance of blanching vegetables for color. Today, I wanted to focus on what may be the best way to enhance the look of meat: the Maillard reaction.
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.