Cookery 10
QUARTER 2 LAS Number 9
Name of Learner: Grade/Section:
Teacher: _________________________ Date Submitted:
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS
TOPIC: Presentation of Prepared Vegetable Dishes
Background Information for Learners
Food presentation is the art of modifying, processing, arranging, or
decorating food to enhance its aesthetic appeal. It is also the best way for a chef to
bring their personality into a dish.
In like manner, the visual presentation of foods is often considered by chefs at
many different stages of food preparation, from the manner of tying or sewing meats,
to the type of cut used in chopping and slicing meats or vegetables, to the style of mold
used in a poured dish. The food itself may be decorated as in elaborately iced cakes,
topped with ornamental sometimes sculptural consumables, drizzled with sauces,
sprinkled with seeds, powders, or other toppings, or it may be accompanied by edible
or inedible garnishes.
Did you know that before the food ever touches your tongue you’ve already
tasted it? That may sound impossible, but we visually taste our food long before we
ever taste it in our mouths. As you see a waiter carrying your plate to your table to
begin deciding how the meal will taste based on how the food looks. In simpler terms,
this visual tasting experience comes down to good or bad food presentation. If the
food looks appetizing, you’re more likely to want to try it and enjoy it when you do.
Food presentation is an art and it is the best way for a chef to bring their
personality into a dish. How you choose to present food to your guests is an art form,
and you get to choose what that art looks like. You can bring the culture of the food to
the surface of the dish with traditional presentation or make something totally unique
with a more abstract technique. Presenting food is the key to pulling all five senses
into the experience of eating.
Food Presentation Techniques
1. Proportioning
Correct proportioning of a dish is essential not only to its attractiveness but also
plays an integral role in controlling the costs. The portion of each ingredient should be
pre-decided and maintained while plating.
Choose the right plate size. The plate or bowl size should match the por-
tion/quantity of food served. It looks unprofessional if the plate is too small for
Note: Practice Personal Hygiene protocols at all times. – M.Huliganga 1
the portion of food served. It can make the dish look messy and overcrowded.
On the other hand, small portions served on large plates seem scanty. You can
leave a half-inch of space between the food and the edge of the plate.
2. Styling
The next food presentation technique is related to the way you put a dish
together or style a meal. The most important rule of this food presentation technique
is balancing contrast and variety. Decorating the dish more than it is required, too, can
end up ruining it or making it hideous.
Position the main ingredient as the center of attention and make the other
elements complement it, rather than hide it. Also, pay attention to colors. Herbs
and vegetables bring color and flavor to the dish. Play with colors and textures
of the plates by adding different sauces. As per customer psychology, serving
odd quantities of food items like shrimps and mushrooms adds to the visual
appeal.
3. Choosing the Right Tableware
A larger plate will give you more space to work with your creativity and the dish.
But keep in mind that you do not need to fill your plate so full that there’s no room left
and it starts looking overcrowded. It doesn’t matter how delicious the food is; no one
would be tempted to eat it if it is served on an unattractive plate.
Present your plates according to the occasion. Also, cracked or broken crockery
can be a real turn-off for customers.
Conduct regular checks to replace any broken chinaware. Once you under-
stand the intricacies of choosing tableware, you can experiment with different
plate shapes, sizes, and colors. Many food presentation techniques include the
use of plates of different shapes and colors. Modern style plating or contempo-
rary plating is one of them.
4. Timing
Food plating is all about timing. Make sure you don’t take too much time to
decorate, modify, or plate a dish that it turns cold when it was supposed to be served
hot or vice versa. Remember to include the plating time in the preparation of the dish,
and also inform your guests of the time it would take to serve it.
When you are in a bind, you can always follow the traditional clock pattern
plating technique:- dividing the plate as zones of a clock from the customer’s point of
view and then presenting the starch between 9 o clock to 12 o clock, vegetables
between 12’o clock to 3 o clock and protein between 9’o clock to 3’o clock.
5. Garnishing
The Garnishing process improves the texture and flavor of a dish. Though it
sounds simple, this food presentation technique also requires care and precision. The
taste and feel of the garnish will add to the texture of the dish; hence you must choose
your garnish carefully and make sure you do not overdo it can be as simple as a
colorful ingredient, which, if paired, creates a more alluring dish to combinations of
different fruits, sauces, and seeds, which will add to the flavor, acidity, and texture of
Note: Practice Personal Hygiene protocols at all times. – M.Huliganga 2
the dish. Also, try to use easily identifiable organic garnishes whenever possible to
avoid the hassles of removing it before serving it to customers.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
Direction: Put a in the box if the sentence is correct. Use your quiz
notebook for your answers.
1. It is said that in food presentation, the HOW is very important,
because even before the food touches your tongue, you have already tasted
it.
2. The way you choose to present the food to your guests is an art
form, and you get to choose what that art looks like.
3. Food presentation can bring culture of the food to the surface of the
dish with traditional presentation.
4. In proportioning, the plate or the bowl size should match the portion
or quantity of the food served.
5. Styling refers to positioning the main ingredient as the center of
attention and making the other elements complement it rather than
hide it.
6. Herbs and vegetables does not bring color and flavor to the dish.
67. As per customer psychology, serving familiar quantities of food items
like shrimps and mushrooms adds to the visual appeal.
8. Presenting the food to be served using a small plate, will give you
more space to work with your creativity and the dish.
9. Regular checking for any damage chinaware is not so important in
food presentation.
10. In garnishing the food, the taste and feel will add to the flavor of
the dish; hence you must choose your garnish carefully and make sure you
do not overdo it.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 2:
Note: Practice Personal Hygiene protocols at all times. – M.Huliganga 3
LEARNING ACTIVITY 3:
Direction:
Using the food for your Lunch or Dinner, Plate and present your food attractively using
the different techniques in presenting vegetable dishes.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 4:
Direction: Write what you have learned about the principles of preparing vegetables.
Note: Practice Personal Hygiene protocols at all times. – M.Huliganga 4
