I'm Michael Laiskonis, Creative Director here at the Institute of Culinary
Education. Plate presentation is really where each individual chef will let
their creativity shine. I'm going to take a look at important elements of
presentation.
Composition: this is where we make aesthetic choices, design
elements like basic composition, height, color, symmetry. We're going to illustrate
these ideas by plating up a yogurt panna cotta. So I'm going to begin with a
cylinder of our yogurt panna cotta. I'm placing it slightly off-center. By
creating an asymmetrical composition we're creating a lot of negative space
which creates some movement on the plate. A thin strawberry gelée and I'm going to
plate the lemon confit into three piles. Generally speaking odd numbers tend to
look more attractive to our eye than even numbers. A little bit of basil seed;
some very thin slices of candied celery; a few slices of strawberry; some celery
leaf. I'd like to place these as if they were falling from the heavens to create
upward movement. So we have red against green and the reason why that works is
because on a color wheel they're complementary colors; however, even though
it works in this presentation, the flavors work as well. I try to avoid
adding color just for the sake of color, unless it adds something to the flavor
of the dish. A little bit of lime cream, again, to use odd numbers, five dots. Just
a little drizzle of a basil-infused olive oil. For our strawberry panna cotta:
slightly asymmetrical in the plating, odd numbers of components and because it's a
fairly lateral presentation we're using the natural shape of our ingredients to
create that motion.
Balance is when we look at the portion and proportion of our components and how
they might actually shift the focus of the dish. Here the inspiration is très
leches. We want to lighten up that presentation and actually use cake as a
garnish. Create more of a fruit-driven dessert by starting with a little dulce
de leche. The depth of this bowl allows us to make a really interesting swipe. This
pineapple has been roasted with some vanilla, star anise and rum. Next comes
our cake component of sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk, and
coconut milk. To amplify the fruitiness, some mango pearls.
Ground hazelnut. Coconut sorbet right onto the hazelnut to keep that from
sliding around. A little lime cream, fresh grated lime zest.
Tres leches reinvented simply by shifting the portion and proportion of
our components to create more of a fruit-driven dish.
Shape: this is where we concerned ourselves with the actual shape of our
ingredients and I like to use this as an exercise in simplicity and refinement.
Taking a cue from not only Japanese aesthetics but also ingredients. So I
have a black sesame and milk chocolate parfait that's set on a Kinako wafer.
Kinako is a toasted soybean powder. I'm also not going to muddy up this
presentation with too many flavors. I'm going to echo the sesame with a little
bit of ground black sesame powder. Preserved cherry on top
because we have a sour cherry center. Caramelized rice, a little red shiso, some
confectioners sugar. The black of the plate will allow this to pop. I'm going
to dust the rim of the plate again to kind of accentuate the roundness and
then finish with a little bit of matcha green tea powder. We're kind of creating
a variation on a theme, lots of round shapes
superimposed on top of each other.
Texture is all about how we feel the food, so we're looking at soft, creamy
firm, hard, brittle, crunchy and how those textures interact. So it's a lot about
the contrasts, contrast in temperatures as well. And we'll be doing a play off of
a vacherin, which is classically a dessert that includes meringue, some sort of
frozen element and some sort of creamy element. So we're going to start with
that creamy element: simple vanilla cream. And I'm using this Front of the House Monaco
Bowl because the shape of this bowl allows all of these textures to kind of
intermingle. For some acidity we have a bergamot
cream and then lightness expressed in this pistachio sponge. For a crunchy
element: crushed strawberry sablée. Our basil ice cream — I really love that
herbal flavor with all of these bright citrus flavors. Adding a chewy texture of
some candied orange peel and the hallmark of a vacherin: dried meringue. So
here we have our dried meringue in little little button form. Little ground
pistachio, utilize that nice wide rim and to echo the ice cream, a few leaves of
fresh basil. The way the elements are combined and the choice of the bowl
itself easily led to getting a little bit of these different textures in each
and every bite.
There's endless opportunity for creativity and expression depending on
the design elements, the techniques and the plates that we employ.