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.
Same Ingredients, Different Presentation
Think about how your desk looks at the end of a long week when you haven’t taken the time to clean up. Papers everywhere, old granola bar wrappers pushed to the side, a dusty keyboard – with your desk looking like that, you likely aren’t very tempted to take a seat and get any more work done. Now, imagine the same desk with everything in its place. A clean keyboard, organized files, an inviting workspace. The items on the desk haven’t changed (except maybe throwing out those old granola bar wrappers), but the presentation of the items is very different. The same experience can be used when we’re looking at a plate of food. Two plates of food containing the exact same ingredients can be placed on a table to choose from, and by human nature, we will choose the more visually appealing plate every time. The same ingredients with a different presentation can make or break the success of a dish.
Presentation is Art
Food presentation 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. With a little extra time spent plating, you can utilize the texture, color, and taste of the food to create a masterpiece on the plate. A story for your guests to read first with their eyes, and then with their mouths. 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. Food presentation is the key to pulling all five senses into the experience of eating. Hear the food being cooked, smell the ingredients, enjoy the texture as you eat, create an unforgettable taste, and of course, visually taste the food before it ever hits your tongue.
Our team of artisans in Assaggio make all the dishes with heart and passion. From our appetizers to our desserts, everything is made to perfection! If you are ever in the North End, stop by Assaggio and experience our visually-appealing and heart-warming food.
