Why is meal presentation important?
We all eat with our eyes and therefore, how a meal looks is very important. When people look at food there are visual characteristics making the meal appealing and want to be eaten. These food characteristics are also perceived differently between people, and that is why we are attracted to different foods and meals.
Meal presentation is specifically important in the age care sector as we want our elderly people to eat and therefore, any way to increase food intake should be used as a strategy. We also want to make mealtimes pleasant. Meal presentation is the process of serving food onto plates, serving platters and into bowls. It is designed to not only showcase the meal being cooked but also to enhance the appearance, to ensure that the meal looks like the recipe and to be attractive to those eating the meal.
The art of meal presentation
There is an art to meal presentation- it requires care to ensure that the meal when presented on a plate looks tidy. One of the meal presentation techniques is to use colour. Colour immediately can bring a plate alive. When planning the menu, make sure that the colour combination is attractive and not dull. This can be avoided by ensuring that the meal components colour contrast. For example, white mashed potato and cauliflower on the same plate with white fish. Alternatively, serving tomato soup, spaghetti bolognaise and a strawberry mousse. The presentation of the meal is all red in colour.
The colour of the food on the plate is essential for an attractive meal and learning how to increase meal presentation can help with food intake.
At Procurement Australasia, we understand that often aged-care kitchens are plating up a whole dining room in a short period of time. Meal presentation is more than just putting food onto a plate.
Procurement Australasia is pleased to invite you to our FREE Foodservices Webinar which will examine meal presentation, the science behind how to present meals and provide practical demonstration techniques and quick solutions.
What you will learn:
- Quick presentation ideas and tips which can be used in any foodservices to improve meal presentation
- How to use plates and crockery to improve presentation
- Presentation balance on how a small change makes a huge difference, and it all starts with menu planning
- Presentation techniques, tools, colour, height, and creative ways to achieve five-star meal presentation
Join our FREE Aged Care Webinar – “Five Star Food Presentation“
When: April 15 (2.00 pm – 3.30 pm AEDT)
Procurement Australasia’s Foodservice Ambassador, Dr Karen Abbey will be hosting a FREE webinar specifically catered to the issues faced by the Aged Care sector.
To register, click here.
Blog written by Dr Karen Abbey – Procurement Australasia Foodservice Ambassador
