Food Styling 101
Styling could be tricky and sometimes it's hard to replicate one product because of several factors
Salmon and Shrimp Skewers with Bourbon
Barbecue Sauce
Food styling is the art of presenting food for any kind of media whether commercial or photography. The food should be tastefully arranged and presented in a manner that it looks fresh despite the heat from the camera lighting or the continuous takes.
As a chef who had been featured in numerous food magazines, I had the chance to work with well-known photographers. I had the privilege of doing food styling for establishments like Tinapayan for its Christmas spread, Coffee Break for its Panini and Ciao! for its pizza and pasta.
Last week I did the food styling for Bourbon and Alan Sy's Crepes Brettone. I had the chance to work with my favorite photographer, Peter Jaena.
Certified Angus Beef served with Spring Vegetables
Styling could be tricky and sometimes it's hard to replicate one product because of several factors. Here they are.
PRODUCT QUALITY
Carefully choose your main ingredient, one that has the best appearance. If you're going to take a photo of a roast chicken, the skin should not have any bruise or tear. Don't cook all througout to avoid making the skin look old.
NUMERICAL QUANTITY
The number of slices or pieces should harmonize with the presentation. Odd numbers like 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on is ideal so that the display has a focal center. A fried chicken grouped in threes has a center rather than one that is presented in even numbers.
THE EXTRA SHINE
New York Inspired Slider Burgers — Miniature Pure
Beef Burgers.
A hand painter's brush proves handy. Use this to brush the item with corn oil in order to give it shine. If your subjects are fruits, a corn syrup will create a sheen.
ON COOKING
Do not cook meat directly to the fire because its exterior would end up dirty. Cook it with the use of a blow torch and gently brushing it with a mixture of soy sauce and sugar. You'll end up with a juicy steak.
Give the steak a grill finish by heating a metal skewer over a stove and scour the steak to create the grid diamond look.
GARNITURES
Parisian Crepe with Assorted Fruits served with
Vanilla Ice Cream
Use fresh herbs to adorn the dishes. But don't use parsley for fruits and desserts; use mint instead. Use basil, tarragon and rosemary for the main courses. Dip them in ice water to create that fresh look.
PLATES
The plate is the canvas of your artwork. White plates work very well with any kind of food. If you opt to use colored plates, display light colored food on dark plates and vice versa.
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Buffet, Buffet, Buffet
One Sunday afternoon, I was looking for dessert and happened to drop by this restaurant that offers buffet with so many items to choose from. They had this Asian and Filipino spread. The containers were filled with food but the presentation was not properly executed. They presented food with similar colors and ingredients. I thought that perhaps the dishes were the slow moving ala carte items there.
The chicken bones were disintegrated. One can't distinguish which is pork and which is beef because they drowned in the sauce. The vegetables on the salad bar looked as if they were prepared two days earlier because of the discolored edges. This way, the food becomes susceptible to bacterial contamination leading to food poisoning.
Then, there's the poorly writen menu tags. And their buffet table is so big that the food looked small.
Here are my suggestions:
When you prepare your Sunday buffet, consider the color combination of the lineup. Don't serve all brown-colored food. See to it that there's balance of protein, carbohydrates and nutritious foods.
Serving containers should be clean and well-polished. Buffet serving spoons and forks should be replaced as soon as the handles are soiled. If there's high traffic at the buffet, replace it every 30 minutes.
Remove the buffet toppers every end of the buffet because they're usually soiled. If you're using a skirting cloth and if it's soiled, replace it and have it washed immediately.
Always think of the restaurant's reputation.
Until next time. Ciao!