INDIA TODAY SPICE 19 AUGUST 2018EAT BY SIGHT
Chef Abhishek Gupta
(left); Chef Daniel
Humm’s plates are like
works of art (below)Italian chef Massimo Bottura is like
an artist and uses the plate as a canvas
to create genius food art. Also, David
Munoz the chef of Diver XO in Ma-
drid also has a unique way of thinking
and is a pioneer of the food as art
movement. Chef Oriol Casto who
worked with the legendary
Ferran Adria for 17 years now has
his own restaurant, Disfrutar,
Barcelona, where the team work with
a design school and anything that
breaks in the restaurant is sent to
them to repurpose so that there is
sustainability in design.Plating Trends
Origami on a plate is trending as
most chefs today create their own
food stencils and clip art design.
You can use a powder or a paste
to create an impression on the
plate and similarly block printing
and rangoli is a big inspiration for
plating this year. Logos are also
used as edible design elements
on the plate. You sometimes need
to work backwards and see the
dish through the diner’s eyes as a
complete unit.- As told to Prachi Bhuchar
Evolution Of Plating Design
Design is very important when it
comes to food and plating as it is a
process that connects directly with
the diner. When one is creating
something for a specialty restaurant
then elements of design and plating
with differ based on the inspiration
of the chef. Initially there was the
classic French style of plating which
had protein, starch and accompani-
ment with the protein the centre,
starch around and sauce drizzled
over it. Abstract plating has also
been popular and similarly, colours
have been used like dots and lines
and strokes to enhance the design
of the plate. Today, Nordic plates are
popular as the food plating is rustic,
abstract and natural. When the food
and garnish is ready the plating
takes place without any prior plan-
ning so each plate looks different.
This becomes a new design form as
there is no combination; it is depen-
dent on one’s mood.
Signature Plate Designs
Food has to have visual appeal; you
first eat with your eyes and then the
palate. You can enhance design by
garnishes, lines, even sauce dots. I
personally feel food needs to look
good to taste good. We have a lot of
parameters that we keep in mind be-
fore deciding on the plating of a dish.
One of my best dishes is the aquari-
um dish which is original and was a
result of brainstorming so the fish is
put on a mini aquarium. We have also
done a series based on colours, spe-
cifically monochromes. All 11 courses
were monochromatic dishes inspired
by the rainbow and beyond. With de-
sign, one has to think out of the box.
Favourite Food Artists
Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park,
New York) is fantastic as his plating
is clean and pushes me to think of
shunning excess and being a mini-
malist. When it comes to abstracts,