Do Foods With Beautiful Plating Have A Good Taste?

Illustration of serving food (Pexels / Fernando Aguilar)

JAKARTA - When having dinner at a fancy restaurant, people must have expectations of beautiful food plating. But, do dishes with beautiful food plating have a delicious taste?

Plating food is the process of arranging and decorating food as it is served. The presentation of food makes food more 'expensive'. The aesthetically pleasing food presentation is usually set up for dinners or special days.

Every chef has a different approach in serving the food he has processed. What is considered, among others, material, technique, and style. Plating food itself has changed throughout the ages, for example, the arrangement of French-style dishes in classical times to modern chefs.

The arrangement of the dish dates back to the 15th century, depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's paintings. The dining table is set according to position, balanced and imaginative. All cutlery is arranged according to function, even with the dishes you eat.

In the 17th century at Louis XIV's court, terraced tables were lavishly set and food meticulously decorated. In 18th century France, Marie Antonin Carême in the book Le Pâtissier Pittoresque features more than a hundred architecturally intricate pastries.

Reported by Le Cordon Bleu, arranging food artistically is more than just being beautiful to the eye. The visual design certainly reflects the skills used to prepare and convey the value of the food to visitors.

However, research shows that food is often perceived as tasting better when served in a special way. The study conducted by Zellner, et al. (2011) show that visitors believe that food is better if it is served neatly and in a balanced manner.

Michel, et al. (2014) found that touch in presentation is inspired by complex art. The food ranks up to 18 tastier than the same ingredient but served plain without a touch of chef skill.

This study shows that visual presentation plays a role in improving visitors' perception of food. This means that beautiful food gets more attention, including being more camera friendly.

In the end, food not only fulfills taste but also the perception of visitors. If visitors have a positive perception, it means that the taste of a meal in a fancy restaurant gets more value because the visuals are beautiful.