How do I make food look better without much effort?

Presentation is mostly about contrast and restraint. Brown food on a white plate looks unappetising however good it tastes, and a small amount of colour and height transforms it in seconds.

What you'll need

• Fresh herbs (optional)
• A cloth (optional)

Step by step

1. Add colour contrast.Brown food needs something green or red against it. Chopped parsley, sliced spring onion, a few chilli flakes. It costs seconds and changes the plate entirely.
2. Build some height rather than spreading flat.Food piled slightly looks deliberate; food spread across the whole plate looks like a canteen. Use a smaller area of a larger plate.
3. Leave the rim clean.Wipe any splashes with a cloth before serving. It is the single most noticeable difference between a home plate and a restaurant one.
4. Use odd numbers and vary the sizes.Three scallops rather than four, pieces of different sizes. It looks intentional rather than measured out.
5. Sauce deliberately.A pool underneath or a drizzle across, not a covering that hides everything. Sauce poured over the whole plate makes it look like a mistake.
6. Add a textural finish.Toasted nuts, breadcrumbs, seeds, crisp shallots. It improves both the look and the eating, which is the best kind of garnish.
7. Serve hot food on warm plates.It keeps the food hot and it feels considerably more considered. Thirty seconds in a low oven or under a hot tap.
8. Keep it simple.One or two deliberate touches beats an elaborate arrangement. Over-decorated food looks fussy and the food goes cold while you fiddle.

Tips

• Garnish should be edible and relevant. A sprig of something nobody will eat is decoration; chopped herbs are seasoning that also looks good.
• Plain plates show food better than patterned ones. White or a single dark colour is the most flattering background.
• For photographs, natural light from the side is the single biggest factor. Overhead artificial light flattens everything.

Common mistakes

• Spreading food across the whole plate — It looks institutional. Using a smaller area with some height on a larger plate looks deliberate.
• Pouring sauce over everything — It hides the food and looks accidental. A pool underneath or a deliberate drizzle is far better.
• Leaving splashes on the rim — It is the most noticeable single difference between a careless plate and a considered one, and it takes a second to wipe.

Questions people ask