I'm Michael Laiskonis, Creative Director
here at the Institute of Culinary
Education. Plate presentation is really
where each individual chef will let
their creativity shine. I'm going to take
a look at important elements of
presentation.
Composition: this is where
we make aesthetic choices, design
elements like basic composition, height,
color, symmetry. We're going to illustrate
these ideas by plating up a yogurt panna
cotta. So I'm going to begin with a
cylinder of our yogurt panna cotta. I'm
placing it slightly off-center. By
creating an asymmetrical composition
we're creating a lot of negative space
which creates some movement on the plate.
A thin strawberry gelée and I'm going to
plate the lemon confit into three piles.
Generally speaking odd numbers tend to
look more attractive to our eye than
even numbers. A little bit of basil seed;
some very thin slices of candied celery;
a few slices of strawberry; some celery
leaf. I'd like to place these as if they were
falling from the heavens to create
upward movement. So we have red against
green and the reason why that works is
because on a color wheel they're
complementary colors; however, even though
it works in this presentation, the
flavors work as well. I try to avoid
adding color just for the sake of color,
unless it adds something to the flavor
of the dish. A little bit of lime cream,
again, to use odd numbers, five dots. Just
a little drizzle of a basil-infused
olive oil. For our strawberry panna cotta:
slightly asymmetrical in the plating, odd
numbers of components and because it's a
fairly lateral presentation we're using
the natural shape of our ingredients to
create that motion.
Balance is when we look at the portion
and proportion of our components and how
they might actually shift the focus of
the dish. Here the inspiration is très
leches. We want to lighten up that
presentation and actually use cake as a
garnish. Create more of a fruit-driven
dessert by starting with a little dulce
de leche. The depth of this bowl allows
us to make a really interesting swipe. This
pineapple has been roasted with some
vanilla, star anise and rum. Next comes
our cake component of sponge cake soaked
in evaporated milk, condensed milk, and
coconut milk. To amplify the fruitiness,
some mango pearls.
Ground hazelnut. Coconut sorbet right
onto the hazelnut to keep that from
sliding around. A little lime cream, fresh
grated lime zest.
Tres leches reinvented simply by
shifting the portion and proportion of
our components to create more of a fruit-driven dish.
Shape: this is where we concerned
ourselves with the actual shape of our
ingredients and I like to use this as an
exercise in simplicity and refinement.
Taking a cue from not only Japanese
aesthetics but also ingredients. So I
have a black sesame and milk chocolate
parfait that's set on a Kinako wafer.
Kinako is a toasted soybean powder. I'm
also not going to muddy up this
presentation with too many flavors. I'm
going to echo the sesame with a little
bit of ground black sesame powder.
Preserved cherry on top
because we have a sour cherry center.
Caramelized rice, a little red shiso, some
confectioners sugar. The black of the
plate will allow this to pop. I'm going
to dust the rim of the plate again to
kind of accentuate the roundness and
then finish with a little bit of matcha
green tea powder. We're kind of creating
a variation on a theme, lots of round
shapes
superimposed on top of each other.
Texture is all about how we feel the
food, so we're looking at soft, creamy
firm, hard, brittle, crunchy and how those
textures interact. So it's a lot about
the contrasts, contrast in temperatures
as well. And we'll be doing a play off of
a vacherin, which is classically a dessert
that includes meringue, some sort of
frozen element and some sort of creamy
element. So we're going to start with
that creamy element: simple vanilla cream. And
I'm using this Front of the House Monaco
Bowl because the shape of this bowl
allows all of these textures to kind of
intermingle.
For some acidity we have a bergamot
cream and then lightness expressed in
this pistachio sponge. For a crunchy
element: crushed strawberry sablée. Our
basil ice cream — I really love that
herbal flavor with all of these bright
citrus flavors. Adding a chewy texture of
some candied orange peel and the
hallmark of a vacherin: dried meringue. So
here we have our dried meringue in
little little button form. Little ground
pistachio, utilize that nice wide rim and
to echo the ice cream, a few leaves of
fresh basil. The way the elements are
combined and the choice of the bowl
itself easily led to getting a little
bit of these different textures in each
and every bite.
There's endless opportunity for
creativity and expression depending on
the design elements, the techniques and
the plates that we employ.
