As part of my research I want to interview different people in the food plating world and find out more about peoples opinions, thoughts and teachings so that I can apply this knowledge to my work and understand the subject from an industry viewpoint. The first person I've had the pleasure of interviewing is Tom Taylor...
EM: What’s your profession and where do you work?
EM: What’s your profession and where do you work?
TT: 'Senior Chef de Partie' currently working at The Cricketers
in Ormskirk.
EM: How would you describe what you do?
TT: Hard! I typically prep from 9-12 and do service from 12-9.
I'm normally either cooking or I'll be on the pass, receiving and plating the
food and leading the kitchen.
EM: Nice! Could you name a few of your inspirations for food plating?
EM: Nice! Could you name a few of your inspirations for food plating?
TT: Yeah, Masimmo Bottura is a big inspiration, I love Virgilio
Martínez style of plating/cooking too! Lots of things are inspiring, I love art
and a lot of 'painting' techniques can be applied to a plate too. Of course the
head chef I work with is an inspiration too!
EM: Whats you favourite and least favourite food or dish to
plate and why?
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A Taste of Pork ( Sous-vide pork fillet, Pear and vanilla purée,
sage creamed potatoes, pulled pork croquette, port and apple jus.
wilted greens and black pudding).
|
TT: Any specials are normally my favourite because we get the
most artistic license with them! We have a dish called taste of pork which is
fun to plate! I HATE plating steaks! Too boring!
EM: Awesome! Would you consider yourself a food designer or
artist in any way? Why so?
TT: I guess I do to a certain degree, because I design my own
dishes and plate them, I always keep colours and textures in mind when
designing and plating, but honestly I feel like I would need to work at a
restaurant with a higher level of food before I could confidently say that!
EM: Fair enough, when using colour, texture, shape etc, how do they play a role in a dish?
EM: Ahh ok awesome, do you use different vessels to compliment your dishes? If not, is there anything else (which is not the food itself) you use to complement a dish?
TT: Dirty plates! Smudged sauce, juices/water from elements of the dish on the plate! Stuff like that really, one of my personal hates is when people don't place things carefully and with thought, plating something without thinking ruins everything!
EM: Fair enough, when using colour, texture, shape etc, how do they play a role in a dish?
TT: I always try and keep in mind how the colour works against different plates and with each other, something might look dull on a white plate but pretty on a darker plate! Texture is important to keep a dish exciting, but also is a great way of adding a garnish to a dish and allowing you to plate it in different ways, shape is very important, it can adds height and dimension to a dish!
EM: Is there a general set of rules or guidelines you follow to create a successful looking plate of food?
TT: The way I was taught was to 'build' the plate up, so normally sauces/creams/gels etc are normally put on first, also taught to work in odd numbers as that draws the eye.
EM: Do you possibly consider different senses other than taste when you are plating a dish?
TT: Mostly taste to be honest, smell is important tho because you smell it before you taste it! You see food before you eat so I guess sight is important too???
EM: Ahh ok awesome, do you use different vessels to compliment your dishes? If not, is there anything else (which is not the food itself) you use to complement a dish?
TT: I've used stuff like dry ice to enhance the visual aspect of a dish, and sending stuff still cooking 'sizzling' in pots or mini pans to a table is quite a cool bit of table theatre, there's lots of stuff we can use to send the food out!
EM: And lastly, what can ruin the presentation of a dish in your opinion?
TT: Dirty plates! Smudged sauce, juices/water from elements of the dish on the plate! Stuff like that really, one of my personal hates is when people don't place things carefully and with thought, plating something without thinking ruins everything!
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