Presentation is everything

Presenting food is sometimes just as hard as preparing it. 

We all cook, not only for ourselves and the pleasure of it, but also for friends, family and, for some, for clients.

In many ways, its just as important to take time to present your food as prepare it.  And of course, if its for clients, we want them to come back to us!

I'll admit, I am one of those annoying people who go to charity shops and flea markets buying pretty single or dual pieces of china, just because I may need it "sometime".  But of course there are always the "bargains" for 3 plates or for 5 cups without saucers, and I do refrain, most of the time.

I've only a few pieces readily available at any one time because you need space to put the regular china as well but displaying my recent recipes I have found a new lease of life for the collecting bug and then it occurred to me what do other cooks or chefs use?

Many chefs in 4 and 5* restaurants and hotels (and those who aspire to be them) will use white, but looking through my not insubstantial number of cookery books, I seem to have found at least a few themes.

If its a country style recipe (read French, Spanish or Italian country cooking etc) these seem to be brightly coloured small bowls of gorgeousness or large white platters and serving dishes of stews and baked fare.  Although the more we venture to the east of the mediterranean or to North Africa, the bowls seem to come in three varieties, silver servers, brightly coloured terracotta and beautiful white china with elaborate edging.

The more sophisticated the dishes, it would seem, would invite a layered approach with a base plate of a colour or with pretty edging and then a simple white serving plate on top.  Plain or coloured clothes are used to dress the table and, in some cases, the amount of silver out numbers the china and the food.

But it doesn't stop there, serving bowls can be anything at all, pieces of moulded metal, pressed glass or carved wood.  I have been inspired, but what to do, without space to store it all?

And then there is the question of the shape of the bowl/plate/server, oval, circular, square or something different still?

My own thought is to present food as well as it can be.  If at a dinner party, especially an informal one where the party is all about the food, at least one main part of each course should be presented on a platter or large bowl.  Or if not at a table, then in an array of baskets, servers, bowls and plates.

For a more formal setting, white tablecloths are a must, but that doesn't mean smooth and starched, and you know that antique lace one that your great aunt, grandmother, or next door neighbour gave you all those years ago, well it was made to be used.   I've seen crape paper and crushed velvet used on tables before, and I must admit, having a white base tablecloth along a plane oak table with a roll of gold wall paper down the middle as runner, may sound cheap, but add your candles, your flowers and your place settings and funnily, it can look fantastic.

Kitchen Diary: a simple fish pate

Eliot was a neighbour of a friend.  He was a "theatrical bachelor" in his mid-sixties and had lived in his studio flat just off the Charing Cross Road for over twenty years when I met him in the late eighties.

He was a handsome gentleman and very well attired.  John, my friend at the time was an assistant booking agent and Eliot had been one of the actors who from time to time he had encountered along the way.  After a while they had become friends.

The studio itself was on the third floor of a Victorian mansion block, from the communal stairwell you entered directly into a large room with a recess at the back which was curtained and behind which was the sleeping arrangements.  Just to the side of this was a little inner hall with two doors, one to bathroom and the other to a little kitchen.

His kitchen was literally a large cupboard with a window, not much more than six feet square with a small service sink and drainer, a 1950's bright green pantry cupboard and a small one ring hob on a waist high shelf, lined up against a wall.  Just inside the door was a small table and chair which looked out of a window towards the stage door of a famous theatre.  John and I visited him a few times for tea, he thought me a bit of a bubble head to begin with (I was 19 when I first met him), but when he realised my love of food, he also showed an uncanny ability for imaginative preparations.  With very scarce kitchen amenities John told me later, this very small flat was routinely the centre for small scale receptions.  So handy was its location, Eliot's fellow actors would come by for impromptu theatre salons and literary discussions well into the small hours.

This quick fish pate (and a number variations on this theme) was particularly good.

• One small fillet of skinned salmon, poached and mashed
• One hard boiled egg, mashed well
• Two dessert spoons of chopped parsley
• The juice of a small lemon
• 25 grams of softened salted butter
• A dessert spoon of chopped caper berries
• A good helping (of say half a teaspoon) of ground black pepper
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

Mixed thoroughly together, with a little added vegetable or other tasteless oil if the mixture is too solid.

Eliot served this with thin slices of French bread, which he had griddled on a flat iron over the single ring of his hob.

Related food links:

Retro Entertaining, 1980s Style
Entertaining, Simple Asparagus Rolls
Entertaining, Three Best Dips
Entertaining, Mid-Week cheeky one - Bloody Mary Tomatoes
Retro Entertaining, Leeks Vinaigrette
Entertaining, Mid-Week cheeky one - Chilli Baby Aubergines
 

Baked Mediterranean Asparagus with Parmesan

This is a great "reserve" dish.  Equally good as a starter for a dinner party or, as I normally serve it, a supper dish over fresh tagliatelle.

The fresh favours in this dish really do lift you up after a long day.  Great for that feel good factor on a rainy day!

For two people:

Use a portion of my black olive salsa verde or the more classic green variety, either is a great base for this dish.

• Twelve to sixteen asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched briefly
• Two large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced across the lateral
• A couple of tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan or your favourite hard cheese of choice

On a lined shallow baking tray, spread half your black olive or classic salsa verde and then place your spears on top, adding remaining amount on top.

Place in the top third of a medium to hot oven (190-200c) for 10-12 minutes.

On your serving plates, if using these as a starter, arrange tomato slices.  Add half the hot asparagus on top with a generous sprinkling of cheese.

If serving with tagliatelle, chop the tomatoes roughly and add to the drained pasta so that it is warmed through just before putting on the plate. Lay the asparagus on the top of the pasta, adding the cheese to taste.

This is also extremely good on some toasted rye bread.