Plating or painting?

Granules of cottage cheese are mixed with heaps of saffron-infused rice. The roulade is dusted with sumac, a Middle Eastern spice and spoons of piquant spinach gravy is perched on top. Juicy pickled vegetables punctuate the charcoal slate that is presented to diners as a part of a menu titled 'abstracts on a platter'.

The meal cooked by Australian chef Rishi Desai, curated by Trekurious, is logically served inside an art gallery. Creating an illusion that one is not just watching art (hanging on the walls), but eating it too.

If you have looked closely at food presented at seasoned restaurants such as Ellipsis, Ziya (The Oberoi, Mumbai), Zodiac Grill, Arola and Indigo, you probably agree that that food plating has become paramount. "You eat with your eyes first, goes an old adage. The intention behind meticulous plating is to add a new dimension to food, beyond taste and texture," says Chef Brian Lopez from Kala Ghoda-based restaurant Cheval.

Following suit, the new brigade of restaurants such as Colaba Social, Cheval, Masala Library and Byblos too are getting crafty with their plates. Says Lopez, "A stuffed chicken or fish is going to be stuffed chicken or fish, you can't mess with classic preparations. So plating them innovatively helps me give it my signature."

This explains dried ingredient debris sparged on a sorbet ready to be spooned, layers of juicy meat chops deftly balanced on top of one another and starkly coloured sauces smeared across a ceramic plate levelled with salad greens.

The trend, popularised by New York's Elm, Chicago's Alinea, Spain's El Bulli and other legendary restaurants, has chefs replicate works of artists such as Jackson Pollock and Van Gogh.

When you think of plating, you'd typically think garnishes such as grated cheese, chocolate tuile and brandy snap, "But it's beyond that. Good plating requires consideration of food's temperature, the plate's colour palate and the contrast that your chosen ingredients will create on the overall look of the dish," explains Chef Kelvin Cheung of Colaba restaurant Ellipsis. Cheung's weapon for destruction is a black slate that he uses as a plate to lay out a salad of variedly textured scarlet vegetable that looks stunning against the plate's charred colour.

Apart from dexterity, know-how and application of principles of molecular gastronomy are also pivotal to creating handsome plates. Edible chemicals alter the intrinsic nature of an ingredient, thereby creating dust out of liquids and foams out of broths. These can intelligently be used to amplify a dish's visual appeal.

In Cheung's view, while plating is getting beautiful, it needs to be functional first. "It should add dimension to the flavour, otherwise what's the point?"