Restaurant serving dishes: photo. At home as in a restaurant: learning how to serve meat dishes beautifully

Have you finally decided on the menu for your restaurant? In this article, you will learn how to present dishes to visitors. Everyone in the restaurant world knows that one of the most important indicators of a restaurant's success is the presentation of the dish. How it can interest your customers? How to arrange visitors to order from you.

First impressions are the most important emotions of your guests. The right combination flowers and serving dishes. It will depend on the serving whether the visitor wants to stay and order something else, whether he will return to you next time. Here are some tips for success in food presentation.

There are many ways to serve and serve food. Learn the basic rules of restaurant etiquette and food presentation. But the most interesting thing is to use original ways filing and win the love of visitors at first sight. Unusual appliances or original serving of drinks - and now you have already made an impression on the guests. This article describes modern methods of decorating dishes that you can use in the future to satisfy even the most sophisticated gourmets.

Responsible for serving meals in a restaurant

Depending on the type, type, and size of your establishment, the responsible person may be your chef, bartender, or staff specially trained for these activities. But no matter who serves the food in your restaurant, he or she should be familiar with the basic rules for presenting food.

Basic rules for serving dishes in a restaurant

  • the plate should not be overloaded with food, but it should not seem empty either;
  • food should not be too close to the edges of the plate;
  • for a beautiful presentation, it is recommended to create a color contrast on the plate;
  • forget about symmetry, people like randomness;
  • arrange light and dark colors, large and small objects, crispy with soft, etc.;
  • do not overdo it with sauces, it is better to serve it separately.

If you need to serve chicken skewers, meatballs or shrimp, use an odd number of serving ingredients and they will look more interesting on a plate.

There is also one old method of serving food that continues to be used in many establishments. Imagine that the plate is a clock. Just arrange specific types of products according to the time of day.

Carbohydrates are suitable for 11 hours (pasta, rice, potatoes, vegetables for 2 hours, and proteins for 6 hours, the main meal (fish, meat, mushrooms). This old-fashioned way of serving dishes has its positive aspects and allows you to determine the portion size .This aspect is a very important part of the inventory, as well as to calculate the cost and its impact on the restaurant's final profit.

Japanese food style

Japanese serving style rendered big influence to the world of restaurant art. Minimalism is everywhere in Japan, including the kitchen and culinary art. It is the harmony of beauty and simplicity.

The Japanese never put the whole dish on one plate. Garnish and fish can be served in different small plates. This method of filing greatly simplifies the process. You do not have to build large compositions of products on one plate. The main goal of the Japanese kitchens - simple separate food in small portions. This allows you to feel the taste of the dishes as much as possible and have time to try all the positions.

Even if you have European cuisine or fast food in your restaurant and you think that this way of serving is unlikely to suit you, just look at how this serving of french fries looks like)


Elements for decorating dishes in a restaurant

Decoration is a very important aspect that should complete the serving of the dish. For a long time, fresh flowers have been used to decorate dishes. There are many ways to decorate dishes, but the use of edible ingredients and spices is recommended, which will not only become a decorative element, but also emphasize the taste of the dish or become a competent addition to the main dish. For example, fish is traditionally served with lemon, and various desserts are poured with syrups.

Kids Menu Design Ideas

Another target audience of your visitors is children. For them, the visual image is perhaps the most important factor in the presentation of the dish. If you can arrange healthy food(for example, vegetable stew) so that the child will be satisfied, you will win the sympathy of the parents, and next time they will come to you. Try to think children's menu restaurant so that the dishes looked like the result of a child's imagination. It can be characters from fairy tales, popular heroes, famous toys. Here are some decorating ideas for kids.

Creative restaurant serving ideas

One of the ways to promote your restaurant should definitely include a creative presentation of the dish. How would you react if you received the sauce in an alchemy tube? I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Free your imagination from the canonical ways of serving dishes. Alternative cutlery and crockery is what will help you make a lasting impression. Serve soup in an unusual bowl, bring juice instead of a jug in a beautiful vase and you will see that your visitors are satisfied.


Organic tableware for serving

While world-famous chefs advise using only large white plates for presentation, why not go further and use wood or stone utensils. This will not only allow the dish to be served in an original way, but will also have a certain impact on visitors. Organic cookware is safe, environmentally friendly and will make a good first impression. Earthenware is perfect for serving soups. It perfectly retains heat, is practical and environmentally completely safe.

Cooking and serving dishes in front of visitors is an element of restaurant promotion

This method is usually used in establishments where the menu does not involve cooking. complex dishes With long time cooking. Here the key factor is that the visitor will see how his order is prepared and processed. This will put guests at your restaurant. This method demonstrates trust and openness. In addition, the chef's skills are sure to interest all guests. So why not arrange such events periodically for your guests?

What can you cook right in front of visitors:

  • Salads
  • Steak
  • Fondue
  • Easy Desserts
  • Flambe - cooking on fire is a great idea for an evening

Many people would like to see how chefs work, creating their culinary masterpieces. A popular restaurant chef can put on a real show with elements of acrobatics.

There are establishments that specialize in one dish and prepare it right in front of visitors - for example, raclette (French analogue of fondue). The cooking process is simple, fast and very interesting. Choose what to cook in front of the audience according to the specifics of your restaurant, and you will definitely be able to surprise your guests.

Inventory for the presentation of dishes

If you want to be perfect in original submission of your products, it is worth finding a store and purchasing the appropriate kitchen attributes to optimize the process. Here are some of the tools you will need:

  • kitchen scissors
  • Culinary tweezers in various sizes
  • Various knives and scalpels for carving fruits and vegetables
  • Choppers for fruits and vegetables
  • Molds and rings
  • Spoons, tongs, needles
  • Spatulas and brushes for decorating.

After reading our article, you will be able to choose what your institution needs. Connect your imagination and you will be able to arrange your dishes in accordance with the concept of your establishment. Proper serving dishes are not only a reflection of your creative nature, but also a concern for visitors. We are sure they will definitely appreciate it.


When decorating a dish, the goal is to make it look so that it will tempt all the senses, and not just taste buds. If the food looks tempting, the body begins to produce more fluids that take part in the absorption of nutrients, so it can be said that food that looks attractive is even healthier than one that is not so appetizing. To achieve restaurant-quality decor, start with well-cooked dishes in rich colors. To enhance the visual appeal of your dish, layer it using contrasting colors and textures. In conclusion, season the dish with aromatic herbs or spices, and you can move on to the next level of skill. Explore step by step instructions, and the next dish you're about to cook will look tempting.

Steps

We start with dishes that look attractive on their own.

    Avoid a monochromatic color scheme. The dish served will look more attractive if there are contrasting colors. Imagine that you have a nondescript bowl in front of you. oatmeal or a bowl of pasta without any sauce. Even if you add to oatmeal or pasta such fragrant ingredients, like butter or spices, it will still “look” dull, just like a plate of carbohydrates. Serve the same bowl of porridge with fresh red berries or decorate it with a curl of amber maple syrup, and visually the dish will be perceived in a completely different way. Pasta can be served with useful green sauce pesto and chopped cherry tomatoes. Regardless of what you're serving, think about how to create a contrast of colors.

    • When you plan to cook something, first think about color scheme in which you would like to decorate the dish. You may not be able to imagine all the colors of the rainbow in every dish, but try to challenge yourself to have as many colors as possible.
    • If you see that the dishes you are about to serve are similar in color, for example, fried chicken and potatoes, use the easiest way to add color to it - put a piece or two of fruit or vegetables. If you use fruits and vegetables, you can add almost any of the brightest colors: green, orange, red, purple, blue, pink and yellow.
    • If the color doesn't work, try seasonings. to almost anyone spicy dish chives, parsley, dill or mint will do. Lemon and lime slices are welcome with poultry and seafood dishes.
  1. The best color of vegetables is their natural color. The way you cook vegetables has a huge impact on them. general form. Vegetables that have been cooked too long at high temperatures lose their color and usually look less appetizing than those that have been cooked just until tender. So that the vegetables do not turn into a shapeless porridge and do not lose color, try to finish heat treatment while they are still bright in color and slightly firm. Some of the best ways to present vegetables include:

    • Instead of boiling vegetables, steam them. Steam cooking vegetables gives them an appetizing look and flavor, while boiling has the opposite effect. Take, for example, broccoli: steam cooking will give it a fresh, bright color. green color, and each inflorescence will retain its shape and texture. When boiled in boiling water, broccoli turns into a shapeless mass, moreover, a paler color, which looks much less attractive on a plate. The same goes for asparagus, carrots, green beans, and many other vegetables.
    • Fry or sauté them in a small amount of vegetable or butter. Fried and sautéed vegetables look very appetizing if they are allowed to fry a little in oil. The bright orange or green color of vegetables is offset by a crispy crust. This is a sophisticated way to cook delicious vegetables.
  2. Fry the meat and leave it to brew. Many meat dishes take on a very appetizing appearance if the meat was first fried. At the sight of a steak or a slice fried salmon with a crispy brown crust, your guests will salivate. But worth giving fried meat lie down before cutting it. This will allow the juice to soak back into the meat so it doesn't spill over onto the plate.

    • There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you submit stewed beef, you'll have to think of other creative ways to make the meat look more appetizing, even if it doesn't have a crispy crust. One such way is to serve it with sauce.
  3. Be careful when cooking fried foods. Undercooked or overcooked food is difficult to make attractive. fried foods will look beautiful on the plate if they are well fried and know how to deal with excess vegetable oil so that it does not stain the rest of the food on the plate. Such dishes should be fried until they turn golden brown, then they should be left to drain on a plate, overlaid with paper towels to collect excess oil. Otherwise, the food will leave streaks of fat on the plate.

    • Products often continue to darken for some time after the end of frying, when they have already been taken out of the hot oil. Keep a close eye on the food as it cooks to make sure it doesn't brown too much.
    • Handle foods with care while frying them so they can look appetizing when you put them on a plate. For example, if you want to check the temperature inside a piece of chicken, insert the thermometer into it in a place where the resulting hole will not be visible.
  4. Consider texture. Texture and color go hand in hand when it comes to how appetizing a cooked dish looks. If it has too much oil or, conversely, too little oil, it is shapeless or hard, and it is hard to chew and swallow, then it will no longer matter how colorful it looks. Make every effort to ensure that the dish is well cooked and has the right texture.

    • How you handle a dish right after it's cooked and before it's served on your plate can have a significant impact on its texture. Pasta, for example, must be kept in water or discarded in a large number of oil immediately after it is cooked to prevent it from sticking together. Fried foods should not be covered tightly, because the fumes from hot foods will cause the food to become wet and sluggish.
    • If the dish looks too dry, you can improve its appearance by drizzling it with oil or water when it is on the plate.
  5. Experiment with shapes. If you cut vegetables into interesting figures, then even the simplest dish will seem special. You can use an ice cream scoop to make rice balls or mashed potatoes. It will look extraordinary if served with vegetables, desserts or closed pies by laying them inside other dishes with an attractive shape.

    Try combining foods with different textures. Create texture contrast - good way make the dish attractive. Only soft or only crunchy foods do not look good on a plate, but the combination of both looks quite sophisticated. For example, to give a more appetizing look, you can put a slide of soft mushroom risotto in sauce poured into a plate, and put a piece of toasted salmon on top and sprinkle with crispy green onion. We get a combination of three different textures, harmoniously combined in one dish. By eliminating even one of these elements, we will make the dish less attractive.

    • The quickest solution if you need to add something crunchy to a dish is to sprinkle it. a small amount grated fried walnuts, almonds or pumpkin seeds.
    • You can add softness to a spicy dish by using products with a creamy texture: putting a spoonful of sour cream or a few pieces goat cheese. Whipped cream or custard add tenderness to a sweet dish.
  6. Lay the dish in layers to make it tall. Layered dishes are typical for restaurants, and are not often used in home cooking. By giving a dish height, you can transform it from ordinary to gorgeous. Using stacking or layering techniques, you can show off your culinary skills and make your presentation look more professional.

    Control the amount of sauce. When serving a curry, stew, or casserole, you may want to stack the sauce before serving, and then pour just the right amount onto your plate. In this way, you can control the amount of sauce, using it only to decorate the dish. A liquid dish on a flat plate looks sloppy unless you enclose it with rice, pasta or potatoes. You can also file it in more suitable utensils: bowl or deep plate.

    Follow the trends in decorating dishes. Remember that styles change over the course of years or even months, so keep up to date by checking out cooking magazines, cooking or gourmet websites, and cooking shows for current ideas. Complex garnishes and decoration in the form of a high slide were also in vogue at one time. However, tricky and difficult to implement trends tend to disappear eventually, while classical principles serving dishes so that they look fresh, appetizing and delicious never go out of style.

Adding delicious details

  • If you're serving pasta with protein foods, place them on top of the pile of pasta. For example, if you're adding shrimp, layer them on top rather than hiding the pieces in the middle of the pasta pile.
  • Just before serving the pasta, you can sprinkle it with a small amount. olive oil to give the dish an attractive sheen.
  • “Brown” dishes can also be given an appetizing look. Mushroom cream soup or vegetable stew have refined taste, but in a bowl or on a plate, they usually look neutrally boring. How to make fried or just brown dishes more spectacular? The key is to decorate the dish. Depending on the main flavor profile of the soup or stew, you can try chopped thyme, roasted sage, chopped chives, or other green herbs to add more freshness to the dish.

    • Soups and stews often splattered or spilled, so it is important to check that the sides of the bowl or plate in which you serve them are wiped clean before serving them.
    • Casserole can also be attributed to brown dishes. Serving it along with a bunch of fresh herbs can offset the neutral look of the main course.
  • We decorate desserts that taste better than they look. Imagine that you have used grandmother's recipe famous chocolate cupcakes, but you want to improve the dish a little, because it looks somehow very .... brown. Baked desserts such as cupcakes, unopened fruit pies and everyday cakes, it may take a little maintenance to make them look as good as they taste. You can use one of these methods:

    • Use cookie cutters to give your baked goods a neat shape. A star or leaf shaped cupcake will look more interesting than a regular square one.
    • Serve with mint. A few fresh sprigs of mint are a great way to enhance many desserts, especially fruit ones.
    • You can sprinkle cocoa or chocolate, cinnamon or powdered sugar on top of the dessert. Powder is best suited for dark desserts, with which it contrasts in color.
    • Chopped peppermint can be sprinkled on top of the dish. It will look like you have covered your dish with pink glitter.
    • If we talk about sparkles, then you can use edible sparkles by sprinkling dessert with them.
    • If all else fails, add a swirl of whipped cream. You can squeeze cream out of a piping bag using a star-shaped tip for an even more eye-catching look.
    • Try to design dishes so that they are appropriate for the occasion and are simple. Beautiful, well-decorated dishes are excellent for celebrations, but even simple meals can be decorated by adding some herbs.
    • For ideas, read modern cookbooks and magazines. Local libraries are a wonderful resource for this. In addition, many of the food magazines are now available for download, allowing you to read cooking recipes right from your iPad, eReader or other gadget. By using electronic devices as a reference, you can also improve your table decorating skills!
    • Now on sale there are dishes in which the dish can stay hot for a long time (patented). A great finishing touch for special gourmet hot dishes (especially if they turn out to be expensive and take a long time to cook).

    First impressions are the most important emotions of your guests. The right combination of colors and serving dishes.

    There are many ways to serve and serve food. Learn the basic rules of restaurant etiquette and menu presentation. But the most interesting thing is to use original ways of serving and win the love of visitors at first sight. Unusual appliances or original serving of drinks - and now you have already made an impression on the guests. This article describes modern methods that you can use in the future to satisfy even the most sophisticated gourmets.

    Basic rules for serving dishes in a restaurant

    the plate should not be overloaded with food, but it should not seem empty either;
    food should not be too close to the edges of the plate;
    for a beautiful presentation, it is recommended to create a color contrast on the plate;
    forget about symmetry, people like randomness;
    arrange light and dark colors, large and small objects, crispy with soft, etc.;
    do not overdo it with sauces, it is better to serve it separately.

    If you need to serve chicken skewers, meatballs or shrimp, use an odd number of serving ingredients and they will look more interesting on a plate.

    There is also one old method of serving food that continues to be used in many establishments. Imagine that the plate is a clock. Just arrange specific types of products according to the time of day.

    Carbohydrates are suitable for 11 hours (pasta, rice, potatoes, vegetables for 2 hours, and proteins for 6 hours, the main meal (fish, meat, mushrooms). This old-fashioned way of serving dishes has its positive aspects and allows you to determine the portion size .This aspect is a very important part of the inventory, as well as to calculate the cost and its impact on the restaurant's final profit.

    Japanese food style

    The Japanese style of serving has had a great influence on the world of restaurant art. Minimalism is everywhere in Japan, including cuisine and culinary arts. It is the harmony of beauty and simplicity.

    The Japanese never put the whole dish on one plate. Garnish and fish can be served in different small plates. This method of filing greatly simplifies the process. You do not have to build large compositions of products on one plate. The main goal of Japanese cuisine is simple separate food in small portions. This allows you to feel the taste of the dishes as much as possible and have time to try all the positions.

    Even if you have European cuisine or fast food in your restaurant and you think that this way of serving is unlikely to suit you, just look at how this serving of french fries looks like)

    Elements for decorating dishes in a restaurant

    Decoration is a very important aspect that should complete the serving of the dish. For a long time, fresh flowers have been used to decorate dishes. There are many ways to decorate dishes, but the use of edible ingredients and spices is recommended, which will not only become a decorative element, but also emphasize the taste of the dish or become a competent addition to the main dish. For example, fish is traditionally served with lemon, and various desserts are poured with syrups.

    Kids Menu Design Ideas

    Another target audience of your visitors is children. For them, the visual image is perhaps the most important factor in the presentation of the dish. If you can arrange healthy food (like stewed vegetables) in a way that pleases the child, you will win the sympathy of the parents, and next time they will come to you. Try to think over the restaurant's children's menu so that the dishes look like the result of a child's imagination. It can be characters from fairy tales, popular heroes, famous toys. Here are some decorating ideas for kids.

    Organic tableware for serving

    While world-famous chefs advise using only large white plates for presentation, why not go further and use wood or stone utensils. This will not only allow the dish to be served in an original way, but will also have a certain impact on visitors. Organic cookware is safe, environmentally friendly and will make a good first impression. Earthenware is perfect for serving soups. It perfectly retains heat, is practical and environmentally completely safe.

    Preparing and serving meals in front of guests

    What can you cook right in front of visitors:
    Salads
    Steak
    Sushi
    Fondue
    Easy Desserts

    Flambe - cooking on fire is a great idea for an evening
    Many people would like to see how chefs work, creating their culinary masterpieces. A popular restaurant chef can put on a real show with elements of acrobatics.

    There are establishments that specialize in one dish and cook it right in front of visitors - for example, raclette (French analogue of fondue). The cooking process is simple, fast and very interesting. Choose what to cook in front of the audience according to the specifics of your restaurant, and you will definitely be able to surprise your guests.

    Inventory for the presentation of dishes

    If you want to achieve perfection in the original presentation of your products, it is worth finding a store and purchasing the appropriate kitchen utensils to streamline the process. Here are some of the tools you will need:

    kitchen scissors
    Culinary tweezers in various sizes
    Various knives and scalpels for carving fruits and vegetables
    Choppers for fruits and vegetables
    Molds and rings
    Spoons, tongs, needles
    Spatulas and brushes for decorating.

    After reading our article, you can choose what you need. Connect your imagination and you will be able to arrange your dishes in accordance with the concept of your establishment. Proper serving of dishes is not only a reflection of your creative nature, but also a concern for visitors. We are sure they will definitely appreciate it.

    More interesting recipes

    The art of serving and decorating dishes is addressed primarily to the taste and imagination of a particular person, however, in order for your creation to become a real work of art, it must comply with certain rules. That is why in this area, as in all others, expert advice is always a certain guarantee of success.

    The ability to make a dish beautiful is one of the components of cooking. For this, decorations are used, made from a wide variety of products (vegetables, herbs, fruits, etc.). These decorations can themselves be independent meals: in the first case, these will be snacks, salads or fruits for dessert, in the second - just decorations that are placed on plates or on the table (dinning or with cold appetizers).

    KITCHEN TOOLS

    Before proceeding with the direct manufacture of your chosen jewelry, make sure that you have the tools necessary for this at hand. They are quite simple and will successfully complement the standard set of kitchen utensils.
    The most complete set includes sharp knives, scissors, noisettes of various sizes (sharp-edged hemispherical spoons), an egg cutter, a citrus peeler, special devices dredging, apple coring, several metal molds for cookies and nozzles for a pastry bag or syringe, as well as a brush. Don't be fooled by this long list - most often we are talking about tools that can be easily purchased at any specialized store.

    RULES TO BE FOLLOWED

    Here, at last, you have acquired all the necessary kitchen tools. However, this is still not enough to immediately move into the category of masters in terms of decorating dishes. There are certain rules, the observance of which will allow your culinary creations to impress the guests.

    The right combination

    Remember the main thing: the dish and the decoration that complements it must be combined with each other. In fact, most often it is enough to adhere to the generally accepted combination of certain products, and the decoration itself should provide originality. So, potatoes - but in the form of mushrooms or buttercups - perfectly complement the meat. Lemon in the form of a rose or a butterfly will decorate fish and seafood dishes.

    Simplicity

    Very often, to achieve the best effect, you have to limit the number of decorations. Some dishes look much better in their own in kind. If the main thing, the “crown” dish is beautifully decorated and looks great, you should not underestimate the effect it produces, overloading the rest of the dishes with all sorts of decorations.

    Location of individual elements

    Think carefully about where and how all the decor elements will be located. Remember that any dish with decoration attracts much more attention than without it. Choose dishes that cannot compete in beauty with the food you have prepared and decorated.

    Color harmony

    To make your decorations look more spectacular, resort to contrasting color combinations. To get green, use vegetables such as leeks, cucumbers, parsley or watercress, orange - carrots, red - tomatoes or beet juice, white - hard-boiled eggs or turnips ... Your imagination will complete the rest. It is also useful to have patrel seasoning in the kitchen: it can be used to color neutral-colored vegetables, such as potatoes, brown.

    Clarity, Precision and Accuracy

    Your jewelry will be attractive if it is done carefully. When cutting out individual parts of jewelry from products, make sure that the lines of decorative cutouts are clear and concise, use, if possible, various kinds of molds for notching. Sharpen your knives regularly. In addition, before serving dishes, do not forget to wipe the edges of the plates.

    Products Used

    The base foods used to make jewelry are not always meant to be eaten. For the manufacture of various jewelry and their parts are very often used raw foods which cannot be subjected cooking because they lose their decorative qualities. For example, raw, and therefore hard, potatoes or turnips are used to create white flowers, and red flowers are cut from raw beets. The same applies to carrots, which must be raw and fresh so that various sculptural forms can be easily made from them. lettuce leaves, Bay leaf, mint, chives, leek shoots, cucumber or bell pepper skins can all be used successfully to make leaves and stems of culinary flowers. And finally, lemons, oranges, watermelons, melons easily turn into all kinds of baskets, sailboats, funny animals.

    Combination of flavor and color

    Color, as a rule, serves as one of the means of creating or emphasizing the taste of food. If you need to resort to dyes, use natural products pleasant in color and taste. For example, to tint vegetables, saffron and other spices (paprika, curry) are used, and to give the desired color to sauces, such as mayonnaise (or sour cream), ketchup is added to them, tomato paste. In addition, mayonnaise (or sour cream), which is often served with cold fish, fresh vegetables or hard-boiled eggs, can be dyed green with parsley juice or by adding finely chopped spinach leaves.

    For hot dishes, decorations are prepared in advance. After all, they must be placed as quickly as possible before the food has cooled down. Otherwise, it will lose most of its taste.

    Immediately before serving dishes of fish, meat, grilled or skewered poultry, “walk” over them with a brush slightly moistened with vegetable oil. This will add a shine to the toasted crust and make the dishes even more appetizing. To enhance the color and shine of cold dishes and snacks, they are covered with a thin layer of edible gelatin.

    Orange pomander with cloves

    Pomanders are French crafts that have been an essential fragrant decoration of winter festivities for several centuries. The word "pomander" comes from the French "pomme d'ambre": in the Renaissance, this was the name for aromatic balls of gray amber, which were produced in Venice and served to scent living spaces.
    Over time, the word "pomander" began to be called round bottles made of silver, gold or ivory, allowing for a long time to preserve the originality of the tart aroma.
    Fruit pomanders appeared in France at the beginning of the 20th century. French women used to hang pomanders in their linen closets to give their linen a sophisticated scent.
    For this, ordinary apples dried with spices in a special way were used.
    In England, citrus pomanders appeared. They were made from oranges, cloves, cinnamon and other spices. This fragrance has become a symbol of Christmas and New Year.
    Pomanders can be made from apples, lemons, oranges, and limes.

    Exists classic recipe spice mixes for pomander (based on 4 fruits):
    - 1/2 cup ground cinnamon
    - 1/4 cup ground cloves
    - 2-4 teaspoons (heaped) of nutmeg
    - 2-4 teaspoons ground allspice
    - 1/4 cup crushed orris root

    Manufacturing:
    We take a wooden stick and pierce the peel of the fruit. We insert a clove of cloves into each hole, pour it abundantly with a mixture of spices and place it in a beautiful fabric bag. The pomander will gradually dry and exude fragrance throughout the room for about six months.
    In a simplified version, we simply stick the cloves into the orange and lightly sprinkle with a mixture of spices. For New Year's decor, carnation hats are sometimes tinted with gold paint.
    You can hang such fragrant balls around the apartment, you can give it to loved ones .... They will bring joy and Christmas mood to any home!

    "Roses" from potatoes (turnips, beets) deep-fried

    These deep-fried "roses" can be made from potatoes or turnips ("white roses") or beets ("red roses"). Red roses can also be prepared from potatoes by coloring them with beetroot juice. It is advisable to take a middle-aged potato - slices from young potatoes get pretty brittle.

    "Petals" of the future "rose" with a thickness of 1-1.5 mm are conveniently cut from raw potatoes on a special grater for vegetables.
    And if you don't have it, then try to cut sharp knife as thin as possible and as uniform in thickness as possible. "Petals" should be thin and translucent.

    We cut off one plate thicker (3-4 mm) in order to cut long square-section bars from it for the central “buds”, around which we will wrap the “petals”.

    Then we soak the “petals”, “buds” and toothpicks for chopping the “rose” in a bowl with cold water, in which it is necessary to add salt (per 1 liter 1 full teaspoon of salt), for 2-3 hours. This will soften the petals by dissolving some of the starch and make them much more pliable when rolling the roses.

    You need the smallest toothpicks you can find on the market. If they are not preliminarily soaked in water for 2-3 hours together with the “petals”, then they will burn when frying roses in hot oil.

    Let's start making roses:
    We take the central “bud” and tightly wrap it with one petal. Then we take another petal and twist it in the other direction. After that, we fix the bud with a piece of toothpick.

    Like this:
    After that, we wrap the other petals a little away from above, so that the “rose” turns out to be open, “blooming”.
    It is necessary to strictly observe the rule: one petal is clockwise, and the next one is counterclockwise.
    The larger you want to make a "rose", the more petals and toothpicks holding them together.
    Then we slightly shake off the “roses” from the water and set aside on a napkin to dry for 3-5 minutes. Otherwise, in hot oil, excess water will “explode” and splash. (If you dip a wet rose into boiling oil, then you will have to long and tediously wash the entire kitchen of scattered fat.)
    While the roses are drying, put a small cauldron with vegetable oil on the fire and heat it to the desired temperature.
    To check if the oil is hot enough, take one petal from the bowl, dry it with a napkin and dip it into the oil. If it sizzles merrily and bubbles appear, then the oil is ready for frying, and if it sizzles weakly, then you have to wait a little more.
    So, the oil has reached the right temperature.
    We lower the rose head down and try so that it does not roll to one side for 1-2 minutes. At this time, all the petals will open. Now carefully turn it over and fry on all sides until golden brown.
    When the "rose" acquires a fried color - it is ready.
    We take it out of the cauldron on a paper towel to allow excess oil to drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
    When the "roses" cool down a bit, take out the toothpicks. It is easier to pull them out if you turn them a little around the longitudinal axis before pulling them out.
    Ready-made "roses" no longer want to fall apart into "petals", and they can be carefully transferred to a plate and served as a ready-made separate dish, as a decoration for dishes.

    "Pearls" of balsamic vinegar

    You need: -1 glass of odorless vegetable oil, put in the freezer for at least 30-60 minutes (the oil should be cold, but not frozen); -150 ml balsamic vinegar; -2 g (vegetable gelatin); - syringe (you can also use a pipette)

    Bring balsamic vinegar + agar-agar to a boil while stirring (do not boil), let cool for 5-10 minutes.
    Dial into a syringe and pour the vein balsamic drop by drop into cold oil.
    Using a slotted spoon, collect the pearls, rinse in a container with cold water. Drain the water and use the pearls in salads.
    The answer to the question why all this? This is done in order to surprise yourself and your loved ones with a new format of a familiar product. It is very interesting when the "eggs" burst on the tongue leaving the taste of the sauce.

    New Year ice for drinks

    Pre-boiled water (to make the ice transparent) pour a layer into ice molds and freeze.
    Pour a thin layer of water on the frozen ice and lay out bright, beautiful berries.
    We freeze again so that the berries freeze well and cannot float.
    Fill the molds to the top with water and place in the freezer until completely frozen.

    sugar roses

    Rinse the roses with cold water, gently shake off the drops of water from the flowers and dip them into a slightly warm (but not hot!) jelly solution of one and a half or double concentration (from what is written on the gelatin packaging).
    Sprinkle generously with sugar or fructose and place in the refrigerator until the jelly solution has completely cooled (about 2-3 hours).
    We use sugar roses to decorate various desserts, cakes or serve as a decoration. tea table and sweets.

    Cucumber "herringbone" for decorating the New Year's table

    You can also make "Christmas trees" from cold cuts and cheese.

    Original potatoes for decorating salads and snacks

    With a thin and sharp knife, cut the potatoes thinly, thinly, almost transparent slices.
    Or use a grater to cut thin chips.
    Put a sprig of parsley on a slice.
    Cover with another slice and cut around the edges so that both slices are the same size.
    Fry in hot vegetable oil on both sides.
    Salt the fried slices and serve hot on the table.

    Potato decoration

    Christmas decoration of potato roses.
    Stars are cut out of sweet peppers (yellow, red, green) and set on roses after baking before serving.
    New Year's roses in the photo are prepared with double the amount of yolk.

    Needed: 0.5 kg of potatoes 3 tbsp. l. heavy cream 3 tbsp. l. parmesan, finely grated 1 egg yolk

    Potatoes boiled in salted water, after being ready, dry a little, at the end of cooking, drain the water and remove the lid at very low heat.
    Then, without allowing to cool, quickly and thoroughly knead until smooth.
    Add egg yolk, cream, cheese, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
    Once again, thoroughly knead and lightly beat with a spoon.
    The puree should not be runny, smooth, and without lumps of unmashed potatoes.
    With the help of a pastry bag with a star nozzle, plant the “roses” on a baking sheet covered with cooking paper (see the previous recipe “Potato roses for decorating dishes” above).
    Bake roses in preheated to 200 gr. From the oven for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
    Ready "roses" can be sprinkled with spices to taste.

    New Year's apple

    Christmas apple to decorate the festive table.
    So that the cut does not darken, it is lubricated lemon juice or citric acid solution. You can cut a heart from an apple of a different color and insert it into the cut hole.

    Cookies with wishes

    Ingredients:
    cookie dough shortbread or flavored shortbread, or sweet on soda and sour cream, or gingerbread, or ginger - this is your choice (the dough can be tinted with cocoa or dry berries grated into a fine powder)
    sugar-protein glaze(180-200 g powdered sugar and 1 chicken protein)
    food coloring for frosting
    piping bag and No. 1 nozzle (or plastic file with cut corner)
    paper
    scissors
    satin ribbons

    Cooking:
    We knead the dough, roll it into a layer about 7-8 mm thick, cut out figured cookies with cutouts and make 2 holes in them, as shown in the photo.


    It is convenient to make holes with a straw for a cocktail.
    Then we bake our cookies and let them cool completely.

    Recipe icing sugar quite simple - 1 chicken protein is gradually carefully rubbed with 180-200 grams of powdered sugar.


    The powder must be of high enough quality to avoid lumps.
    The amount of sugar in the glaze is selected for reasons of ease of painting with this glaze - it should not be too thick or too liquid.
    You can leave the icing white and decorate the cookies painted with it with colored ribbon - it will be very beautiful.
    You can add a few drops to the glaze food coloring desired color and mix well.


    With icing, carefully circle the cookies along the contour and around the holes for the ribbons.


    Then we glaze the space inside the stroke.


    We give the icing on the cookies to dry enough - at least 6 hours, better - 1 day.
    On the dried glaze, you can make various patterns with glaze of a different color and let dry for another 1 day.
    While the icing dries, we print on paper with a printer or write by hand our wishes, congratulations, predictions.
    The size of the pieces of paper should be close to the size of the cookies.
    We roll up the leaflets with inscriptions into rolls and tie them with ribbons to cookies with well-dried icing.

    Congratulations cookie design options:

    Funny snowmen from eggs

    Note: 2017 is the year of the Rooster, then you need to take only quail eggs. It will turn out not snowmen, but snowmen! 🙂

    Ingredients:
    hard-boiled eggs (chicken - 8-9 minutes of boiling when laying in cold water; quail - 5 minutes)
    carrot
    wooden skewers for barbecue

    Cooking:
    Cut off the ends of the eggs to make them firm.


    To make a snowman hat, cut two circles of carrots of different diameters. We cut off a large circle from the thick end and a small circle from the thin end.
    We cut a wooden skewer from one end to a length equal to the height of two eggs placed on top of each other. When cutting, make sure that there are no chips on the cut.
    Our prepared skewer has one end sharp, the other blunt.
    With the sharp end of the skewers, we make holes in the centers of the carrot circles.
    Then we insert the skewers into the circles with a blunt end, as shown in the photo.


    Note: For quail eggs you can use wooden toothpicks.
    We put two eggs one on top of the other and vertically stick a skewer with a carrot hat into them.
    The snowman is assembled.


    It remains to decorate it with black peppercorns (these will be the eyes of a snowman and buttons on the stomach) and a wedge cut out of carrots depicting a nose.


    Note: If the snowmen are intended for children, we cut out the eyes and buttons from black olives or from a crust of black bread.
    We insert peppercorns and a carrot nose into the recesses made in the egg whites with the sharp end of, say, a skewer.
    Decorate the snowmen with parsley sprigs and serve.

    "Love heart" from tomato

    Suitable plum tomatoes. Cut in half diagonally. On the blunt part of the skewer or toothpick, you need to glue the cut out shape from the white sheet.

    Cheese baskets

    To prepare cheese baskets, grate 200 grams on a fine grater hard cheese. Mix with a full tablespoon of corn or potato starch, add crushed garlic to taste.

    As an option. Only grated cheese can be used hard varieties without the addition of starch and garlic - this is to taste.

    In a well-heated frying pan, lightly greased with vegetable oil, or in a dry frying pan with a non-stick coating, spread 2 tablespoons of the resulting mixture over the surface in the form of a pancake ... the middle should be denser. Once one side has set, remove the pan from the heat, hold for a minute, and remove from the pan, placing the pancake on an upside down cup, glass, or whatever vessel you want to shape the pancake into.
    So that at the initial moment the cup does not straighten out, you should grab the basket on the cup with a thin rubber band or press it with a napkin until it cools. Put the baskets in the refrigerator for a while .... then fill with salad and serve.

    "Christmas tree" from beets

    Beet Christmas trees will look beautiful and tasty on the table. Boil the beets, cut into even circles about 1 cm, but not thicker. You can make a cream layer as in the photo: 1) Mix cheese with lemon zest, chopped garlic and ground pepper. 2) Remove the avocado pulp with a spoon, add sour cream, ground pepper and mash thoroughly with a fork. Pipe the cream with a pastry bag. Garnish with fresh herbs.

    Beautiful serving of meat to the table Do you love cooking and surprising your loved ones? culinary masterpieces? Then, especially for you, we have created this master class that will help you find a decent frame for your works of art from meat. Here you will learn how to serve a steak in a beautiful and original way in a classic style, in the spirit of a steakhouse or a Michelin star restaurant.

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    Photo gallery: At home, like in a restaurant: learning how to serve meat dishes beautifully

    Classic serve

    No one canceled the tablecloth, white plate and a separate serving of sauce - it was, is and will be. In choosing fabrics, you can focus on your taste, it will be interesting to look at a combination of multi-colored tablecloths. Choose contrasting colors: white - orange, gray - red, beige - green. In any case, white dishes will be good, they will never spoil the appearance of the dish. But do not forget, the dishes must be perfectly clean, no unwashed stains and cracks.

    So, lay the fabric overlap, place a white plate in the center, put several whole pieces of meat and one chopped on it, sprinkle everything with dry paprika.

    In such classic version serving is better not to overdo it with decor, add a piece of butter mixed with herbs to the meat, this will be quite enough.

    Serving on a cutting board

    If you are tired of the classics, you can serve a-la steakhouse - on a wooden cutting board. This option looks quite impressive, and it is very simple to implement it at home. The board will suit both round, and rectangular, and square, the main thing is that the shape is massive, brutal. In a fabric base, give preference to coarse burlap, it blends perfectly with wood.

    Lay the meat on the board, generously sprinkle everything with colored pepper, put a tartlet with young green peas on the side.

    Add a few slices of fresh juicy tomato.

    Feed on the bark

    Well, if you want to serve meat like in a restaurant with Michelin stars, do it on oak bark.

    Meat is placed on a piece of parchment, you can put a few crispy on top onion rings, pour the meat with berry sauce. For rings, you need to cut the onion into rings, sprinkle with flour and paprika, then roll in the egg and breadcrumbs. You can bake the rings in the oven for 15 minutes, or you can fry them in vegetable oil.

    You can add a sprig of cherries to the side of the composition, this is relevant, since it is the basis of the sauce. basket with fried potatoes would also be a great addition.

    A stylish trifle will complement the gastronomic composition: we wrap an ordinary ball of thread with coarse twine.

    For a beautiful presentation, vegetables need to be steamed. This way they retain their texture and rich color, or serve them fresh.

    Look interesting spicy spices, peppercorns, dry herbs - these ingredients will always spice up the serving.

    Add cooking elements to the decor if you are serving berry sauce, it will not be superfluous to decorate the table with exactly the berry that you used.

    Always experiment, family and friends will definitely appreciate your creativity.