Sauce used to go on top of food; now every restaurant lays the food on top of the sauce. Who changed the rules and which do I follow at home?

The changes in restaurant presentation in the last couple of decades are not just affectations, and those of us cooking at home for ourselves can take a tip. Sauce can be served on top, on the side, pooled underneath; it can completely blanket what’s beneath or be drizzled on artfully, or it can be presented in a separate little dish for dipping. There are “reasons” for the old ways as well as the new, but the important thing is this: food and sauce can be arranged in a variety of ways, and each arrangement will give you a different effect—visually and on the palate. This is true for all of the components of the meal, not just the sauce and the sauced. Try it and see.