If food is perfectly cooked, it needs little done to it to look attractive. However, simple garnishes of fresh herbs, chopped nuts or triangles of toast, can add an appealing finishing touch to such dishes as soups, pâtés and terrines.

Occasionally, if you feel like making the effort, you can achieve stunning effects by cutting vegetables into pretty shapes. For example, cut a spring onion/scallion into 5-cm/2-inch lengths and make fine lengthways cuts at one or both ends. Make sure you leave one end or the middle of the onion/scallion uncut so it doesn’t fall apart. Put the onions/scallions into ice-cold water and they will fan out into pretty tendrils in about 30 minutes.