Creating a Plating Style

We can learn a lot about how creative chefs apply their imaginations to food presentation by looking at an item as simple as the Roasted Beet Salad with Gorgonzola on. This dish consists of only three main elements that need to be arranged on the plate: beets, greens, and gorgonzola cheese. The photo that accompanies the recipe shows how the salad might look when plated exactly according to the recipe instructions.

A chef might decide to keep the recipe essentially the same but arrange the beets on a round plate in a slightly different fashion. While doing so, she adds a few walnut pieces to the salad for an appealing texture contrast and a new flavor element that goes well with the beets and cheese. The result is shown in the Plate 1 photo.