Enjoy these 5 tips on creating the perfect presentation for your meals when entertaining guests for the holidays.

Tip 1: Purees

Purees add great flavour to a dish but can also be used to create beautiful designs. You can swoosh the puree on the plate with the back of a spoon, use a Silpat matt and cut out shapes to spread the puree onto the plate. Or simple make lines on the plate.

Tip 2: Piping

Using a piping bag gives you almost endless design options. I find what is on trend today is a more simple approach and just pipe small dots on the plate. You can also use cheese so you can brulee the dots. This will add great visual but also give a nice char flavour.

Tip 3: Mini Vegetables
Using mini vegetables but keeping their natural shape makes the dish look more organic. You can stuff mini peppers, use baby vegetables like carrots, fennel, leeks, etc…

Tip 4: Colourful oils or sauces
Bright colours make the plate look fresh and inviting. You can achieve this by using one or a combination of colourful oils or sauces such as herb oils, soya bean oils, beetroot sauce etc…

Tip 5: Vegetable Foams

This is a great way to add depth to your dish. Take 454 grams of any vegetable puree and mix it with 5.66 grams of Versawhip and 0.7grams of Xanthan using a hand blender. Then place in a kitchen aid and whip for 3 to 5 minutes, until it reaches a soft peak. The foam will last a couple of days in the fridge but can be rewhipped if it loses its volume.

Plus: Smoke the Plate under a dome. Great visual effects but also adds great flavour!