Attractive Plate Contrast Project

Students are understanding the importance of the visual appeal of food and how food can be attractively arranged on a plate.

We started by watching Confessions of a Food Stylist which is a very interesting look into, of course, the career of a food stylist. The students are always interested to see how the food they see photographed is often inedible! It is a nice video, only 18 minutes long, from Learning Zone Express.

Then I assign our Attractive Plate Contrast project. Our textbook, Culinary Essentials, refers to seven contrasts that should be considered when plating.

• Color
• Temperature
• Garnish
• Texture
• Height
• Shape
• Flavor

Students trace a platter onto large construction paper.  Then they search through magazines to find examples of beautifully designed plates. I require students to include at least five pictures because many plates show more than one contrast. They write a sentence about how each contrast is demonstrated on their plates.

A Pinterest board could work for this project as well, but I like the tactile experience of the magazines.  There is a great discussion that happens as students leaf through the magazines.  Sometimes technology just makes things too easy. :)