California Career and Technical Education Standards

• HTR.B.B6.5 Use plating techniques, including accurate portioning and aesthetic presentation...
• HTR.FS.5.2 Understand the universal, systematic problem-solving model that incorporates inp...
• HTR.FS.5.3 Use critical thinking skills to make informed decisions and solve problems.

Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS)

• FS.TS.A. Creative Thinking -- generates new ideas
• FS.TS.B. Decision Making -- specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, cons...
• FS.TS.D. Seeing Things in the Mind's Eye -- organizes, and processes symbols, pictures, g...

• Visual Creatures - Hooks / Set

  Before students arrive, set up a visual presentation on your screen or widescreen TV and  rotate pictures of popular people students will find visually attractive. Let it roll for 2-3 minutes. There must be an even amount of sexes to get desired effect.

  Quiet class down with your preferred technique and turn off presentation.

  Pick out one of the vocal students ( ikely a boy) that was noticing the pictures and ask the student what's up. After his/ her comment:

  Say - Do you know one of the most successful ways we learned as people for millions of years was by vision?  Watching and learning. Very powerful, so powerful we still do it by instinct. Tribesmen from remote parts of the world can tell you a story from just looking at tracks. We still use our vision today, only for a different purpose. One is eating and just like our ancestors we use our eyes to eat first.

  Say- As a Chef I use that to entice diners. In fact it is what gives me an edge, using our natural instinct to entice the diner, and then I use it to my advantage to make $$$

   
• Choose the Plate - Demo / Modeling

  Set up:

  Prepare two plates from same product right before class with product you can make two totally different plates out of. I use a 6 ounce chicken breast, some vegetables and rice. Prepare them the following way. (You can even use Meat loaf to create the desired effect.)

  Plate #1 Slap the rice on one side, slap the diced, overcooked vegetables down on the other side and the grilled chicken in the front. Slop your favorite sauce over it. Just like at home.

  Plate #2  Build a stunningly visual plate as you know how. An easy suggestion: Fan the grilled chicken over molded rice in the middle of the plate, leave enough room in front for sauce. Fan the sliced bias cut vegetables out the back or have them descend and fan off the rice. Place sauce over a small amount of fanned chicken and on bottom of front of plate. Just enough sauce - not a lot. Stick a sprig of Rosemary in rice if you need a garnish or more height. I make picatta sauce as it has color in it but any sauce will work.

  Plate #3 Prepare a third dish with same amount of uncooked food as the other two plates.

  Activity Teaching Point-  Plates must be prepared ahead of time and ready to go .

  Students needs for activity- Students will need a writing utensil and paper.

  Activity: Have students estimate the cost of each plate and pick the plate that looks best and the one that matches the uncooked food. Tell them if they get it right they will get to prepare and eat it when they are learning about chicken.  After students have all written down their answers on their own papers, collect and discuss.

  Ask the students which plate they would prefer to eat? Which one will make you more money? Which one was made from the base ingredient plate? Most will grasp that both plates were made from the same ingredient but with stunningly different visual effect. 
• It Is All In The Details - Lecture

  Say- Can anyone give me something we do to a specific product to enhance its appearance?

  Answers should range from uniform cuts to cross hatch marks, fanning and presentation side down first among others. Discuss all you have covered in class over the next 2-4 minutes

  Say- So to properly put a plate together in a visually pleasing fashion to increase its value there are several factors that chefs use to ensure success. These factors are;

  1. Height- there are many ways to vary height from stacking or layering to spreading the food out on the plate.  Teachers should quicky either show or draw examples.

  2. Color-  too much color, and the eye gets confused but too little and it is bored. The correct amount of fresh natural color stimulates the eye and stimulates the appetite. The amount of color varies with the type of cuisine or cooking method used. I try and always have no less than 5-6 colors on my plate of fresh natural looking color. Natural color appeals to the senses.

  3. Visual Texture- The first is visual texture which is shiny, smooth, rough, wavy, dull, etc. 

  4. Mouth feel texture, Is it crunchy, crisp, firm, soft, chewy, smooth etc.

  5. Shape- A variety of shapes is just as important. They create appeal and interest.

  6. The last is not visual but we will briefly discuss and pick up next class. In order to insure a successful plate, you must include flavor. There are many ways to use flavor some of the more common are; food pairing, food contrasting, or 6 base taste pairing. On the board there is a website that lets you explore some of the pairng options and we will do it as a class at a later date. Website www.foodpairng.be./

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• Successful Plating - Independent Practice

  Preparation- Students will need blank paper and color pencils.

  Okay- On the board I have written several common proteins, vegetables, and starches. I have also written down several small and contemporary sauces you are familiar with. If you want to modify any of the sauces, you may.

  You will pick one protein and starch and as many vegetables as you want up to three. You may use sauce or not as it is up to you. Your task is to create a visually stunning plate on paper showing two views of the same plate. I want a top view and a side view, (optional) if you would like and feel confident you can give me a 45 degree angle for your side view. I have handed out a rubric to help guide you with the factors we have just discuss. See attached rubric.

  Now as you can see I am no Rembrandt (I quickly draw a salmon with 2 lines and paste a smile on his face) but I am very successful at getting my idea accross. I then draw a boring plate (2 circles, starch and veggie and a rectangle for the protein and put in a speech bubble BORING! ) and then draw the visually pleasing plate from earlier. As you can see it gets my point across but would never pass as art. No problem, I am not looking for a Rembrandt, I just want to get a feel for what you are going to do with the food to help make it visually pleasing.

  Just like costing out food, this helps ensure success and $$$$ profit.

  • rubric.docx [ Download ]
• Do They Get It - Check Understanding

  Pick a student randomly and ask them what it is they are doing next.

  Keep asking until the class has a clear understanding that they are going to draw a plate of food using 2 views from the product you have placed on the board using the factors of presentation.

  I also continue asking students until they have repeated the factors of plating. When students are clear on the project, have them begin.

  When students are done they are to ask one work partner or more for feedback. One suggestion from another student at the least.
• Assessment - Assessment

  Collect papers and grade using the sample rubric as a guide for your own. I use this lesson as part of a larger project where the students will eventually make the plates they design. If time while collecting papers discuss how they felt about getting feedback from their peers and what adjustments they made.