Is presentation important in your cooking?

that's a great discussion, noyida! well, sometimes I get so lazy, or family that is quite close, that I don't even transfer from cooking pot to serving dish! haha, just the vision pot of soup, or the baking tray of pasta bake makes it directly onto the dining table. then people just take a big ladle and scoop out whatever they want. haha. I don't do like carrot flowers or tomato watermelon sculptures. cooking is already tiring enough as it is! Sometimes my friend who bakes puts fresh flowers as decor on her cakes - super lovely.

Hello my dear friend! If I have 6 or less people for dinner, I always present the meals in an attractive way on their plates, because I feel that presentation is important. Like when you go to a restaurant - it always looks very appetising! However, if I have more than 6 people, I put the food in serving dishes, and let people help themselves; I find this way is the best way for a larger number of guests. The most important thing of course, is that the food is tasty and that everyone enjoys it!

I don't host that often but when I do it would be probably, like you, be for a group of friends as oppose to smaller ones. For me, as long as the food is good, that is all that matter. Sometimes, the smell of good food is enough to whet the appetite much more than any looks can.

i think so, because with a beautiful presentation, the food that you cook really look so yummy and delicious and presentable..

for me its important...it's a way of catching the eye of the people who'll eat what you cooked..just like what the restaurants had been doing..because of that,people will become more interested to eat what you've cooked..

Yes, if there are a number of guest that we have invited for a special dinner, which happens rarely, then the tables set beautifully, the best of cutlery and crockery etc are out and the presentaions perfect as well. Its because it happens rarely, and maybe over a weekend, so we do manage to take out that special time to do up the dishes and food properly and present them in special serving bowls and decorate the food, just like we see at the restaurants, as i belive that if we have called over someone, the first look at the food, should make them say wow!!, and tasting the food comes later, first they see the food, which should be appealing. I think that if the food is appealing to the eyes, it automatically is half your battle won too. Of course it must taste good and thankfully i cook well, so when the two are added together its a perect meal. But when we are home, and just the daily routine is going on, then there is no lavish kind of presentations, guess theres no time for that, maybe just a little dressing or salad done up here or there, nothing more. But doing up the dishes and presenting them , has its own charm too.

Hello!Noyida, For me, food presentation is very important. If less than 6 persons I will present it individually(For western food). For local/asian food, I will use a nice plate to present. Not much work. It is just a passion of cooking.

I really don't enjoy cooking at all so it is only on special occassions that I will make a big dinner and have family and friends over . Because I rarely do this , I do try to make everything a big deal out of presentation but on a normal day that wouldn't matter to me at all . I do this at Christmas as that is the one day of the year that I enjoy what I am cooking as I know everyone is going to love my ham as it is the favorite among all those that come over , I believe because I am confident about making it that is why it comes out so much better . Other then Christmas it is rare that we have others over so presentation is not a big deal . Like you , I just want the food to taste good .

Presentation is usually the last thing on my mind. As long as the food tastes good and the serving dishes and utensils are clean (my teenagers do the dishes, so you understand that concern LOL) I could care less how it looks. In any case, I have a 14 year old son that is almost 6'3" and he seems to inhale anything set near him, so it would be a waste of energy to make it pretty :)

I don't cook. But, as a person who loves eating (and I don't get very fat), I know how presentation affects the impression of the food to a person. Of course, it has a really big impact and it will make the food look really delicious. But, it's nice to put in some presentation but be sure to have the QUALITY better first before the PRESENTATION. I have a few acquaintances who go for presentations but others really go for the taste, not the look.

Presentation is very important. It is half of the work. If something is really good but looks like something you would never eat, the food will not taste that good. If something is well presented but it is not that good we can even forget that and remember how beautiful the dish was.

usually when i cook daily i dont bother much about presentation because its only the family members who are gonna eat. but when I invite guests, I do take care of the presentation, the crockey I use etc.