Using a variety of ingredients will help to provide colours which can improve the presentation of meals Presentation The skill of plating is to arrange and or decorate meals to enhance the aesthetic appeal. Foods can be presented in many formats: Classical Stacks Scattered. Nutritional balance means that meals include foods from each of the groups which provide essential nutrients. The core groups are: Grain foods Vegetables and Legumes Protein rich foods Dairy foods and dairy alternatives Fruit Wheat Products Breads Pasta Cous cous Noodles Cracked wheat (Bulgar) Fresh Vegetables Cooked Raw (Salad) Meat (lean) Beef and veal Pork Lamb Goat Game Milk (reduced fat) Fresh Canned Powdered Fresh Cooked Raw (Salad) Rice Products brown Noodles Canned (No added salt) Poultry (lean) Chicken Duck Yoghurt Plain Flavoured Canned (No added sugar) Corn products Polenta Frozen Seafood Fish Shellfish Cheese Dried Oats Porridge Muesli Dried Dried peas Chickpea Dried beans Lentils Soy products Tofu Bean curd Tempeh Alternatives Calcium enriched soy grains Barley Millet Quinoa Other protein rich foods Nuts and seeds Legumes/ pulses And small amounts of: Fats
Skin on meats Processed meats Sausages Bacon Salami Ham Pate Frankfurts (Hotdogs) Commercially prepared sauces Tomato sauce (ketchup) BBQ Salad dressings Pasta sauces Asian sauces Ketchup manis Hoisin chilli sauce goods Pastries Cakes Pies Biscuits Beverages Juices Soft drinks Iced tea Sports drinks Deep fried foods Battered foods Chips fruits With the reduction in water content the sugar density is increased Cream, butter and cheese sauces Mornay sauce Hollandaise sauce Preserves and spreads Jam Dressings Salad Creamy Syrups Maple syrup Corn syrup Ice cream Confectionery Cardio-vascular diseases When you are designing for customers who require specific diets to manage cardiovascular diseases you need to ensure that the meals you prepare are low in fat, particularly saturated fats from animal products. Coconut and palm oil products also contain saturated fats like those found in animal foods so should be minimised or avoided.
Asian cuisines Middle Eastern cuisines Mediterranean cuisines European cuisines Proteins Chicken Pork Eggs Proteins Lamb Legumes Proteins Chicken Pork Proteins Chicken Pork Starches Rice Noodles Starches Wheat Starches Wheat Rice Starches Wheat Oats Rye Vegetables Leafy greens Vegetables Fruit vegetables Vegetables vegetables Vegetables Root vegetables Flavourings Soy sauce Flavourings Herbs Flavourings Herbs Garlic Flavourings Animal fats Cooking methods Stir fry Braise Cooking methods Grill Cooking methods Braise Cooking methods Braise Serving styles Shared meals Serving styles Shared meals Serving styles Shared meals Serving styles Individual meals This is of course very general and you will probably need to explore the specifics of the most relevant cuisines that apply to your work situation. For example, you may need to prepare meals for a specific Asian cuisine such as Japanese cuisine. In this case it would likely comprise some of the following components: Protein Seafood Tofu Starch Rice Vegetables Radish Mushrooms Seaweed Flavourings Soy sauce Miso
Dairy foods are complete proteins Milk and and yoghurt provide smooth velvety mouth-feel and textures Cream and sour cream can enrich foods. The options you might use when replacing the protein in a dish include: Lacto - ovo vegetarian Lacto vegetarian Vegan Dairy Foods Milk Yoghurt Sour Moderate in fat so should be used sparingly Cream High in fat so should be used sparingly Dairy Foods Milk Yoghurt Sour Moderate in fat so should be used sparingly Cream High in fat so should be used sparingly Soy products (Complete protein source) Soy Milk Calcium fortified Tofu or Bean curd Fresh Silken Fried Smoked Tempeh Eggs Fresh Dried or powdered All vegan ingredient options Grain Products Quinoa (Complete protein source) Rice White, brown, glutinous Milk Wheat Seitan (mock duck) Barley Rye Oats All vegan ingredient options Nut products Whole Ground Milk Seeds Paste Legumes Dried beans Dried peas Lentils Textured vegetable protein