The Art of Garnishing

Everyone knows we eat with our eyes. Making food beautiful is the crowning touch of the true cook. The French who are so renowned for their food finesse are the masters of this area of cooking too. To the French, garnishing is known as “garde manger” which literally means food storage area; the garde manger room was usually located next to the main kitchen in a cool area with chilling facilities; therefore that area was reserved for making garnishes since they may have shriveled or melted in a warmer place. Many fine French restaurants actually have “garde manger” chefs who do nothing but the food decorating. In recent years, however, most chefs and home cooks have greatly simplified the art of garnishing, moving from very ornate and complex creations to the fresh and natural look. Let’s look at the trends in garnishing over the last decades.

Going through my “Bon Appetit” magazines which go back to the 70’s I could find some very distinct differences. In the seventies styles were very clunky and earthy both in clothing and in food styling. Even the dishes were artisan pottery in browns and earth tones. What a switch from the dainty formality of the ‘40s and ‘50s. The garnishes followed suit. Sauces were always on top of the food they were complementing. Another feature of the decade was animal forms for garnish such as carved fruits and vegetables made into apple birds and porcupines with almond needles. Earthy colors, even in fruits, were popular with an emphasis on natural grains and vegetables. Gourds and wheat blades would grace the table. Parsley was still the ubiquitous garnish. Food was almost always symmetrically arranged. Even though the composed salad had been replaced by the tossed variety, some arranging of condiments or egg slices in an artful and symmetrical pattern was still in vogue.

The Eighties ushered in the “painted food” era such as chocolate piping in ornate shapes and even architectural elements to grace cakes and small desserts. Putting the sauce down on the plate first then adding the food began showing up in upscale restaurants. Spiraling—using sauces of contrasting colors, making a ring of the second color on a bed of the first, then drawing a toothpick through to create a spider-web design—was suddenly popular. Herbs other than parsley began showing up—a sage leaf or a sprig of rosemary. However, it was often a single leaf or a tiny sprig either centered on the food or placed on the side of the plate. Forms made from soft flat cookies, shaped over custard cups to form a small cookie-bowl, tortillas shaped over bowls to form a base for Taco Salad (a wildly popular entrée in the ‘80s) and noodle baskets began to appear everywhere. Symmetry was still the rule.

Although the tiny baby vegetable showed up in the eighties, it really took off in the ‘90s. Leaving the top on baby carrots, cutting them short and paring them became the most common vegetable garnish followed only by the julienne multi-colored bundle on the plate. The chunkiness was at last completely gone replaced by a much more formal style in both china and table settings. Sculptured food appeared again—but in a far more vertical form. Desserts towered from the plate in interesting angles and finally we lost the perfect symmetry. Basil bunches and cilantro had replaced the parsley. The plate became a canvas and on most plates white space was balanced with the food with very few foods touching each other. Wedding cakes no longer were a mass of scrolls and frosting flowers but were decorated with vines, fruit, and fresh flowers. Cascading was the new fashion. Slicing meats on a diagonal and fanning the slices out became the proper service.

The new millennium really did bring changes in garnishing and service style. Two things come immediately to mind: flowers and vegetable blossoms on the plates (all edible of course) and the spattered plate. You know what I mean; either chopped herbs or even dots of sauce all over a very large dinner plate is being seen in every restaurant—lamentably as far as I am concerned. I really think this is a gimmick and looks very messy and unappetizing. It is an extension of the plate-as-canvas concept that started in the ‘90s. Minimalism is also fashionable perhaps both as an aesthetic element and as a way of counteracting the rampant obesity of our American society.
June 2003 “Bon Appetit” has an article on Colin Cowie, an author of cookbooks and entertaining guides (Dinner After Dark) in which he says, “Casual elegance should be your mantra. Elegant doesn’t always equal formal.”

Overall, the garnishing today is much simpler and more sophisticated. The messy plate aside, dinner in a first-class restaurant looks beautiful and you can duplicate the beautiful look quite simply at home. Use only edible garnishes; never try to be too cute or coy. Keep it simple, fresh and colorful. Complement your table settings with your garnishing. Try something different and funky once in a while. Remember that we really do eat with our eyes first.