Food plating takes practice, but it's essential to have a fundamental understanding of how and why great food plating works if you're going to be turning out beautiful plates of food.
This video from the Institue of Culinary Education explains the four essential elements of plating using four very different dessert plating ideas to illustrate the relationships between composition, balance, shape and texture on the plate.
This is a great tool to get your head around the basics of food plating and to realise that actually, beautiful plating is fairly straightforward when you know how and should become second nature. You just need a steady hand and a little imagination.
Talking of tools, take a look at this video, also from the Institute of Culinary Education, detailing five essential food plating tools you need in the kitchen.
In the second of our Beyond the Line series, Fine Dining Lovers speaks to a former student of the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian, Spain, about his career choices beyond restaurant kitchens.
A second season of 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' is in the pipeline, but where will the affable American actor and food lover go next? Nobody knows. But Fine Dining Lovers has some ideas in this tongue-in-cheek series guide. Take a look.
Ramadan is the holy month of Islam, observed by millions of Muslims around the world. People refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours, but when it's time to break the fast there are plenty of dishes to enjoy. Here are 20 of the tastiest to try.