Pretty Pretty Foods

Food has to look good.It's just an accepted fact.It's even more delicious when it's cut and arranged in pretty shapes.However, most home chefs are scared to attempt even a simple radish rose.Not to worry .There an excellent how to book to create everything from picturesque salad to whimsical desserts Garnishing and Decorating : Ideas For All Seasons (Schiffer Publishing, New York 2014) is the must have book, especially for those who love throwing lush and elaborate meals and dinner parties.The author, Chef Georg Hartung, has written a very good how to book.Any part of a dinner can be made pretty and it just requires patience and the right tools.He has included a chapter along with pictures of what you need to employ for edible decorations.The tools are what most home chefs have in their kitchen drawers, namely a peeler, a good sharp knife, and a fruit and veg knife.The only exotic ones are the spiral cutter which is kind of like a pencil sharpener to create pointed ends for certain veggies and the marzipan modeling tool.Also small cookies cutters are need to create some of the bases.Chef Hartung also has a how to guide for creating piping bags from parchment squares.The book's photography is amazing along with the how to ones.Each recipe has the raw materials pictured and then smaller photographs to show the various steps. Once the techniques are tried and tested, it s time to create.The edible artwork is divided into the four seasons and the patterns reflect them.For a Spring wedding try the salad with blossoms ,a simple garden mix with the addition of colorful and edible flowers.The vinaigrette is an easy yet elegant pumpkin seed balsamic one.Another is onion crowns with a fluffy tomato carrot paste.This is meant as an amuse bouche but resembles a creamy sorbet.Summer brings chocolate covered fruits with the standard strawberry and the not so usual gooseberry.There are also sweetly decorated melon boats to start a meal and pannacotta to end it.The last is wonderful creamy treat that can be topped with a lovely raspberry mash ,whipped cream and kiwi stars.For autumn there are deviled eggs, perfect for Thanksgiving or a fall family reunion.Chef Hartung offers them with a purée of salmon or chicken ,also cutting out edible carrot and cucumber chickens and fish to be placed near the eggs when they're served.Winter is the most fun with instructions on how to make cute marzipan animals, roses and snowmen.All three, especially the snowman would look adorable gracing trays of home made cookies. Creating an aesthetically beautiful meal is easy thanks to Garnishing & Decorating:!Ideas For All Seasons.Plain fruits and veggies can be turned into ethereal works of art with a few cuts and snips.Best of all anyone can follow the directions and bring up the level of their meal.