Early food memories are few for me but the ones I can recall with most detail are the ones that looked good enough to eat. I love that saying, “It looked good enough to eat.”  It couldn’t be more appropriate of a saying because when a dish is visually appealing, it’s even more appetizing. When we move beyond the baby food stage, we begin eating a variety of foods, usually deciding what we will eat primarily with our eyes. Yes, you eat with your eyes…as strange as that may sound.  And as we continue to grow and develop, how food looks helps us to make the decision about what we will ultimately enjoy and continue to eat. Whether it’s consciously or subconsciously, we use our sight to obtain important food information. The smell, taste and texture of food all will be a factor in the deciding process, but visually appealing always wins.

Seeing smoked and roasted pork ribs will make your mouth water much more than an anemic-looking pork butt that has been boiled in water.  A salad made with interesting colorful greens, heirloom tomatoes, beets, hard boiled eggs and carrots is much more attractive than a salad bowl of chopped Iceberg lettuce covered in 1000 Island.   A smaller but more visually appealing presentation also makes food appear tastier.  This is why hors d’ oeuvres are so quick to disappear at a cocktail party.  Visually, they are smaller and more appealing. Side note: They also subconsciously make us feel like we are eating less.

We are also keen to portion size and make decisions, visually, if we will be satisfied, hungry or stuffed before we even indulge with the first bite. With all the evidence leading you to believe that eating with your eyes is a fool proof measure for trying new foods, there are also the tricky ingredients and situations that even the best set of eyes are no match for. I’ve gone face first into desserts that looked sublime but with weird temperatures and bizarre textures that misled my eyes first with their overwhelming visual appeal, only to disappoint my palate.

You must allow yourself to look carefully into the dish and discover its components. Look for items that not only look great but are also edible. How? I have developed a rule or trick: If I need a separate plate for eating my entrée because inedible garnish removal is heavy, I probably won’t enjoy my meal quite as much. I feel misled from the start. My reliance on sense of sight needs to be without artful deceptions. It’s easy to disguise subpar food with items that make it look phenomenal, but this type of food is in serious need of chromatic simplicity.  Just as palates can get overwhelmed with too many flavors, the eyes can get overwhelmed with a visually busy plate.

Garnish modestly and avoid a cluttered masterpiece. This example of clutter was “airborne” in the 80’s and 90’s and thankfully we are afforded less sculptures and more edible ingredients these days.  Visually stunning food that engages all of my other senses is memory making. But visually stunning food that has undeveloped flavors and lacks character is a fugazi.

Raising a family of picky food eaters, none over twelve, is just as tricky as opening a successful restaurant. It’s a game of constantly guessing what will be the next flavor or more importantly, how can I present yesterday’s ingredients visually different today.  Those silly little chicken nuggets shaped into dinosaurs are not by accident. Strategically, these little chicken flavored extinct animals are fun to eat…because look at them, they’re dinosaurs. Mom’s, Dad’s, competition cooks, professional chefs and BBQ heroes all over the world work feverishly on the presentation.

A few dinners ago, I prepared a braised beef dish with carrots, onions, whole garlic and jus. It was gorgeous to my wife and I, but as I served it with its creamed cauliflower and charred greens, I began to notice the plates were a wreck. I knew each component tasted extraordinary but together on one plate, it began to look like a crime scene.  As I delivered the food to the dining room, fear set in. My children started asking lots of questions, dissecting each ingredient, with many open criticisms before a single bite was devoured. The trusting wife enjoyed each bite and was thankful that her only duty would be clean-up. Based on the consensus of my braised meal, I knew I was five minutes away from making replacement food: hotdogs and mac’n’cheese.  My food visually failed.

Aesthetics is an important factor and as a professional parent or cook, it requires attention to detail. You must put a little thought into your masterpiece. I say, ditch the flowers and inedible clutter and focus on the ingredients. Be practical and pretty, not just pretty. If there are scallions in your dish, char a few for garnish. If your turkey and dressing is loaded with sage and other spices, adorn the plate with fried sage leaves. There are many options that are appropriate and none of them need to be leaning towers of meat held together with rosemary skewers.

I have opinions on this, not because I’m perfect, flawless or unblemished in the food industry, but because I have eyes. So let’s all strive to be the fried sage guy and allow the ingredients to showcase their own beauty.