Food Styling Modern Australian Cuisine
Jordan James Food Technology 11
Prawn & Avocado Cocktail
Ingredients 1 avocado, halved 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped 125g (1/2 cup) mayonnaise 1 tablespoon tomato sauce 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 6 drops red Tabasco pepper sauce 8 lettuce leaves King prawns, peeled leaving tails intact Lemon wedges, to serve Recipe
1. Slice avocado in half. 2. Scoop out avocado and slice into cubes 3. Combine the avocado, and onion in a medium bowl. 4. Add avocado and place prawns back into the skin of the avocado 5. Whisk together the mayonnaise, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and Tabasco in a bowl. 6. Serve with lemon wedges.
Steak & Mash Potato
Ingredients 3 Potatoes Beans 7 Cherry Tomatoes 1 Steak Olive Oil Butter 1 ½ Cup of Milk Salt & Pepper Recipe 1. Wash and peel 3 potatoes, chop and put in water, bring to boil to mash 2. Heat oil in a pan and trim steak 3. Place potato in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Boil for 12 to 15 minutes or until potato is very tender. Drain. 4. Mash potato Add butter and milk. Stir to combine. 5. Preheat a barbecue grill or stove on medium-high. Drizzle beef with olive oil. Season. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side for medium-rare or until cooked to your liking. 6. Wash and trim beans and microwave for 2 minutes 7. Sautee tomatoes in oil in a pan. 8. Plate carefully and add parsley as a garnish
Meringue with Berry Coulis
Ingredients Strawberries Mixed Berries Thickened Cream 300g Castor sugar 4 egg whites, at room temperature 2 teaspoons corn flour, sifted 1 teaspoon white vinegar
Recipe 1. Preheat oven to 100°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. 2. Place the egg whites in a large clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. 3. Gradually add the sugar and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Continue beating for 2 minutes or until the mixture is thick, glossy, all the sugar dissolves and a long trailing peak forms when the beater is lifted from the mixture. Add the corn flour and vinegar, and whisk until just combined. 4. Pipe twelve 5cm (base measurement) meringues, about 3cm apart, onto 1 lined tray. 5. Put in oven for 1 ½ hours at 90 degrees. Allow to cool 6. Whip cream and add the berry garnishes 7. Blend frozen berries together to make a berry coulis 8. Dust with icing sugar
When deciding what meals to present for this task keeping in mind that it had to have some elements from the Australian culture. I wanted to select meals that would best represent the different characteristics of food styling and what makes a dish look appealing. I did various experiments before getting the end result that I was happy with. I wanted my meals to look simple and fresh with lots of colour and texture. I chose to make a Prawn & Avocado Cocktail as a starter, Steak and Mash potato with vegetables for my main and a Meringue with a Berry Coulis as my desert. I used crisp white serving plates and plates to enhance the details of the dish. I did not want to have a background or decorations in my photographs because I felt it distracted the eye from the dish and were the food better portrayed close up and detailed. Along with my serving plates and serviettes I added the appropriate cutlery for each dish. I also added garnishes to add texture and height to the plate. In both my starter and main I used parsley to add contrasting shapes and textures to the plate. In my Prawn and Avocado cocktail I added a lemon wedge to help identify compliment the flavor of the dish. My dessert had different garnishes such as the strawberries and the coulis, which added different layers and colours to the dish. When photographing my dishes I took into consideration that I needed the appropriate equipment and environment to get the best photograph possible. I used an SLR digital camera to take the pictures and edited them with my computer. As a result the images were clear and detailed and I could remove and blemishes on the food. I was able to make the colours more vibrant and bright which indicated the freshness of the food. In order to make the food look life size on camera I used different serving dishes and arranged the food in layers to create height.
Preparation