Eating with our eyes

All food experts will tell you that we eat with our eyes. Rightly or wrongly, we make up our minds if we are going to like something within a few seconds of first catching sight of it. And of course, you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.

If what you serve up doesn’t look good then it has to taste twice as good to get people to enjoy it, if they even try it in the first place!

Serving up re-heated brown sludge is what gave recycled food the bad press in the first place. If all else fails, a covering of toasted cheese over the top of a dish will at least hide the worst of it.

But of course there are numerous other ways to make your dishes look attractive. Taking into account that yesterday’s food will tend to be well cooked, limp and often brown you may well have to resort to the culinary make-up box.

You may have noticed that Supermarkets always have their fruit and vegetables close to the front door. They are there to give a fresh and wholesome impression as you walk in. (Ideally they would be at the far end so that your grapes don’t get squashed at the bottom of your trolley.) So why not borrow a bit of their psychology and dress up your dish with some fresh salad, and keep your perishables turning over at the same time. Get inventive with what is in the fridge. Raw grated carrot adds a splash of colour and mixes with all manner of fruit and vegetables in salads and slaws for an attractive side dish.

 

Adding fresh vegetables and fruit to any dish is a great way to liven it up, and help you towards your five a day. Ideally you should be trawling through your fridge or veg cupboard before every meal and using up whatever you have to hand. Frozen vegetables can work just as well, with the advantage that you use just what you need and the rest stays in the packet. Using a mixture of fresh and frozen gives you the best of both worlds. Whatever you choose, some colourful fresh vegetables either steamed, stir fried or as a crunchy salad will immediately attract the eye.

Don’t be afraid to add fruit to savory dishes to help use it up. Pork loves a bit of sweetness. Apple is a classic combination, along with pears, but don’t forget stoned fruit such as peaches and plums or even prunes. Grapes also work well, especially with chicken dishes, and if they are from the bottom of the fruit bowl just peel them first.