Table decoration and food decoration

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Table decoration and food decorationSome housewives think whether the table looks beautiful - it's the tenth thing, the main thing is it would be clean and tasty. We disagree with this opinion. Beautifully decorated food and tastefully served table are needed to satisfy our aesthetic needs and for purely utilitarian purposes - for better assimilation of food, and ultimately testify to the owners' sincere desire to make the holiday, as they say, pleasant for guests from all sides.

Therefore, let's talk in more detail about table decoration and food decoration.

Tablecloth. This serving detail is used by all housewives, but often it is considered, rather, as a means of protecting the beautiful surface of the table from accidental damage. But the tablecloth is the background on which the entire serving pattern is "applied".

Probably it will not be a mistake to say that we have more common tablecloths of discreet colors. They are good in many cases, but require some effort in order to create a unique color scheme of the table. The traditional white tablecloth on especially solemn occasions, as it were, emphasizes this solemnity. However, for large receptions, a lot of dishes are required, everything that is in the house is used, and, it would seem, there is no time for color and style unity. But you can, after all, try to beat this forced "confusion".

Table decoration and food decoration
Photo dopleta

For example, in addition to a porcelain service, you have to use a ceramic one. Distribute everything so that dishes of different styles alternate; put white linen napkins next to the yellow-brown ceramics, and yellow-brown napkins next to white porcelain plates - this will help to visually unite the "mismatched" dishes. Salad bowls., Made in the same style (for example, ceramic), can be grouped closer to the center; Place porcelain on both sides.

When dishes of the same style are enough for the expected number of guests, you can fantasize more about the "color face" of the table, use unconventional, bright, even dark tablecloths. Just do not forget: in any case, the middle ironed fold should go through the center of the table, and the edges should hang by about 20-30 cm. It is better to cover a pantry-type table so that the tablecloth hangs down almost to the floor - it can be made of colored fabric. (If there is room for small tables, tablecloths of the same color look best on them.)

When choosing a tablecloth, one must first of all be guided by the color of the dishes. Let's say you are setting the tea table. The service with blue flowers will seem even more beautiful against the blue background of the tablecloth. Napkins in this case can be either bright blue, or light blue.

Such color combinations of tablecloths, napkins and dishes, such as green with yellow, burgundy with pink, scarlet and white, also look elegant.

In some cases, for example on a cocktail table, only napkins can be used. They are placed under plates with appetizers, glasses can be placed on special stands. Napkins may not necessarily be woven; fine Vietnamese straw is good in this case. By the way, napkins and stands for wine glasses are interesting to make yourself. They can be knitted, they can be sewn from dense, washable fabric, decorating with applique, for example, ripe cherries on a blue background, a modest chamomile on a green ...

Fresh flowers and candles play an important role in decorating the experience. It is important to remember: flowers with a strong smell, as well as large and heavy ones, should not be placed on the table - they will visually "weigh down" the composition of the table and will simply interfere. It is best to select low vases; tall ones are good on tables such as pantry counters. Long candles in tall candlesticks look better on a large table.If you are taking 3-4 friends at the tea table, small decorative candles will play a role in creating a cozy and relaxed atmosphere.

The main thing: when choosing jewelry, follow the color harmony and remember that a sense of proportion is necessary in everything.

It will not be superfluous to remember this and display the food. The table cluttered with snacks looks ugly and, oddly enough it may seem, "crushes" psychologically. The natural desire to try both the one and the other dish does not allow to fully feel the dignity of each; very quickly and imperceptibly for himself, a person feels full saturation, and the evening has just begun ... Of course, we have the right to speak here about a sense of proportion, which should be inherent in everyone, however, it is useless to "provoke" immoderation of the hostess. If the assortment of dishes is large, put each in small portions - in separate dishes or grouping several snacks in one plate, in the form of so-called boards. They can be differentiated: fish plate, meat plate, vegetable plate, etc.

Many products are used to decorate dishes, especially vegetables.

Any salad, neatly laid in a suitable dish, will become more attractive in appearance if you cover it with a thin layer of finely chopped greens - dill, parsley. Decorate the center of the green mound with a flower from a tough egg. To do this, the egg must be cut in the middle in a zigzag manner with the tip of a thin knife and divided into two parts. Such "flowers" can be made from radishes and small cucumbers. (Before decorating the dish, the prepared radish should lie in cold water.) From circles of an egg, small cucumber or radish, you can make a "fence" on a plate with pate or salad, all the components of which are chopped according to the recipe, or you can put it through the whole dish "Snake", also half-dipping vertically standing circles into the contents.

Cutting a large cucumber lengthwise into thin slices-ribbons, we get an excellent "material" for decorating any vegetable, meat or fish dish.

Table decoration and food decoration
Photo dopleta

As you know, a slice of lemon can transform the most ordinary-looking food. And if you dream up? Make the lemon striped: the yellow stripe alternates with the white one (it is better to remove the zest with a curly knife, be sure from the "crown" to the "crown"). Now cut it into thin slices as usual ...

You can make baskets from the cut ends of a cucumber and half a tomato; tomato, after removing the pulp, fill canned green peas, cucumber - cranberries. Such baskets are especially good for meat dishes.

Before making decorations from carrots, boil them lightly in salted water with a few drops of vinegar. Circles, bars, straws, stars - all this can be cut with an ordinary knife, for more complex shapes - spirals, for example, you need special tools.

The visual appeal of sausages, ham, meat rolls is in direct proportion to how neatly they are sliced ​​and laid out on plates. These products can be stacked in rows and semicircles. At the same time, leave an empty "patch", put here as a decoration a leaf of lettuce with a slide of grated radish or "mushroom mushroom", made up of half a small cucumber and a tomato-cap (make white specks with mayonnaise or sour cream).

By the way, a lettuce leaf, a bunch of dill, celery, cilantro can be independent decorations for many dishes.

Maybe you didn't pay much attention to decorating food before, but now you are interested in it. Our advice: don't wait for the next guests, experiment with your family. Firstly, you will be able to work out better decorating techniques and they will not present any difficulty for you; maybe, having fantasized, you will find your own, non-borrowed "recipes". Secondly, learning new things with children, you will not only pass on the acquired Skills to them, but together with them you will be able to look at your own everyday life differently. After all, a home dining table can be no less beautiful than a festive one for guests.And it should be like this - at least once a week, on a general day off. Usually on Sunday, since there is time and everything is ready, we try to cook something tastier. Let one more rule be added to this rule: non-everyday table setting. All this will certainly raise the spirits of family members, and, perhaps, your community will strengthen - in joint worries about Sunday lunch, in a quiet conversation at an elegant family table ...

Helpful information

The knife and fork must be held over the plate at a slight angle (the knife is in the right hand, the fork is in the left hand), with the tips of the index fingers slightly resting on the joint of the handle and the "working" part of the devices. The food is not cut all at once, but as the next piece is eaten. Keep the ends of the cutlery on a plate while you chew. In the pauses, the knife and fork should be placed crosswise on the plate, and after the end of the meal - in parallel.

Canapes - small snack sandwiches of various shapes. They are prepared not only from bread, fresh or fried, but also from salty cookies, small cakes from puff pastry. Canapes can be spread with various oils - herring, cheese, pâté, salted cream, then garnished with lemon slices, herbs, roasted nuts. Various snacks, fruits, vegetables can also be “fillers” of these sandwiches. Canapes are placed on small trays or wooden planks, or large flat plates can be used. To make the sandwiches easier to take, small plastic forks or sticks are inserted into them.

"The battle of a dragon with a tiger" is the name of not some kind of artistic canvas, but one of the exotic dishes that are prepared in expensive Chinese restaurants. This is a soup with snake and cat meat specially fed for gourmets.

Sashina E.Yu. The ABC of Home Economics


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