Textures on food

As a stylist, I create textures on food to get those beautiful shadows that hold attention.

What do I mean by textures on food? The layers we create on the surface of your dish, just like the layers we add in our styling. For example, the way I apply chocolate ganache or a spread on my toast. That helps me add texture to a flat dish.

I use different approaches to get those textures, and I will share a few with you.

Peek a boo: Here, the underlying hero in the dish peeks out through the gravy or sauce. For example, in Indian gravy dishes like butter chicken, the chicken chunks look out through the gravy/sauce. Or, in a chat item like Dahi puri or Dahi vada, the yogurt covers the hero, so you see the underlying objects.

Texture with the food: On cakes or toasts, as mentioned earlier, I use a butter knife/palette knife or even a spoon to create textures.

Toppings: Microgreens, condiments, seeds, flowers, spices, oil, etc., not just add to contrast but also create textures. 

Pairing food with different textures : Pasta with a creamy, cheesy, or couscous with crumbled feta. 

I hope these different methods help you create textures on a plate of delicious food. You could use one or a combination of two to get the desired effect.