Creating a restaurant style meal at home doesn't have to be difficult. Chefs have developed many tips and tricks to make flavoring, food presentation and meal preparation as easy at home as it is in a gourmet restaurant.
Flavoring Food with Fats, Culinary Spices and Seasonings
One of the biggest differences between restaurant cooking and home cooking is that restaurant chefs often cook with full-fat products. It may not be the healthiest choice on a day to day basis, but cooking with butter or olive oil instead of margarine, using fatty cuts of meat and substituting cream for milk are all ways to bring loads of flavor to a special meal. One secret for restaurant-style steaks is to cook them drenched in butter.
Using high quality culinary spices and seasonings when flavoring food is another way to jazz up home meals like restaurants do. Different styles of food use a wide variety of different spices. Italian food is heavy in oregano, basil and thyme. French chefs use tarragon and rosemary. And the best Indian restaurants are always well stocked with quality cumin, curry and turmeric. Even simple changes, such as substituting sea salt for regular salt, can make a big difference in the taste of the meal.
Always Cook with Fresh Ingredients and Organic Flavorings
Chefs at popular restaurants know that cooking with fresh ingredients and organic flavorings can add to the appeal of the meal and keep customers coming back for more. This rule can be applied easily at home. Home cooks interested in creating Italian meals like those found in restaurants, for example, should choose fresh pasta over dried pasta, or even invest in a pasta machine to make homemade noodles from scratch.
Buying fresh organic spices and herbs or growing them in the garden or on the windowsill is another way to introduce fresh ingredients and organic flavorings into home cooking. Produce can be chosen that is locally produced and sold at a farmers market and what vegetables are in season should be considered when planning the meal.
Make Food Presentation Look Good With Food Garnishing
It's not always about the ingredients or the type of food. Sometimes part of the appeal of restaurant meals is how good they look on the plate, the food presentation that the chef dreamed up.
Garnishes are an easy way to make home meals look more like the culinary cooking found in a restaurant. Decorating the plate with sprigs of parsley, twists of shredded radish or even a few edible flowers can make a meal as beautiful as it is delicious.
Food Preparation Tips for Efficient Meal Preparation
People don't like to wait too long at restaurants, and efficient meal preparation is vital to keeping food fresh and ensuring that everything comes to the table at once. Planning like this at home can make a meal feel more professional.
Home cooks should prepare everything they need ahead of time, well before they begin cooking. Restaurants usually prep food in the mornings, chopping vegetables and making garnishes so that they don't have to do these things as each dish is ordered.
Another aspect of proper preparation is to have the right supplies. This can include pots, pans, knives, appliances, spices and ingredients. Thinking about all of these items before cooking begins can make everything go much smoother.
Home cooking gourmet restaurant meals is a good way to impress friends and family, but these food preparation tips for all aspects of cooking gourmet meals can be used when someone just wants to have a special meal experience on their own, too.
Bridget Coila - I'm a cell and molecular biologist, freelance writer and photographer currently living in Beijing, China. I'm fascinated by science, ...
Join the Conversation