Scientists Have Found the Moneymaking Secret to Plating Up
New research suggests you'd pay more for this plate because of its arrangement.
One of those people who doesn’t care what your food looks like, as long as it tastes good and there’s plenty of it? Turns out you might be psychologically abnormal.
If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about when it comes to 'plating' (i.e. how chefs in fancy pants restaurants arrange the food on your plate), new research has some answers for you. Chef and scientist Charles Michel has led a brand new study at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, which shows that we react best to food when it's shaped in a triangle.
Not just any old triangle, mind you, but one that points away from us (just like the image above). When this optimised arrangement turns up on our table, we’re willing to pay for more for it and we feel safer. Safer? Well, apparently a triangle that points towards us is perceived as threatening.
Conducted in conjunction with The Science Museum, London, and published in Food Quality and Preference, the study drew its conclusions from the responses of 16,667 participants.
"(Plating is) such a small detail of the dining experience — something people rarely think about — but it does matter," Michel told Vice. "It seems that many principles of visual aesthetics and art perception apply when it comes to food.
"I guess my aim is to make people have more thought when it comes to placing the food on their plate, heightening awareness. At the same time, using modern tech and the internet to give tools to chefs and people serving a lot of food a way to enhance the enjoyment."
Via Vice.
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