Whether you realize it or not, cooking is an art. You dont necessarily have to study to be a chef in order to turn out great dishes and to be able to make food that people enjoy. Many home cooks who have a great time cooking realize that their plates lack something, but they arent sure how to bump the quality up a notch. You see, no matter how incredible the food, presentation is everything. Let's take a look at the art of garnishing and how to make your dishes look stunning, just like in a high class restaurant.

There are many forms of garnishes. You can use outside elements which are not edible, such as decorative plates, or food itself, like the traditional lemon or orange slice. Another way to garnish is with sauces, which is probably the most art-like method of all as the liquid allows you to draw forms on the plate.

Decorative, inedible elements come in a variety of forms. The plate upon which the food is placed can be a garnish in itself, simply with the patterns that are already etched on it. For many chefs, the plate is the base of all their garnish art. Most prefer a plain plate, of a single color, usually black or white, to form the background for the food and all other decor.

Other inedible garnishes include sauce bowls, hollowed out leg bones that form a container for soups and stuffings, and fluted paper cups that may be used occasionally to present small portions of food separately on one plate.

Edible food garnishes are an art form all on their own. You can go with the simplistic, useful garnish, like a lime slice or an orange wedge on the edge of a plate, or a sprig of parsley atop the rice, but there are plenty of other great ideas that really don't take that long to do up. For example, you can make some very elegant carrot curls by just using your vegetable peeler to make long thin strips that you then drop into ice water for 5 or 10 minutes. They curl right up and can be arranged around the edge of a plate or used to decorate a salad.

Last, but not least, a squirt bottle filled with gravy or a herb-infused oil (to give it color) can be the cook's best friend in the art of garnishing. Just swirl or dot the colored liquid around the plate, before or after the food has been arranged. Elegant zig-zags or simple wavy lines add a whole new dimension to the food as well as lightly seasoning it.

Garnishing is fun, and it adds to the art of cooking great food. Once your family has seen a plate with a drizzle of green chive oil around the edge and a sprig of basil in the center, they will be more than happy to eat what you have made! So go ahead and try adding some art to your dishes tonight.