Styling a Roasted Chicken

Fully cooked or roasted chicken may not look tempting or "gorgeous" in photo. So you need to 'styled' it in order to make it look good and nice in a photograph. Here are some tips and technique you can apply when styling a roasted chicken. The breast of the chicken should look plump, so what you do is stuffed it with aluminium foil. Why aluminium foil? Because it can be shaped easily and will not be out of shape when roasted. Be sure to stuff the chicken firmly, shape up the chicken breast. Then use a pin to secure the opening. As for the wings push it clode to the body and pin it. Take a thread and tie up the leg. After you are pretty sure of the shape that you want it to be, put on a roasting pan and put the chicken in a preheated oven at a temperature of 180degree C. Not for long just for ashort while to slightly cooked the skin. The reason why you would want it slightly cooked is to enable you to brush the chicken with caremel to give a 'roasting' effect. The caramel stick better onto the skin if it cooked. Apply the colouring to the chicken to imitate a cooked roasted chicken colour (completion). For that purpose you can use chinese caramel sauce, thick soy sauce, oyster sauce, light soy sauce etc. Please make sure you brush or 'paint' it with a good colour tone. Thinner part and part that are expose direct to the heat will be darker compare to a thicker part or further from the heat.

Before plating the chicken be sure to remove any pins or thread that might be obvious in the photo.

A Chef or a Stylist

From 11th – 14th August Kuala Lumpur are stormed by Chefs all over Malaysia battling in the Salon Culinaire Competition, concurrently held together with Food Hotel Malaysia Exhibition at the KL Convention Center. Most Chefs in Malaysia and food enthusiasts might not want to miss this event. This is where Chefs show their talents after working hard in workplace. And this competition is not an easy task. Only Chef with ‘mentally and physically ready’ takes the challenges. Several categories are contested from the apprentice right to the senior open. It is a great event that most of culinarian looking forward. Apart from competing Chefs takes the opportunity to meet fellow culinarian friends to change ideas and culinary stories.
One of the categories contested on the first day of the event is the ‘Appetizer Display’. These are some pictures that I would like to share. What do you think? Do you think they are Chef or Food Stylist?

Contructing sandwich for the camera

Preparing the french bread. Choose the best bread you can find and turn it into an "actor". If it need a touching up........brush it with a thin diluted glycerin to give a slightlty shinning effect as well as to make the sesame seed stick to it.

Contructing the sandwich, toothpick are used to level the sandwich. Gracefully arrange the lettuce and turkey ham on place, spray the lettuce with a diluted glycerin, to make it look moist and fresh.

.........and presenting the sandwich for the camera. Be sure that you shot at the angle that you want it. For this type of dish an eye-level or slightly 15 - 20degree angle are appropriate.

..................does it look tempting or made you drool?