Presenting food in a way that makes it aesthetically appealing to your guests is key to the success of any dinner party. In this article we take a look at some of the different ways that you can impress your friends and give you some tips how you can wow you guests next time you entertain.

Many people believe that how food is presented is just as important as how it tastes. Presentation, certainly has a bearing on how food is perceived, because let's be honest if food it just lumped on a plate with little or no thought to how it looks, it doesn't get your gastric juices flowing.

The truth is that we consume food with our eyes long before it reaches our mouths and when you are offered a plate of food that is artistically laid out and looks as though the cook/chef has taken time to show the food to its best effect, your mouth is watering before the first taste.

Effective food presentation starts before the food is prepared. It should start with considering what end result you want to achieve and therefore how you want the individual ingredients to look on the plate. This could influence the way that meat is tied or cut so that when cooked it is able to be displayed to its best effect.

In some instances it can be the way that food, particularly cakes and desserts are iced or decorated. Sauces, whether sweet or savoury, look most effective when drizzled over the dish.

Picture a plate of filled pancakes, neatly presented, drizzled with chocolate sauce, garnished with fresh strawberries and lightly dusted with castor sugar.

Nouvelle Cuisine, which became popular in recent times in the 1960's, made food presentation an art form. It's renowned for serving smaller more delicate dishes with the emphasis on presentation. However the term "Nouvelle Cuisine" has been used a number of times throughout the history of French cuisine.

Another way to make your dinner party or special occasion memorable is to use different or innovative crockery to display your food to best effect.