SERVING

The appearance of the food when served is another important factor which should not be overlooked. Well-arranged dishes attract the eye and when a pleasant flavour accompanies them, the appetite cannot but be stimulated. This is a general rule; it applies to all forms of cooking, Chinese and foreign alike. Vegetarians fully recognise its importance: they have giblets, roast duck, boiled chicken and other dishes, all of them being prepared with bean curd “skins”. The dishes are so cleverly made that they look exactly like the real article. Colour schemes are also made use of to decorate food, particularly the sweets. A good chef will not be satisfied to produce dishes which tickle only the palate;they should also gladden the eyes, and their names should please the ears as well.The best example is a Cantonese dish called Pi Yü Shan Hu(碧玉珊瑚)which means“green jade and red coral”.The green jade is represented by vegetable stems, and the red coral by the fat of crabs. This dish is beautiful in appearance, delicious in taste, and in addition, elegant in name.