Food presentation

I am a food blogger and my blog contains vegetarian recipes from around the world.

Mr.Pudukkottai Venkataramani posted a query on the FB page - Recipes of Palakkad; a question with which I grapple every time I make a new Indian dish.

"Whenever we go for a fine dining experience in an upmarket restaurant serving food, especially the non-Indian type, you observe food plating and presentation are eye catching and very creative. This enhances both the look and taste of the food. Whenever I watch a cookery show I become curious to know how the plating and presentation are done.
However, Indian food be it Kashmiri or Kanyakumari , unfortunately, lack the artistic presentation mainly, I think, because of the messy nature of our food even though the flavour and taste are unbeatable. We are just happy with an Upma inverted from a Katori with a sprig of Mint or Cilantro on top.
How many of you have attempted or innovated plating and presentation of your food. Love to hear from you."

I had to reply thus.
Are we not people with individual preferences? Will we allow the 'cook' to decide how much portion we must eat? :D Each person has his/her own tastes. Some like to 'dunk' their idly in sambar; while simply 'touch' the sambar. We cater to all. We allow each person to decorate their own plate. Maybe the Pongal can be served with a 'dash of chutney'. Bisibelabath can be placed in a mould. Let the west continue to decorate their plates. We will eat in our way. A big hip hip hurray to us - hands, slurps and burps!

Indeed our dishes might not look good or would be hard to plate. But they are very pleasing on the palate!

Palate vs plating. Even if plating does not win, the palate must!