Does my food look bad?

[Hyperion]

hi folks, I'm new to this forum!
I have been posting food accomplishments (i.e. dishes that I make) on a Chinese forum but for some reason they always say my food looks bad. I have no idea how to improve and they wouldn't tell me (they just tell me it's bad, but not why it's bad). So I decided to look for another forum to discuss my cooking technique. First of all, I would like to show you several dishes that I received negative comments on, and hopefully get some constructive feedback

This is Penne alla Vodka

This is apricot salami scone with strawberry and grape tomato sauce

Spaghetti alle vongole

Baked tilapia

Tilapia soup

Pizza

 

[Steve Kroll]

It doesn't look bad, it just looks invisible.

Seriously, I don't see any photos.

 

[roadfix]

The problem is the Chinese forum, not your food.

 

[Hyperion]

Edited since there might be anti-linking mechanism

 

[Zhizara]

Edited since there might be anti-linking mechanism

Still no pictures. Try right clicking on the picture and see if you can "copy image" and paste it to your post.

 

[Hyperion]

Still no pictures. Try right clicking on the picture and see if you can "copy image" and paste it to your post.

that's weird... too bad it doesn't let me edit the post any more. what happens when you click on the image?

 

[GB]

I do not think most of it looks bad. Most of the dishes could use a little more color to be more visually appealing. The soup does not look good in my opinion. It looks oily and un unpleasant color and the black pepper looks bad against the color of the soup. White pepper might be better so it does not stand out as much. It could vey well taste delicious though so just because the color looks kind of odd does not mean it can not be great tasting. The scone is the only other one that looks like it could use some work. The scone itself looks small and odd shaped (not really that big of a deal), but the sauce looks like it was just kind of splashed on wherever. And again, the color of the sauce is not appealing. It could use some brighter fresher colors. It looks like the sauce was cooked a long time and all the color washed out.

 

[Zhizara]

that's weird... too bad it doesn't let me edit the post any more. what happens when you click on the image?

Firefox says it doesn't think it can complete the action.

Let me try. BRB.

 

[Hyperion]

ah I see the picture uploader probably restricted redirecting... duh I need to reupload the images somewhere else

 

[roadfix]

that's weird... too bad it doesn't let me edit the post any more.

....LOL.....you've gone past your edit time limit....LOL....
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f29/increase-the-time-for-edits-71315.html

 

[Zhizara]

ah I see the picture uploader probably restricted redirecting... duh I need to reupload the images somewhere else

Wait, I'm getting them now.

 

[jennyema]

They never showed for me.

Why not post them here?

 

[Hyperion]

I do not think most of it looks bad. Most of the dishes could use a little more color to be more visually appealing. The soup does not look good in my opinion. It looks oily and un unpleasant color and the black pepper looks bad against the color of the soup. White pepper might be better so it does not stand out as much. It could vey well taste delicious though so just because the color looks kind of odd does not mean it can not be great tasting. The scone is the only other one that looks like it could use some work. The scone itself looks small and odd shaped (not really that big of a deal), but the sauce looks like it was just kind of splashed on wherever. And again, the color of the sauce is not appealing. It could use some brighter fresher colors. It looks like the sauce was cooked a long time and all the color washed out.

Thanks for the comments. actually the sauce was bright red in real life and looked really good... I don't know why it all looks bad in the picture :/
The fish soup tasted good and I don't know how to add more color to it because I don't want any other ingredients than what I put in it... it looks plain, though. how should I garnish a clear soup when everything I put in it will sink to the bottom lol

 

[Zhizara]

There you go, all better.

It was really weird, though, I copied the addresses into the address bar, and it took me to the image.

I right clicked the image and selected "copy image".

Then I went back to your post and LEFT clicked and your image came up without my having to paste!

Weird, but true.

 

[GB]

It could just be the picture. If the sauce was actually a brighter color in real life then I would say it looks just fine.

For the soup, my main issue with it is that it looks oily. Did it look like that to you too? For color you could float something on top for garnish. Something like an edible flower (although that is pretty girly so maybe you would not want that) or even lay a few different colored breadsticks across the top or something. That was it brings a little more color and texture in.

 

[Zhizara]

As for your question, there are others here better qualified to help you. The pictures are kind of dark, but like I said, we have some good cooks who are also good at presentation, so hang tight, you're in the right place.

Welcome to DC. You'll love it here. Plenty of information, great ideas, and lots of fun!

 

[Zhizara]

....LOL.....you've gone past your edit time limit....LOL....
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f29/increase-the-time-for-edits-71315.html

Yeah, but she just happened to have a Mod handy to fix it for her.

 

[Hyperion]

It could just be the picture. If the sauce was actually a brighter color in real life then I would say it looks just fine.

For the soup, my main issue with it is that it looks oily. Did it look like that to you too? For color you could float something on top for garnish. Something like an edible flower (although that is pretty girly so maybe you would not want that) or even lay a few different colored breadsticks across the top or something. That was it brings a little more color and texture in.

lol yea I get what you are saying. The color of the soup in the picture actually coincides with the color of oil, so it looks like a bowl of pure oil lol. I guess I could cream it up but again... I'm anal about my ingredients and the taste they offer, so adding cream would not be helpful. Sometimes when you use certain fish, the meat will actually generate creamy looking soup by itself. But i guess tilapia isn't one of that kind.

As for your question, there are others here better qualified to help you. The pictures are kind of dark, but like I said, we have some good cooks who are also good at presentation, so hang tight, you're in the right place.

Welcome to DC. You'll love it here. Plenty of information, great ideas, and lots of fun!

thanks!
but yea, I use my cell phone to do all the photos so there's only that much I can do...

 

[GB]

I am not one for sacrificing taste for looks so I would be like you in not wanting to add cream if that was nit the flavor you were after. The real question is how did it taste?

 

[Hyperion]

I am not one for sacrificing taste for looks so I would be like you in not wanting to add cream if that was nit the flavor you were after. The real question is how did it taste?

It actually tasted great, extremely savory (no msg added) thanks to the tilapia. I actually accidentally kicked the savory up a notch by using sauerkraut as the main veggies in the soup, and it didn't taste sour at all. The amino acid from the sauerkraut helped a lot I think. Only thing is that I can't get rid of the earthiness of the sauerkraut and it migrated to the soup a little bit, but it's nothing unpleasant and it might add some variety to the pure savoriness.. as long as the eater knows it's from the sauerkraut and not from something weird.