SEE this picture? Looks like the perfect meal, doesn't it? Perfect lamb, crispy spuds, tender greens...

But the chef behind this dish, Jim Knight, can reveal otherwise. On his blog, Yes Chef No Chef, Jim (who works in an unrevealed bistro/cafe in Poole) has laid bare the secrets of food photography.

He says, of this picture: Probably the biggest lie of them all. The lamb was char-grilled just enough for the perfect colouring, were then patted completely dry and kept aside.

Potatoes were blanched but pretty much raw (this gave just enough wrinkle to the skin to give the illusion of roasting) and dropped into the deep fat fryer to colour.

The vegetable was blanched for literally seconds and left to drain very thoroughly. The Red wine reduction was diluted veal glace that had been reduced to the perfect viscosity and chilled.

When I built the dish I used snapped down pieces of cocktail sticks to construct the potato pile and hold them in place, I used the same method on the spiral of lamb cutlets.

The meat was brushed with lots of olive oil to give the appearance of meat juice and that just finished resting look.

Veg was carefully put in place given the olive oil treatment and the ‘Jus’ dressed over the final plate of deceit. You can read the rest of his post by clicking here .... then let us know what you think.

Do you fall for food photographs? Or have you always known they're not real?