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Forget fresh ingredients, expensive wine or quality spices, culinary masterpieces have to look the part to taste delicious.

It's a concept that gourmet chefs have long exploited, and now scientists in Oxford have provided evidence to back up the claim.

In a recent study, psychologists found that a salad tastes better when arranged to resemble a work by the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky.

An example of 'edible art' is proof of what top chefs already know - a culinary masterpiece has to look the part as well as taste delicious. Psychologists found that a salad (left) tasted better when arranged to resemble Painting Number 201 (right) by the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky

So much so, that diners are willing to pay twice the price they would for a more rustic salad, thrown together with the same ingredients.

Franco-Columbian chef and one of the authors of the study, Charles Michel, designed the salad resembling the abstract artwork, Painting Number 201, to explore how the look of food affects how it tastes.

The 'relatively complex' salad consisted of a total of 30 ingredients, including Portobello and shimeji mushrooms, broccoli sprouts, endive, raw red and yellow peppers, cauliflower, and mange-tout.

It also featured a variety of sauces, such as beetroot and carrot puree, cauliflower and lemongrass creme, and mushroom essence with squid ink.

Diners are willing to pay twice the price for a salad (left) that looks like a Portrait of Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso (right) than for a more rustic salad, thrown together with the same ingredients

Pictured is a salad version of Decalcomania by Rene Magritte as psychologists found that a salad tasted better when arranged to resemble famous art works

An image of Decalcomania by Rene Magritte, on which on of the salads was based.  In tests, volunteers preferred the flavour of the artistic dish over the same ingredients tossed together or placed neatly, but uncreatively, on the plate

Before participants sampled their plateful, the Kandinsky-inspired dish was rated higher for complexity, artistic presentation and general liking.

Participants were prepared to pay twice as much for the meal as for either the regular or 'neat arrangements'.

In tests, volunteers preferred the flavour of the artistic dish over the same ingredients tossed together or placed neatly, but uncreatively, on the plate.

The 60 volunteers, aged 18 to 58, also said they would be willing to pay more for the Kandinsky salad.

'Eating the food led to an increase in ratings of the tastiness of the food in the case of the art-inspired dish, likely showing that the aesthetic value of this visual arrangement made the food more enjoyable to eat,' said the team led by Professor Charles Spence, from Oxford University.

'The results of the study provide evidence for the idea that there are differences in the expectations and consumption experience of a dish as a result of the various elements having been artistically arranged on the plate.

The 'relatively complex' salad consisted of a total of 30 ingredients, including Portobello and shimeji mushrooms, broccoli sprouts, endive, raw red and yellow peppers, cauliflower, and mange-tout. Pictured are the different types of salad the participants were presented with - all using the same ingredients

A salad version (left) of Danseuse en Robe Rose by Edgar Degas (right) was found to be more delicious due to its creative design, according to research by Oxford University

Rhythm by Robert Delauney (right) was created in salad form (left). 'Diners intuitively attribute an artistic value to the food, find it more complex, and like it more when the culinary elements are arranged to look like an abstract-art painting,' said Professor Charles Spence, from Oxford University

'Diners intuitively attribute an artistic value to the food, find it more complex, and like it more when the culinary elements are arranged to look like an abstract-art painting.'

Chef and food scientist Jozef Youssef, founder of the experimental gastronomy project Kitchen Theory, contributed his culinary skill to the experiment.

Inspired by the results, he and staff from the scientific publishing house BioMed Central, which owns the journal Flavour, went on to create a range of other dishes inspired by famous works from the likes of Picasso, Magritte and Rothko.

Freelance chef and researcher Charles Michel, a member of the Oxford team, said: 'Using artistic inspiration in the design of the culinary experience, even when used implicitly, can indeed enhance the enjoyment of food.'

A salad version of 5 by Mark Rothko.  Chef and food scientist Jozef Youssef, founder of the experimental gastronomy project Kitchen Theory, contributed his culinary skill to the experiment to create this salad

An image of 5 by Mark Rothko from which one of the salad designs was created. Freelance chef and researcher Charles Michel, a member of the Oxford team, said: 'Using artistic inspiration in the design of the culinary experience, even when used implicitly, can indeed enhance the enjoyment of food'

The 'abstract plating' was inspired by Untitled by Keith Haring. The 60 volunteers, aged 18 to 58, said they would be willing to pay more for an artistic salad such as this