I always say that 50% of a dish is the presentation. We all like to eat good looking food. If you're vegan or raw, this is a cool presentation trick to create the illusion of shaved parmesan on a salad without using any cheese.
It's really simple. Take a fleshy pear, like a Bosc, and use a vegetable peeler to sheer off thin pieces of the pear. The shavings from the pear look like shaved parmesan.
You can also use the pear "parmesan" shavings on top of raw "pasta" dishes where the pasta is actually a spiral cut veggie like yellow squash. In the picture above is an Arugala salad topped with yummy candied ginger Pepitas. Here's the recipe to make the Pepitas.