hors d`oeuvre

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Cold Hors d’Oeuvres

Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Chapter Pre-Requisites

Before reading this chapter, you should already:

• Have read “How to Use This Book,” pages xxviii-xxxiii, and understand the professional recipe format.

• Be proficient in preparing the cold meats, cold seafood, cold vegetables, and complex salads that are components of many hors d’oeuvres.


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Chapter Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• List the six requirements for successful hors d’oeuvres.

• Identify foods frequently used for hors d’oeuvre preparations.

• List and describe the five basic construction types of hors d’oeuvres.

• Prepare a variety of cold hors d’oeuvres.

• List and explain the four elements of hors d’oeuvre tray design.

• Present hors d’oeuvres attractively on various types of serviceware.


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Understanding Hors d’Oeuvres

• An hors d’oeuvre is a small, attractive piece of savory food meant to be picked up and eaten with the fingers.

• For this reason, hors d’oeuvres are often called finger foods, and are usually served on trays or platters rather than on individual plates.

• Primarily served at cocktail parties or receptions, they may also be offered at a dinner party before the guests are seated at the table.


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Two types of service are used for hors d’oeuvres:

1.

Butler service : trays of hors d’oeuvres are carried from person to person by servers.

– Hors d’oeuvres served in this manner are also called passed hors d’oeuvres

2.

Buffet service : trays of hors d’oeuvres are placed on one or more tables.

– Hors d’oeuvres served in this manner are also called stationary hors d’oeuvres.


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Characteristics of Hors d’Oeuvres

• Correctly made hors d’oeuvres all have a number of traits in common.

Successful hors d’oeuvres are:

– Small, consisting of one or two bites.

– Self-contained and neat to eat.

– Attractive and eye-catching.

– Special or unusual.

– Savory, not sweet.

– Full-flavored and well seasoned.


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Characteristics of Hors d’Oeuvres

• Hors d’oeuvres are often classified into two broad categories according to the temperature at which they are served.

1.

Cold hors d’oeuvres are served cold, cool, or at room temperature.

They are the focus of this chapter.

2.

Hot hors d’oeuvres are usually turned out by the hot kitchen, as they require cooking equipment not typically found in garde manger stations.


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Types of Hors d’Oeuvres

In addition to dividing hors d’oeuvres into the two main categories of hot and cold, chefs also group them by construction type.

• There are five major hors d’oeuvre construction types:

1.

Stuffed

2.

Wrapped and rolled

3.

Picked and skewered

4.

Pastry

5.

Canapé


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Stuffed Hors d’Oeuvres

• When a small piece of food is stuffed and attractively garnished, it is called a stuffed hors d’oeuvre.


Stuffed Quail eggs in baby beets

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Popular foods that can be stuffed as cold hors d’oeuvres:

• Mushrooms, cooked or marinated.

• Cherry tomatoes.

• Baby beets, steamed and chilled, or pickled.

• Slender cucumbers, cut into boats or cups.

• Artichoke bottoms, cooked.

• Large pitted olives.

• Celery, cut into boats.

• Belgian endive leaves.

• Pullet eggs and quail eggs.


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Wrapped and Rolled Hors d’Oeuvres

1.

Wrapped hors d’oeuvres : Consist of a food item or filling encased in a thin sheet of another food item.


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Wrapped and Rolled Hors d’Oeuvres

2.

Rolled hors d’oeuvres: Consist of foods layered together and rolled into a cylinder. (Also called by their French name, roulades .)

– When the cylinder is cut crosswise into pieces, the resulting slices have a spiral or pinwheel appearance.


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Foods that can be used as wrapper to be filled, or that can be layered and rolled, to make cold hors d’oeuvres:

• Thick-sliced cold cuts

• Pliable sliced cheeses

• Roasted peppers

•

Soft-textured lettuce leaves

• Cabbage, Swiss chard, and kale, blanched and refreshed

• Pasta sheets, cooked and refreshed

• Moist, crustless bread, sliced thin

•

Flour tortillas

• Lavash


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Picked and Skewered Hors d’Oeuvres

• Picked hors d’oeuvres : Foods too moist or oily to be eaten neatly with the fingers that are served on a cocktail pick.

• Skewered hors d’oeuvres: Foods dry enough to be held directly in the fingers but meant to be dipped in a sauce are also served on picks. Two or three pieces of food can be threaded onto a cocktail pick or bamboo skewer to create a skewered hors d’oeuvre (or an hors d’oeuvre kebab).


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• Virtually any bite-size food can be picked or skewered.

This list includes some of the most popular:

– Marinated vegetables

– Chilled seafood

– Cubed cheeses

– Cold, cubed meats and poultry

– Cheese balls

– Cubed hams, sausages, and other charcuterie items


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Pastry Hors d’Oeuvres

• Hors d’oeuvres based on pastry are among the most versatile.

Pastry hors d’oeuvres are made from several kinds of pastry .


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Canapés

• Canapés are miniature open-face sandwiches that are considered the classic hors d’oeuvres.

• The French word canapé literally translates as “bed” or “sofa,” referring to the piece of bread, toast, or flat pastry that is the bed on which the other ingredients are placed.

• On top of the bed, or base, a canapé has two other elements: a filling, and a garnish.


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Presenting Hors d’Oeuvres

Serviceware for Hors d’Oeuvres

• The serviceware you choose for your hors d’oeuvres can add a great deal to the presentation.

• The vessel used for presenting hors d’oeuvres is generally referred to as a tray, though many other types of serviceware may be used.


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The Four Elements of Hors d’Oeuvre Presentation

• Whether using a tray, platter, or even a basket or bento box, there are four basic design elements.

1.

The tray

2.

The liner

3.

The hors d’oeuvres

4.

Tray décor

• All four elements should combine to create a design that is pleasing to the eye.

• In addition, it must be easy for the guests to pick up the hors d’oeuvres, and easy for the cooks or servers to refill the trays.


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1.

The tray

– The rim of the tray forms the frame of your design, and should complement the color of both the hors d’oeuvres and the liner.

– Neither the hors d’oeuvres nor the décor should extend onto the rim.

– If the hors d’oeuvres are to be passed, the combined weight of the tray and the hors d’oeuvres should light enough for a server to easily carry.


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2.

The liner

– Most hors d’oeuvre trays are lined, or covered, before the hors d’oeuvres are placed on them. Liners can be made of cloth, paper, or food.

– Linen table napkins: Starched white linen table napkins are the classic tray liner.

– Disposable paper doilies: Paper doilies are the practical choice for lining trays because they are disposable and inexpensive.


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3.

Liner Leaves

– Large, perfect liner leaves of lettuce, kale, and other leafy vegetables are used to line trays for cold hors d’oeuvres that benefit from contact with a moist surface.


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4.

Aspic:

– For a formal presentation, trays and platters can be lined with very stiff aspic. This creates a smooth, shiny surface ranging in color from pale golden to rich brown.


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The Hors d’Oeuvres

• The hors d’oeuvres are the stars of your presentation, and should therefore be the focal point of your design.

• Their appearance should not be overwhelmed by the tray liner or by the décor item(s).


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Guidelines for Presenting Hors d’Oeuvres

• Each hors d’oeuvre should be identical to the others of its kind in size, shape, and garnish.

– When you order ingredients for hors d’oeuvres, give detailed product specifications as to size, and order extra to compensate for those items that are too big or too small.

– Careful fabrication is also necessary. Use a ruler or a template to make sure all cuts are consistent.

• Make sure all hors d’oeuvres of the same kind are garnished exactly the same.


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Guidelines for Presenting Hors d’Oeuvres

• For most large events, serve trays consisting of one type of hors d’oeuvre in order to:

– gives the tray a professional appearance.

– save time during service, as guests will not linger over the tray trying to decide which hors d’oeuvre to choose.

• When serving mixed trays, keep one type of hors d’oeuvre together in a row/section, and avoid creating random arrangement on the tray.

• Place hors d’oeuvres in neat rows, concentric circles, or blocks with even spacing between pieces on the tray.

– Make sure guests can pick up one individual hors d’oeuvre without touching another.


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Serving Hors d’Oeuvres

• For many cocktail parties and receptions, hors d’oeuvres are passed or served butler-style.

• It is up to the servers to ensure that the guests can enjoy the hors d’oeuvres without undue effort, and that all guests are served equally.

– The typical guest is holding a beverage in one hand and has limited ability to deal with the food being served.

• The garde manger chef should be ready to guide servers in giving correct hors d’oeuvre service.


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Guidelines for Butler Service

• Make sure the server knows the hors d’oeuvre’s main ingredients.

– The server should announce the name of each hors d’oeuvre as it is presented.

– If the hors d’oeuvre contains possible food allergens, their presence should be mentioned.

• Try to arrange more than one access point to the event room so servers can reach both ends of the room with full trays.

– If this is not possible, instruct servers to periodically hold full trays overhead while passing through the crowd. This way, the guests at the back of the room may be served first.


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Guidelines for Butler Service

• Offer a paper cocktail napkin along with each hors d’oeuvre served.

– Fan the cocktail napkins to make each napkin easy to grasp.

• Servers should frequently pass through the event room with an empty tray to collect used napkins, cocktail picks, etc.

• Hors d’oeuvre trays should be returned to the kitchen for:

– refilling (before they are completely empty).

– straightening (if at any time they begin to look wilted or untidy).


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Preparing Canapés

• Canapés are a special type of hors d’oeuvre whose preparation requires skill and attention to detail.

• Of all hors d’oeuvres, they demand the greatest precision.

Canapés have three basic elements:

1.

A base consisting of bread, toast, or sometimes a flat pastry shape.

2.

A filling or topping consisting of a spread or complex salad, or a spread topped with a solid ingredient.

3.

A garnish or garnishes.


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Preparing Canapés

Canapé Shapes and Sizes

• Canapés may be cut with a knife into squares, diamonds, triangles, or long rectangles called fingers.

– Alternatively, they may be punched out with cutters into rounds, crescents, hearts, and other decorative shapes.

• Canapés should be bite-sized, or two-bite-sized at most. Their dimensions usually range from 1 to 11⁄2 in. (2.5 to 4 cm) across or in diameter, with 2 in. (5 cm being the largest acceptable size).

– When preparing canapés, a clean, freshly sanitized ruler is an essential piece of equipment.


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Preparing Canapés

Canapé Garnishes

• In addition to the bread-like base and the filling or topping, most canapés are finished with a small garnish item.

• Many foods are attractive enough to be used as canapé garnishes in their natural form.


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Preparing Canapés

Constructing Canapés

• There are two basic methods for constructing canapés:

1.

Slab construction method : Uses large, thin, horizontal slices of crustless bread cut from Pullman loaves or other pan loaves.

• When massproducing large numbers of slab canapés, apply the spread with a speed icer, or a pastry bag fitted with a large basket weave tip.


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Preparing Canapés

Constructing Canapés

• There are two basic methods for constructing canapés:

2.

Individual construction method : Used when the canapés are based on croûtons or slices of baguette, or on pastry shapes. (May also be used for shapes cut from pan loaf slabs).

•

The individual method is slower and less efficient than the slab method.

• It should be used for pan loaf canapés, only if the spread or filling ingredients are so costly that even a small amount of waste would substantially increase food cost.


hors d`oeuvre

Before reading this chapter, you should already:

Wrapped and Rolled Hors d’Oeuvres

Serviceware for Hors d’Oeuvres

The Hors d’Oeuvres

Canapé Garnishes

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hors d`oeuvre

Before reading this chapter, you should already:

Wrapped and Rolled Hors d’Oeuvres

Serviceware for Hors d’Oeuvres

The Hors d’Oeuvres

Canapé Garnishes

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