Appetizers and Hors d'oeuvre: Distinctions, Types, and Preparation

1. Chapter 9 Appetizers and Hors d’oeuvre

2. Chapter 9 Objectives • Compare and contrast appetizers and hors d’oeuvre • Identify composed hors d’oeuvre including canapés, profiteroles, tartlets, and barquettes • Discuss the role of appetizers in à la carte, buffet, and tasting menu situations • Explain how to select and prepare appetizers • Recognize the principles of presenting appetizers • Understand the preparation of cold savory mousses, sorbets, savory foams and encapsulations • Understand how to serve caviar

3. Distinctions Between Appetizers and Hors d’oeuvre • Hors d’oeuvre are typically served as preludes to a meal. • Hors d’oeuvre are small bite-sized items. • Appetizers are served as the first course of a meal. • Typically, appetizers are small portions of very flavorful items, meant just to take enough edge off the appetite to permit thorough enjoyment of an entrée.

4. Hors d’oeuvre • Translates as “outside the work.” • Today it is increasingly common for clients to request an entire menu made up of hors d’oeuvre to serve at a reception or cocktail party as a “standing meal.” • There are a few precepts to remember in general hors d’oeuvre preparation and presentation: • Keep in mind the nature of the event, as well as the menu to follow. • Ice carvings and ice beds are sometimes used to keep seafood and caviar very cold, as well as for their dramatic appeal. • Hors d’oeuvre served on platters or passed on trays butler style should be thoughtfully presented. • Choose something eye-catching that will show off the design of the hors d’oeuvre.

5. Composed hors d’oeuvre are built from two or more components. Can be served as: Tartlets Barquettes Canapés Profiteroles Spoons Classic elements: Cured and smoked foods Pâtés Foie gras Salads Vegetables Mousse Composed Hors d’oeuvre

6. Barquettes and Tartlets • Pâté dough can be used to create small edible containers, known as barquettes or tartlets. • They may be filled with a cold mousse or other savory fillings. • Very moist fillings can quickly make the pastry shell soggy. • These hors d’oeuvre are best when assembled as close as possible to service time.

7. Barquettes and Tartlets • Some classic examples from around the world: • Bouchées • Empanadas • Beurrecks and tiropettes • Dim sum • Spring rolls

8. Canapés • Canapés are small open-faced sandwiches. • Elements of canapés: • Small piece of bread cut to shape and toasted • Spread • Filling or topping • Garnish

9. Profiteroles • Profiteroles are small, round, hollow puffs made from pâté a choux. • Can have sweet or savory filling • They are very often baked, sliced in half, filled, and garnished as desired. • Alternately, a hole can be made in the bottom of the puff while they are still warm and then a smooth filling such as a mousse can be piped in.

10. Spoons • Spoons are used as a base for an hors d’oeuvre so that you can layer a variety of items that have different flavors, colors, and textures. • One of the biggest advantages to using the spoon as a base is that you can add a liquid element to the hors d’oeuvre in the form of a sauce or gelée. • Spoons also offer the functionality of having the utensil built into the presentation.

11. Appetizers on the à la Carte Menu • When creating appetizers for the menu, it is important to provide enough appropriate options that work with the main course offerings. • In some restaurants, waitstaff may suggest an appetizer for the table to share and enjoy while their entrées are being prepared, both as a way to expose guests to something new or unusual as well as to “sell up the menu.” • Grazing menus or degustation menus are produced by selecting a series of appetizer-size portioned items served in a logical sequence.

12. Appetizer Tasting Menus • Allows the diner to taste a wide variety of dishes because the plates are only a few bites each • The chef decides on the appetizer that will help build a menu that has complementary flavors through the entrée and dessert. • A disadvantage for this type of tasting menu is the limited amount that the customer gets to choose from.

13. Appetizer Tasting Menus • Tapas restaurants offer the patrons their choice of little dishes. • Classically, tapas were small pieces of bread that were used to cover glasses of sherry. • Tapas in Spain evolved as bar and restaurant owners began to feature their regional products alongside their Sherries and wine. • Seasonality is very important in Spanish tapas.

14. Appetizer Tasting Menus • Other cuisines’ small dishes: • Russia: Zakuski table features smoked and pickled fish, blinis with caviar, and a host of special salads. • Mediterranean region: Mezzes feature olives, nuts, dips, spreads, and highly seasoned items such as grilled kebabs of meat or fish. • Scandinavia: A smorgasbord showcases special dishes, hot and cold, including herring, cheeses, and pickled foods.

15. Appetizers for a Banquet • Banquet menus frequently call for one or more appetizers. • The chef does have the ability to “build” a menu, progressing from one flavor and texture experience to the next. • Appetizers should be served in sensible portions, perhaps smaller than you might offer on an à la carte menu, so that guests can sample a few appetizers and still enjoy their main course and dessert.

16. Selecting and Preparing Appetizers • Classic hors d’oeuvre can usually be served as appetizers if you increase the portion size slightly and take into consideration the plating of the appetizer. • Examples: • Smoked fish or meat • Sausages • Salads • Small portions of pasta • Warm or hot • Cooking an item more than one way on a plate

17. Principles for Presenting Appetizers • Basic principles for selecting, preparing and plating appetizers: • Serve all appetizers at the proper temperature. • Season all appetizer items with meticulous care. Appetizers are meant to stimulate the appetite, so seasoning is of the utmost importance. • Slice, shape, and portion appetizers properly. • Neatness always counts, but especially with appetizers. • When offering shared appetizers, consider how they will look when they come to the table. • Color, shape, and “white space” play a role in the overall composition of your plate. • Consider the garnish for the appetizer carefully and be sure that it adds something to the plate

18. Cold Savory Mousses • The French word mousse literally means “foam” or “froth.” • Mousses are always served cold. • Three basic elements of a mousse: • Base • Binder • Aerator

19. The Base • Savory items are pureed until very smooth. • May need to add a liquid to adjust consistency. • Base consistency should be that of a pastry cream before adding binder and aerator.

20. The Binder • Gelatin is the binder used in a mousse. • In some cases, the base product has enough body and bind to hold the mousse together without an additional binder. • The key is to have the proper balance of binder and base so that the mousse will keep a distinct shape when chilled without melting or sagging but also without being rubbery because there is too much binder.

21. The Aerator • Aerators give mousses their frothy texture. • For maximum volume, add about one-third the total amount of aerator first to make it easier to fold in the remaining two-thirds. • Aerators include: • Beaten egg whites • Whipped cream

22. Basic Formula for a Mousse • Base – 2 pounds • Binder* - 1 ounce (*if required by recipe) • Liquid* - 1 cup (*to bloom gelatin) • Aerator – 2 cups

23. Savory Waters, Jellies and Sorbets • Flavored waters that can either be used as broths for meats, poultry, fish, and vegetable entrees, frozen as sorbets and granitas, or thickened with a variety of agents to make jellies. • Jellies can add a luscious texture contrast to most dishes. For gelatin in jellies use 1% to 3% of total weight. • Savory sorbets and granités have been used for some time to tease the palate as an intermezzo or to add a contrasting frozen element to an entrée or appetizer.

24. Thickeners • Other thickeners in lieu of gelatin: • Agar agar: a carbohydrate-based gelling agent manufactured from seaweed • Alginate: a carbohydrate-based gelling agent that is made from brown seaweed • Carageenan: red algae-based thickener • Gums: natural thickeners derived from plant sources • Lecithin • Pectin: is a natural thickener that is extracted from plants, mainly citrus fruits

25. Savory Foams and Encapsulations • Cold and hot foams use methods such as agitation and nitrous oxide canisters to create foam out various products. • Vegetable and fruit purees are especially appropriate for foams because the carbohydrates in their cell walls prevent the bubbles from disintegrating too quickly. • Encapsulations take the concept of the foam to the next level. • Makes spherical shaped items such as small orbs of fruit puree to look like caviar or a tea sphere.