Hors d'oeuvre & Salads

               Hors d'oeuvre & Salads

                        Hors d'oeuvre 

                                                                Hors d'oeuvre Buffet

Excerpt from the book: 

"Principles of Food Production Operations". 

An hors d'oeuvre, appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. 

Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating, such as at a reception or cocktail party.

Formerly, hors d'oeuvres were also served between courses.

Typically smaller than a main dish, an hors d'oeuvre is often designed to be eaten by hand.

Hors-d'œuvre in French literally means "outside the work"—that is, "not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal." In practice, it is a dish which stands on its own as a snack or supports the main Course.

A canapé is a type of  hors dóeuvre, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimestoasted), puff pastry, or a cracker topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.

                                            

                                            Salads

                                                                        Salad Buffet

Salad is a dish made with the combination of small pieces of food which can be raw or cooked; usually served with a sauce or a dressing. The small pieces of food may include a wide array of ingredients such as vegetables, fruits, cheese, eggs, grains, cooked meat and so on. It is either served as an appetizer, or entrée, or as a main course or even desserts at certain places.

 

Etymologically, the word “salad” is derived from the word the French word salade which in turn is derived from the Latin word salata (meaning salty) from term sal (salt). It is assumed that the first usage of this word salad goes back to 14^th century where it appeared as “salad” or “sallet”. In Italian dialect, it is referred as insalata, whereas Spanish people refer to it as ensalada.

 

The salad in the period of antiquity was just a mix of certain greens (sometimes pickled) and then tossed with salt and served. Then,during 17^thand 18^thcentury, many other ingredients such as grapes, fruits, beans, rice, legumes, and grains were added to salad; and all was served with the dressing of oil and vinegar on a lettuce green.Lettuce became the prime ingredient of salad and majorly was used as a base or foundation of salad. During 19^th century, the salads such as layered salads and dressed salads became very popular all across. Dressings initially meant to provide moisture to salad, comprises of a simple olive oil and vinegar emulsion but with changing trends and so much of creativity taking place, the dressings have witnessed a tremendous change and growth. Salad has achieved a significant place in menu and has been a very crucial platform for chef to execute their creativity and fire their imagination, adding new dimension to the world of salads.

                                                                                Salad

Following are the basic elements which add new dimension to the salads:

·        As far as possible, only the freshest ingredients are used in preparing salads. Hence, it should be very refreshing and lively. It should have the strength to stimulate and whet the appetite.

·         The salad should be nutritionally balanced.

·         The plating or artistic arranging of salad is very important, as its adds visual eye appeal to the salad. The arrangement of salad should be compact and attractive in display. The colors of all ingredients should add contrast, beauty and freshness to the salad.

·         The salad should be very crisp in texture and hence the fresh green vegetables are incorporated in salad just before the time of serving, as the coating of dressing will make the greens used wilted and soft.

·         The flavour of the salad is of utmost importance and no flavour should suppress any other flavour. The flavour of all ingredients used in it should be well-balanced. Indeed, all the flavours should have their own individuality in salad and hence the seasoning and herbs are used very carefully.

Composition of a Salad

The salad essentially comprises of four basic parts: Base, body, dressing and garnish.

Base: As the title suggest, base is actually the underlining of the salad, on which the salad is placed. Salad is served on this base and this base also aids in holding the excessive dressing used in salad. Traditionally, lettuce green was used as a base, but nowadays the range of base has increased tremendously and includes chiffonnade of lettuce (julienne of lettuce), shredded cabbage, even avocado halves and pineapple halves as its base.

Body: The fundamental part and ingredient of salad is indeed the body, which includes a wide range of food ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat, fish, eggs, lettuce and herbs. Many salads use only one prime ingredient as its body, whereas many salads are made with a combination of many ingredients.

Dressing: Dressing play a very crucial role in the making of salad, as its main purpose is to enhance and heighten the flavour of the salad along with sufficient moisture in the content.It also increases the taste aspect, improves palatability, appearance and also helps digestion. Dressing is a semi-liquid or a liquid which is generally a mixture of oil-vinegar, or mayonnaise based dressing or even a contemporary dressing as well. Dressing can be served in a separate container or can be tossed with the salad.

Garnish: Garnish plays a very important purpose of providing contrast, colour, and eye appeal thereby making it more presentable. The common garnishes used are fresh herb sprig, fresh coriander or mint leaves, boiled egg cut into halves or quarters, chopped walnuts, black or green olives, segments of citrus fruits, dried nuts, grated cheese, croutons etc.

Types of Salad

Salads are classified on the basis of ingredients used in it. 

The basic classification of salads is:

Simple Salads: Also referred as plain salads, simple salads are prepared with single primary ingredients, tossed in a dressing and then it is served on a green base available as per the season. Simple salads are very easy to make and they can be served raw or cooked. Dressings are either tossed with salad or served in a separate container to avoid the wilting of green used in it.

The most common simple salads are as such:

Tomato salads–roundels of tomato served with vinaigrette dressing garnished with chopped parsley.

Beetroot salads – dices of cooked beetroot with either vinaigrette dressing or mustard cream garnished with juliennes of ginger and chopped parsley.

Cucumber salads – roundels of cucumber served with vinaigrette dressing.

Compound Salads: Also referred as composite salads, compound salads are made with a combination of ingredients and arranged artistically in a dish. The ingredient used in it goes beyond the green and includes a wide range of ingredients such as meat, fish or poultry in it.

The compound salads are either marinated or bound with dressings. The bound salads are those in which the cooked items are bound with mayonnaise dressing as mayonnaise dressing is thick enough for holding and binding all the ingredients. The marinated salads are those in which the varied ingredients are just tossed in vinaigrette dressing and served. 

The compound salads are further classified on the basis of the ingredients used and the classification is as such:

• Vegetable based: Vegetable salads are prepared using cooked or raw vegetable or a combination of both. The success of vegetable based salad is based upon artistically incorporating varied vegetables to combine colour, texture and flavour.

Coleslaw: juliennes of cabbage, carrot and capsicum with mayonnaise dressing.

Russian salad: dices of boiled potatoes, carrots, French beans, pineapples, green peas with mayonnaise dressing.

Caesar salad: lettuce, garlic, croutons, , boiled egg, anchovies with Caesar dressing (made with olive oil, anchovy paste, crushed garlic, lemon juice, grated cheese, egg etc.).

Tossed salad: several dices of leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and watercress tossed with vinaigrette dressing and garnished with fruits, or nuts, or cheese etc.

• Fruit based: Fruit salads are very refreshing and are prepared with a single fruit or a combination of several fruits. As the distinct fruits have distinct colour and delicious flavour, fruit salads offer a great variety to food lovers. They are generally served as the first course during lunch or dinner. The fruits are cut just before preparing fruit salads as certain fruits upon cutting long before service turns soft in texture, dark in colour and translucent in appearance. The fruits salad should have a crisp texture and fresh taste.

Waldorf salad: dices of apples, and chopped celeriac (celery root) and chopped walnuts in mayonnaise dressing.

Eve salad: scooped apples filled with small balls of apple, pineapple and bananas in acidulated cream dressing.

Japonnaise salad: dices of apple, bananas, and segments of orange, lettuce served in lemon dressing or acidulated cream dressing.

• Meat based:Meat-based salads are high in calorie content and incorporate either ham, or chicken or even lamb meat. Due to incorporation of meat pieces, it is relatively heavier to other salads.

Carmen salad: dices of red pimentos, boiled rice, dices cold cooked chicken, green peas in French mustard based dressing.

Hongroise salad: juliennes of bacon, lettuce, cabbage, potatoes, grated radish, paprika in vinaigrette dressing.

• Fish based: Fish based salad are prepared using fish as the chief ingredient. Fish fillets are usually used either smoked or preserved in canned bottles. At times, raw fish are also used, when they are properly marinated in acidic medium prior to preparation.

Nicoise salad: dices of anchovy fillet, boiled diamond-cuts of French beans, boiled and quartered eggs, tomato dices, olives, capers and boiled potatoes in vinaigrette dressing.

• Miscellaneous based: This is a special category of compound salad which is prepared from special ingredients such as pasta salad, rice salad, legume salad etc.

Pasta salad: Commonly consumed as an appetizer, accompaniment to a main course and asan entrée. When refrigerated, the shelf-life increases to about 2-3 days.The fresh herbs, lots of garlic are used in abundance in such salads.

Salad Greens

Salad greens are leafy vegetables which are used in the preparation of salad, mostly as the base. It comprises of lettuce family, chicory family and other green. As the name suggest, it is not necessarily green in colour and can be yellow, red or some other colour.

 

Lettuce

Lettuce has become a dispensable element of salad preparation and is used as the underliner or base of the salad. In ancient times, it use to grow wild of its own but nowadays it has been acknowledged and appreciated by all for its culinary purposes and uses.

The term “lettuce” is derived from the Latin word lactuca, which is derived from lac, meaning milk, as it use to release milky juice when cut. The recorded history suggests that it was consumed by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans during ancient times.

Lettuce leaves are very healthy and gives only 15 calories per 100 gm. It is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like thiamin, pyridoxine, riboflavin, and Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folic acids, calcium, copper and iron.

 

Lettuces are essentially classified into four categories: Butterhead lettuce, Crisphead lettuce, Leaf lettuce and Romaine lettuce.

Iceberg lettuce: It is the most common lettuce of all varieties. It remains crisp for a long period of time, even after being cut or prepared.

Boston lettuce: It is the most popular butterhead lettuce, which has a buttery texture and flavour.

Bibb lettuce: It is also a butterhead lettuce. The Bibb lettuce is smaller as compared to Boston lettuce.

Romaine lettuce: Also known as Cos, it is loosely attached head lettuce with elongated leaves. Its outer leaves are dark green and are crisp and tender.

Baby lettuce: Baby greens are much subtle in flavour, and relatively less bitter and much tender as compared to fully mature lettuce. Mesclun is a mixture of several kinds of baby lettuce.

 

Chicory

Slightly bitter in taste, it comes in different shapes and sizes and colors. The famous varieties of it include Belgian endive, wild chicory, escarole, radicchio, curly endive and so on.

Radicchio: Resembling a small red cabbage, it is bitter in taste and retains shape even when cooked. It is very popular in cold salads.

Curly endive: It is popularly called as frisee or chicory. The outer leaves are dark colored and slightly bitter whereas inner leaves are yellow-colored and less bitter. It is hardly used alone, but with a mixture of salad greens.

 

Other Salad Greens

Apart from lettuce and chicory, the list on the other salad greens is still huge and includes arugula, dandelion, sorrel, spinach, watercress and so on.

Spinach: Spinach is a dark colored green with rich flavour and tender texture. It can even be cooked or served raw as green.

Watercress: Watercress is small-sized leaves with a peppery flavour. The watercress of good quality is of green colour and is kept cold in storage.

 

Dressings of a Salad

The dressing of a salad is meant to enhance the flavour rather than mask the flavour of the main ingredients and also to moisten it. The dressing complements the ingredients with which it is used, thereby improving the food value of the dish.

The common salad dressings are vinaigrette dressing, cream-based or mayonnaise-based dressing.

Vinaigrette dressing: Vinaigrette dressing is the most commonly and popular dressing made with the emulsion of oil and vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper. The oil and vinegar are properly whisked and blended so as to form the emulsion and to prevent it from separating very soon.

The varying proportion of oil and vinegar, gives us vinaigrette of different taste. Following are the common vinaigrette prepared:

French vinaigrette:                 3 parts oil and 1 part vinegar

American vinaigrette:             1 part oil and 1 part vinegar

English vinaigrette:                1 part oil and 2 parts vinegar

Italian vinaigrette:                  4 parts oil and 1 part vinegar

 

The above made oil-based dressings may have oil and vinegar separated and hence they need to be whisked properly before usage. They need to be stored in cold places or at room temperature.

 

The commonly used oils used for this dressing are neutral-flavored olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, safflower oil and so on. Nowadays, infused oil is also used by many, as it is enriched with added flavour.

Similarly, the vinegars used are also varied and includes red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. The flavored vinegars made by adding fruits or herbs are also preferred.

The vinegar at times is replaced with lemon juice and is referred as lemon dressing.

 

Mayonnaise-based dressing: Mayonnaise dressing is a very popular dressing made with an emulsion of oil and vinegar. It is very versatile and complements almost any ingredient used in salads. It tastes best with vegetables, fruits and even fish in salads. A wide variety of variations can be made with addition of certain ingredients in mayonnaise dressings and they are also very popular in salad making.

Gribiche dressing: It is cold mayonnaise based sauce dressing made by using hard-cooked egg yolk instead of raw egg yolks.

Thousand Island dressing: It is mayonnaise added with tomato ketchup, hard-cooked eggs, Worcestershire sauce, fresh parsley etc.

Roquefort dressing: It is mayonnaise added with Roquefort cheese, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chopped garlic, sour cream etc.

 

Cream-based dressing: Cream based dressing uses cream as the main ingredient and has the coating consistency. Acidulated cream and sour cream are the two very popularly used dressing. Acidulated cream is basically the cream (3 parts) added with lemon juice or vinegar (1 part) and seasoned. Sour cream dressing is prepared by slightly warming the cream and then adding it with yoghurt culture and allowing it to set into curd.