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COLD PRESENTATION DISHES

Cold presentation dishes are generally made in the pantry or Garde Manger section of the kitchen. This
includes techniques of food decoration , cold platter design and presentation of buffets in banquets. These
items are the main decorative items in cold buffets and also are becoming part of regular a la carte menus
in restaurants.
These dishes are commonly used in buffet services because of the ease of display. Buffets are a profitable
form of service because (a) Attractive displays are possible (b) Large number of people can be served with
lesser staff. (c) It is very adaptable to nearly all kinds of foods ( except for those which are cooked to
order),to all price ranges and local food customs as well as occasions and restaurant styles.
Common Dishes in Cold Buffets:
(1) Pates and Terrines: These are baked forcemeats. Forcemeat is a seasoned mixture of ground
meat used as a filling or stuffing. Forcemeats used for cold items like pates are usually mixed with heavy
cream and egg yolks. General proportions are 50 -60 % lean meats, 30 -50% fats and seasoning. Basic
meat is pork meat with the addition of other meats. Fat content can be added with pork fat and/heavy
cream. Eggs act as a binder in many types of forcemeat. Seasonings include salt, pepper, nutmeg and other
spices and herbs like thyme, marjoram, bay leaf, and cayenne. The basic difference between is in the way
they are baked. A terrine is baked directly in a terrine mould while a pate is baked in a crust This crust is
similar to other pie crusts, basically a shortcrust dough with eggs and seasoning.. For making a pate, a
layer of rolled out pate, dough is used to line a deep collapsible mould. Then the forcemeat is placed on
the dough. A suitable garnish like thin strips, discs or slices of ham, veal, poultry, breasts and livers , foie
gras (livers of specially fattened ducks or geese), tongue,pista, truffles, etc can be placed in layers until all
the forcemeat has been used up. This is then covered with a decorated crust and baked in an oven.
Generally, chimneys or vents are made in the crust to allow excess air and fat to escape. The pate is cooled
after cooking and aspic jelly poured in the vents to fill all the gaps and increase decorativeness.
A terrine is made in much the same way but without the crust. Classical terrine moulds are lined with fat
before filling in the forcemeat. They are cooked in an oven in a water bath unlike pates which can be
cooked directly. For a firmer texture a pate cooked without a crust or a terrine can be cooled with weights
on top so that the cooked forcemeat gets compressed and assumes a firmer shape. This helps in the
portioning of the final product.
Originally terrine moulds were made of earthenware bur now ceramic and metal terrine moulds are more
common because of ease of availability and better portion control.
Chicken liver and goose liver pates : These are made in a slightly different manner . instead of cooking
the forcemeat mix in an oven the livers are precooked by sautéing , ground and seasoned and mixed with
almost equal quantities of butter and set in a fridge before service. Pate de foie Gras is a classical French
cold preparation made of the ground livers of specially fattened geese.
Galantines: These are ground meat mixtures wrapped in the skin of the product of which it is made
usually poultry like duck or chicken. They are almost always poached except in some cases where they are
roasted. They are displayed whole, decorated, and glazed with aspic jelly with a few slices removed to
show a cross section. Slices of galantine may be served for a la carte service.
(2) Cold Sauces used in Cold dishes:
(a) Aspic: This is a clarified stock, which contains enough gelatine to solidify it on chilling. This
gelatine can be extracted from bones or added from a packet. It may be colourless, or in various shades of
light brown (amber). Most often aspics are made crystal clear by clarifying like a consommé. White or
colourless aspic is used when the natural colours of the food have to show through. Amber coloured aspic
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is used to glaze or decorate roast meats or poultry. Aspic can also be used as a binder for set salads and
other sauces like chaud froid. When used as a coating it (1) Protects food from drying/discolouration (2)
Improves appearance (3) Adds flavour .
(b) Chaud froid: This is a white sauce containing enough aspic to set it when chilled. This can have
a base of white sauce or mayonnaise. Generally, proportions are equal amounts of aspic and sauce.
Coloured chaud froid sauces can be made by adding tomato puree for red; watercress and spinach purees
for green; meat glaze and tomato puree for brown.
(c) Mayonnaise and derivatives: Mostly used as salad dressings. Many derivatives of mayonnaise are
used widely as adjuncts of salads and their dressings.
(d) Vinegar/lemon juice and oil dressings; commonly used dressings called vinaigrette. These also
have derivatives made by adding various flavouring ingredients to the basic sauce.

(3)Salads: A salad can be defined as a seasoned food item served with a dressing. This can vegetable,
meat , fish, fruits or eggs. Salads can be cold or warm.
Generally salads are used as
(1) Appetizers: Light salads are often served in modern restaurants as a first course. They also form part
of the classical Hors D’ouevre selection. Such salads should be attractive with fresh crisp ingredients,
tangy dressing and should stimulate the appetite.
(2) Accompaniments: Served instead of side dishes or vegetables with a main course. These salads
should balance and complement the meal being light, flavourful, and not too rich.
(3) Main course: Popular in lunch menus for the health conscious. They should have sufficient amount of
proteins and heavy enough for a main meal. Apart from meat should have vegetables, salad greens or fruit.
(4)Separate course: Generally served after a rich dinner before dessert. Should be very light only serving
to clear the palate.
(5) Dessert Salads: Sweet salads made of fruits sweetened gelatine, nuts and cream.
Main ingredients used in salads:
(1) Salad Greens Chicory , rocket, water cress , spinach, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, Cos lettuce,
Chinese cabbage,
(2) Raw vegetables: Avocado, celery, onions, Capsicum red green or yellow, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots,
cucumber, radishes, etc
(3) Cooked vegetables: All kinds
(4) Starches: Beans, rice, various pastas
(5) Fruits: various kinds
(6) Protein foods: Meats, fish, eggs, cheese
(7) Miscellaneous: Nuts, gelatine, etc.
Types of Salads:
Mainly two types: SIMPLE and COMPOUND. These may be further divided into cooked and raw
depending on the nature of the ingredients used.
(1) SIMPLE: This consists of a single ingredient of vegetable with a dressing. One or two ingredients are
used as a decoration or garnish.
(2) COMPOUND: A compound salad has 4 basic parts:-
(a) Base: Leafy greens usually form the base of a salad. They increase visual appeal of most salads.
Tossed salads, green salads, salads in a bowl and many main course salads are made without a base.
(b) Body: This is the most important part of the salad and the salad gets its name from the body. The body
may be broken salad greens, fruit moulded in aspic, raw cabbage, meat, etc. Ingredients must have a
balance of taste , flavour and colour.
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(c) Garnish: This is an edible decorative item that is added to a salad to give eye appeal and in some cases
to add to the flavour. They should be kept as simple as possible.
(d) Dressing: This is a liquid or semi liquid which adds flavour, food value, helps in digestion, improves
taste and appearance. It should always accent the flavour and not overpower the taste of the main
ingredient.
Basic dressings are-
(1) Vinaigrette or French dressing: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar
(2) Lemon Dressing: Three parts oil to 1 part lemon juice.
(3) Mayonnaise and derivatives: 1000 island, green goddess, Tartar, Remoulade,etc.
Guidelines for Salads:
(1) Salads should be cold, crisp, piquant, colourful, well seasoned and attractive.
(2)Continuous refrigeration is necessary for maintaining food safety.
(3)All arrangements should be natural rather than a set appearance so that over handling of ingredients
may be avoided.
(4)For cooked salads following guidelines must be maintained:-
(a)Ingredients used should be cooked thoroughly.
(b) If leftovers are being used they must have been stored at proper temperatures(4 C) under
hygienic conditions.
(c)All freshly cooked items must be thoroughly cooled before mixing with mayonnaise.
(d) Ingredients should not be cut very fine or small or the final product will be like a mush.
(e) Dressings should be folded in rather than mixed to avoid breaking up the main ingredients.
(f) Bland ingredients can be marinated before mixing the dressing.
(5) All garnishes used should be colourful and attractive.
(6) Greens and vegetables used should be washed properly to remove all dirt. Soaking in ice water makes
all salad greens crisp.
Guidelines for Arrangement of Salads:
(1) Keep the salad off the rim of the plate or bowl.
(2) Good balance of colours. Should not be more than 3 otherwise looks messy.
(3) Height makes a salad attractive. An underliner should be used wherever possible or salad arranged in a
heap.
(4)Cut all ingredients neatly and evenly.
(5) Each ingredient should be cut into pieces large enough to be identified. Too small pieces make
identification of ingredients difficult.
(6) All salad arrangements should be as simple as possible.
Warm Salads: Apart from cold salads a few salads are also served warm. Such salads have generally
cooked ingredients and an oil based piquant dressing. These should be served as soon as they are made or
they loose taste. Examples: Warm mushroom salad, Portugaise style vegetables, etc.
Fruit Salads and Arrangements: These are generally served in the dessert course. Some fruit based
salads such as melon cocktail, Grapefruit cocktail, Coupe Florida are also served as appetisers. All
precautions applying to raw salads have to be taken for fruit salads as well. Fruits used for fruit salads
should not be diseased, bruised or overripe. Dressings for these salads include sweetened whipped cream
and syrup based dressings flavoured with wine or gin, and also acidulated cream.

(3)Hors d’oeuvre: This is the first dish to be served at a meal particularly lunch (dinner usually starts
with a soup).Since they are additional to the menu, they should be light, delicate, stimulating the appetite
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for later heavier dishes. Presentation is very important, as they should be very attractive. They can be of
the following types:-
(1) Single Cold items: For example: smoked salmon, fish eggs (roe) like caviar, various raw vegetables
served with a dip, pate ,terrine, melon, veg. a la Grecque, stuffed eggs, Foie Gras,oysters, grapefruits,etc
(2) Selection of seasoned dishes or Complex Hors D’ouevre: Prawn cocktail, various types of pork
products like salamis and ham, kinds of mixed salads, canapés, hot well seasoned items like croquettes,
cutlets ,etc.
Generally a selection of Hors D’oeuvres is served in a special dish with many compartments.
All these dishes apart from mixed salads must be small bite sized so that they can easily be eaten with
fingers or forks.

(4) Sandwiches: They are a convenient and favourite form of light meal especially favoured for snacks
or high tea buffet services. In its simplest form they are 2 slices of bread enclosing a plain or mixed filling
based on cooked meats, fish, vegetables , cheese cut into small pieces or thin slices. They can be made of
virtually any kind of bread, with or without crusts, cold or hot, cut into various shapes or rolled. There are
many types of sandwiches as described below:-
(1) Hot (2) Cold
There are many variations of these two types .
Main Ingredients for Sandwiches:
(1) BASE: Can be any kind of bread, bread roll, tortilla , pita bread, etc.
(2) SPREAD: Mostly softened and flavoured butter is used because it gives better mouth feel and is more
acceptable to vegetarians than mayonnaise. Sometimes a mixture of butter and mayonnaise is used for
better taste and economy. Mayonnaise sandwiches should be consumed as soon as possible because of
contamination issues. Using a spread (a) Protects bread from soaking up moisture from the filling. (b)
Adds flavour. (c) Adds moisture and mouth feel.
(3) FILLINGS: Nearly all kinds of foods can be used as fillings :- Meats and poultry products, cheese,
lettuce, cucumber, tomato , onions, mayonnaise based salads ( cut very small or pureed),fish in the form of
salads, peanut butter, jam, nuts ,etc.
(5) Canapés: These are small open faced sandwiches used as hors d’ oeuvres, savouries or finger food
snacks served with drinks. These are always served bite sized and have endless variety and combinations.
They usually have 3 parts :-
(1) Base: This can be bread cutouts, melba toasts, crackers, tiny unsweetened pastry shells , etc
(2) Spread: A highly flavoured spread is preferred. The spread should be thick enough to cling to the
base and prevent the garnish from falling off. Flavoured butters are mostly used but cream cheese and
meat or fish salads may also be used after suitable modifications like cutting the salad finely, chopping, or
pureeing it and making the salad highly seasoned so that it stimulates the appetite.
(6)Savoury Mousses: made of pureed poultry, fish, vegetables, meat, and other foods bound with
gelatine and lightened with partially whipped heavy cream. Gelatine can be in the form of pure powder or
aspic jelly. They are made in attractive moulds and served demoulded .
(7) Aspic Moulds: Various solid items held together by aspic jelly. They are also called aspic terrines
and are made in terrine moulds.
(8) Cold Cut Meats: Prepared ham, slices of cold roast meats covered with aspic or chaud froid sauce
displayed attractively in platters.
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(9) Bakery Items : Small petit fours ,finger pastries, éclairs, etc are served in high tea buffets. For
main meals usually dessert buffets are provided which may have bakery as well as confectionery items
like gateaux, sweet soufflés, ice creams, etc. may be displayed.
(10) Fruit Displays: Uncut whole fruits attractively displayed can be provided with any kind of meal.
(11) Cheese Displays: Different varieties of cheese can be displayed with cheese knives and
traditional accompaniments of cheese provided alongside.

Techniques for Buffet Presentation:

(1) Lavishness: Buffets must always look full and lavish. This can be done by: (a) Variety of colours
(b) Centre pieces like fruit or vegetable carvings,etc (c) .Refilling platters and bowls frequently. (d) There
should be proper spacing so that the buffet does not look too empty.

(2) Simplicity: (a) Food should not be over decorated as this may scare the guests from wanting to take
servings or may hide the food itself. The customer should be able to identify the food on display. ( b) Excess
garnish is quickly destroyed as customers take helpings.

(3) Orderliness: A buffet must be well planned and should not look as if all dishes have been placed as
if just thrown together.

(4) Menu and service sequence: (a) Hot foods served last. Decorative cold foods placed at the start of
the buffet makes the appearance better. (b) More expensive foods placed at the end of the buffet. This saves a
little on the food cost. (c) Sauces and dressings to be kept with the food they accompany. (d) Separate dessert
tables. (e) Plates to be placed first on the start of the buffet counter. Silver ware can be placed last or on the
tables as cover set up.

(5) COCTAIL BUFFETS: These display items to be served with drinks and other refreshments at
receptions, cocktail parties, and cocktail hours before the start of the formal dinner or lunch. Main
characteristics of these buffets are (a) Only appetizer type foods are served. (b) Stacks of plates are kept with
each item (c) Central small tables are used which should be easily accessible and not obstruct the movement
of guests.

Basic presentation Principles for Cold Platters:

There are 3 basic elements to a cold platter: A. Centre piece which may be uncut portion of the main food
item like a pate/ terrine, a bowl of dressing or vegetable or butter carvings. Although these decorations are
not meant to be eaten but they are always made of edible items. B. Slices or portions of the main food
item artistically arranged. C. Artistically arranged garnish proportionate to cut slices. To arrange these to
the best effect:-

• Food should be easy to handle and serve so that a portion can be removed without spoiling the
main arrangement.

• Designs should be simple. They are more easy to serve and less likely to spoil easily when portions
are removed
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• Platters can be made of any food grade material like silver, glass, acrylic, plastic , wood, etc.
Presentation is more attractive in a platter with a reflective surface.

• Pieces of food should not be removed once they have touched the mirror or platter as this leaves
smear marks which are difficult to clean.

• A platter should match the other presentations on the table as well being appropriate on its own.

• The plan of the platter should be made in advance to avoid mistakes later.

• The food portions should be arranged in curved or angled lines so that the arrangement has some
movement. Square corners should be avoided.

• The design should have a centre piece or focal point which gives height and direction to the
arrangement. This is placed at the back of the platter or behind so that the food portions are visible..

• All items should be in proportion to the platter. The platter should also be in proportion to the
amount of food. Too large a platter looks empty and a small platter looks overloaded.

• The best side of the dish should face the guest. Overlapping sides and wedges of food should face
the guest.

Equipment used:-
1. Preparation: (a) UTENSILS: Bowls, stockpots ,Fish kettles ,Strainer ,boilers ,steamers
,Fry pans ,saucepans, etc. (b) SMALL EQUIPMENT : Different types of knives, cutters, terrine moulds,
shaped moulds, whisks, weighing scales, piping or forcing bag, string or twine, collapsible moulds. (c)
MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT: Mincing machine, food processors, slicers, choppers, sausage filling
machines, ovens, cooking ranges, temperature probes.

2. Storage: refrigerators, chill rooms, deep freezers, blast freezers/chillers( Chill rooms or
cabinets which use air circulation to achieve cooling faster)

3. Display: Refrigerated display cabinet with glass front, Refrigerated or insulated chafing
dishes , platters assorted, mirrors of glass or other materials like acrylic.

Factors affecting Precooking preparation and Display Times:

1. Fresh: Products made from fresh items are cooked according to the times required to cook
the original products like fish has to be cooked for a shorter period than meat or poultry. Apart from the
cooking times , cooling times have also to be included in the preparation times. which varies from product to
product, Like stuffed cooked meat items need the longest time while items being set with aspic need relatively
less time.

2. Frozen: Most of the precooked ingredients used in cold Preparations are

generally available in frozen form. All the precautions for frozen floods have to
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followed for such items giving special attention to packaging, use by date and
temperatures at which these are delivered.

3. Prepacked: These are the easiest products to use as the pacing has to be
removed and the product can be used directly. In this case too all precautions of
packaged products have to be taken because these items are not cooked. Faulty packing
or wrong storage practices can contaminate the product leading to food poisoning.

4. Cooking methods: All cooking methods except frying are suitable for making
cold preparations. Most common methods are poaching , simmering/boiling , or
cooking in a water bath in an oven. All these cooked items need to be properly cooled
before service. Poaching takes the least time and baking the most time.

5. Batch Sizes: Cooking and presentation times will also depend on batch sizes as
making presentation platters is a time consuming process.

Methods of testing:
1. Cooked items: Temperature probes are the method of testing whether cold
presentation items are done on cooking since most of these items are made up items involving the use of
forcemeats and it remains difficult to know whether these are cooked. Temperature probes are also needed to
determine whether the serving and storage temperatures are correct since proper refrigeration is vital to keep
all cold items safe.

2. Raw: For cold salads where raw vegetables are the primary ingredient, their smell,
texture, colour and taste form the main testing factors. All vegetables must be crisp and fresh in colour and
taste.

3. Pre-packaged: These must be checked for ingredient list, and expiry dates before
using. Any products with damaged or improper packing should not be used.

Serving and Portion Control:

Sectioning: This means cutting bigger joints of meats, whole fish or made up items like galantines, etc. into
smaller and manageable portions. Certain products like roast poultry, game, poached fish are served whole
and can be carved in front of the guest. Generally, items like poultry can be sectioned before cooking. Items
like galantines and bigger joints are always portioned after cooking. Prepacked/processed cold meats need no
further cooking and can be portioned as per requirement. Certain fishes like salmon are poached whole and
served cold after skinning, stuffing and decorating. rules and guidelines are the same as for hot items.

Portion Sizes for some common Items( for One Portion):-_

(1) Oysters: 6 / portion (2) Caviar ( fresh fish eggs from sturgeon fish lightly salted, very expensive
considered to be a delicacy) 25 gm. / portion (3)Smoked salmon: 35 – 40 gms. of thin slices of the fish
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served overlapping. (4) Foie Gras: Thick slices 1 cm. thick. (5) Terrines and Pates: same as foie gras. For
individual portions these are generally accompanied with a small tossed salad. (6) Salads: Depends on
individual salads. Portion sizes may vary from 100- 125 Gms. Larger portions are given if given in place of a
main meal. (7) Grapefruit and melon: half fruit (8) Avocado: half pear (9)Fruit Cocktail: 500 Gms of
unprepared fruit.(10) Shellfish Cocktail: 100 – 150 Gm. Prepared shellfish with 125 Ml. of sauce. (11)
poached Salmon: 500 gm. Yields 2– 3 portions (12) Sandwiches: Generally 2 pieces of jumbo bread are
used cut into 2 triangles or rectangles
For savouries portion sizes may vary depending on the item being served.

Prepacked Items:
Pate de foie gras , Caviar , Fruit cocktails, Processed pork products like hams and salami, Pates and terrines,
Smoked fishes like salmon and haddock, etc., various types of cheese, etc.
Such items need to be portioned before service after removing the packing. Many of these products are also
available proportioned.

Quality assurance:
As for other preparations in the kitchen, standard recipes are very important for cold items to give consistency
of finished product. Since cold preparations involve lots of decoration , photographs are of great help in
making a standard product which looks same every time it is made and decorated before the service.
Photographs of final presentation of cold buffets and platters also acts as a check point which the chef can use
before planning a similar buffet or platter.

Importance of proper Temperature:

Maintaining a proper temperature for all cold preparations is essential to keep the food safe since it cannot be
reheated before service. The most important tool for this is the temperature probe which can be used to
measure the temperature of finished as well as dishes which are in the process of cooking. The ideal holding
temperature for all cold foods is under 4-5 C .
For maintaining the correct temperature constant monitoring is essential. For this responsibility of the staff
has to be established by working out checking schedules with clear allocation of responsibility which makes
monitoring easy. Storage and display areas as well as displayed and stored foods must be checked regularly
maintain food safety rules.

Safety and Hygiene Guidelines:

1. Plastic gloves should be used wherever possible specially for raw and non veg. foods.
2. All food should be kept at 4 – 5C .
3. All displayed food must be kept under refrigeration and constantly monitored.
4. Platters and displays in a buffet should be changed if temperature levels are high or if the display has
been kept open for a long time. Smaller displays are thus more economical to replace and refill.
5. Where customers are viewing displays closely a sneeze screen should protect the food.
6. Dishes made in advance should be covered in film and kept at 1 -3 C to prevent drying.
7. Personal, food and equipment hygiene of the highest order must be maintained with all cold work.
8. Sandwiches must be kept wrapped in film at a maximum temperature of 8Cand sold within 4- 24 hours
of preparation,
9. Cooked meats used for sandwiches or for cold meat platters must only be sourced from meats which
have been cooled rapidly after cooking and then refrigerated at or below 5 C over the next 48 hours.
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10. Partially used products on display must not be topped with fresh for example a bowl of used Russian
salad must not be topped with fresh but the whole bowl must be changed.
11. Sliced or cut meat items should not be over handled or reheated more than once.
12. Cold meats should never be cut on dirty chopping boards or with dirty equipment to prevent cross
contamination.
13. Wherever possible use of raw eggs must be avoided to prevent the risk of salmonella poisoning. Safe
products or substitutes like pasteurised eggs can be used.