Chapter 23Chapter 23

Hors d’ OeuvresCopyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Hors d’Oeuvres

• The pantry or Garde Manger department is generally responsible for the small food items known as appetizers or hors d’oeuvres.

• The function of these foods is to enliven the appetite before dinner, often to the accompaniment of drinks, so they are generally small in size and spicy or piquant in flavor.

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Hors d’Oeuvres

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Appetizer• The first course of a multicourse meal.

Hors d' Oeuvres• The finger foods served at receptions and with cocktails

Serving Hors d’Oeuvres

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The two most common ways of serving hors d’oeuvres are:

• Butler-style • Hors d’oeuvre selections are offered to guests by service staff

carrying small trays as they pass among the assembled group

• Buffet-style• Hors d’oeuvres are arranged attractively on one or more tables,

and guests help themselves.

Canapés

• Canapés may be defined as bite-size open-faced sandwiches.• Canapés are perhaps the most traditional and also

the most modern of hors d’oeuvres.

• Most canapés consist of three parts: • Base

• Spread

• Garnish

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Canapés

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Base

Canapé bases may be made from several items.

• Bread cutouts

• Toast cutouts

• Crackers

• Melba toasts

• Tiny unsweetened pastry shells (short dough, phyllo dough, or other pastry)

• Profiteroles (miniature unsweetened)

• Cream puff shells (p. 1025)

• Toasted pita wedges

• Tortilla chips or cups

• Tiny biscuits (split in half)

• Polenta cutouts

• Miniature pancakes

Canapés

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For canapés, trim the crusts from a pullman loaf. With a serrated knife, cut the loaf horizontally into thin slices.

Bread slices for canapés can becut into several basic shapes with no waste.

BaseBase

Canapés

Canapé spreads may be as simple as butter or softened cream cheese.

• It is better to use a more highly flavored spread.

• Sharp or spicy flavors are better for stimulating the appetite.

• The spread should be thick enough to cling well to the base so the garnish sticks to it without falling off.

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Spread

Canapés

Spreads may be divided into three basic categories, as follows:

1. Flavored Butters

2. Flavored Cream Cheese

3. Meat or Fish Salad Spreads

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Spread

Canapés

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Spread

Popular and versatile flavors for butter spreads include:

• Lemon

• Parsley

• Tarragon

• Chive

• Anchovy

• Caviar

• Mustard

• Horseradish

• Pimiento

• Blue cheese

• Shrimp

• Olive

• Shallot or scallion

• Curry

• Caper

Canapés

The garnish of a canapé is any food item or combination of items placed on top of the spread.

• It may be a major part of the canapé.

• It may be a small tidbit selected for color, design, texture, or flavor accent.

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Garnish

Canapés

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Food items that may be used alone or in combination to decorate canapés:

•Vegetables, Pickles, and Relishes

• Radish slices

• Olives

• Pickles

• Capers

• Pimiento

• Pickled onions

Garnish

• Chutney

• Asparagus tips

• Cucumber slices

• Cherry tomato (slices or halves)

• Watercress leaves

• Marinated mushrooms

• Parsley

Canapés

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Garnish

Food items that may be used alone or in combination to decorate canapés:

•Fish

• Smoked oysters and clams

• Smoked salmon

• Smoked trout

• Herring

• Shrimp

• Rolled anchovy fillets

• Caviar

• Salmon or tuna flakes

• Crab meat

• Lobster chunks or slices

• Sardines

Canapés

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Garnish

Food items that may be used alone or in combination to decorate canapés:

•Meat

• Ham

• Salami

• Chicken or turkey breast

• Smoked tongue

• Roast beef

• Other

• Cheese

• Hard-cooked egg slices

Cocktails

Cocktails: Alcoholic beverages and vegetable and fruit juices

• Also a group of appetizers made of seafood or fruit, usually with a tart or tangy sauce.

• Popular Seafood Cocktails:

• Oysters and clams on the half-shells

• Shrimp

• Crabmeat

• Lobster

• Firm, flaked white fish (with an appropriate sauce)15

Relishes

The term relish covers two categories of foods:

• Raw vegetables

• Pickled items

Raw vegetables are also known as crudités.

• Crudités are often served with an appropriate dip.

• Raw vegetables must be served crisp and well-chilled.

• Use the most fresh and attractive vegetables possible.

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Relishes

A wide variety of pickled items are served as relishes such as:

• Dilled cucumber pickles

• Gherkins

• Olives

• Watermelon pickles

• Pickled peppers

• Spiced beets

• Other preserved vegetables and fruits

Pickled items should be served chilled.

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Dips

Savory dips are popular accompaniments to potato chips, crackers, and raw vegetables.

• Proper consistency is important for any dip you prepare.

• Dip must be thick enough to stick to the items used as dippers.

• Proper consistency means thickness at serving temperature.

• Most dips become thicker when held in the refrigerator.

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Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

A great variety of other foods, both hot and cold, can be served as hors d’oeuvres.

• Finger food is much easier for guests who are likely to be standing and holding a wineglass or cocktail glass while eating.

• If hors d’oeuvres are to be served away from the dinner table, it is best if they can be eaten with the fingers or speared with a pick.

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Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

Italian cuisine is particularly rich in hors d’oeuvre, or antipasto.

• Typical components include the following:• Cured Meats

• Seafood Items

• Cheeses

• Hard Cooked and stuffed eggs

• Relishes

• Mushrooms and Vegetables à la Greque

• Cooked dried beans and other firm vegetables in a piquant vinaigrette

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Antipasto

Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

A Roman garlic bread consisting of a slice of Italian bread that is toasted, rubbed with crushed garlic, and drizzled with olive oil.

• The best-known topping is a seasoned mixture of diced fresh tomatoes and olive oil.

• Meats, cheeses, cooked dried beans, and raw and cooked vegetables are all appropriate.

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Bruschetta

Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

• A small food item intended to be eaten with wine or other drinks, usually in taverns and bars.

• The Spanish term literally means “lid.”

• The original tapa is thought to be a small bit of food, perhaps a slice of cured ham placed on top of a glass of sherry.

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Tapas

Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

Caviar is the salted roe, or eggs, of the sturgeon.

• In the United States and Canada, any product labeled simply “Caviar” must come from sturgeon.

• Roe from any other fish must be labeled as such (e.g., “Whitefish Caviar”).

• Caviar is given the name of the species of sturgeon it is taken from.

• Beluga

• Osetra

• Sevruga

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Caviar

SturgeonCaviar

Salmon Caviar

Tobiko

Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres

A tiny appetizer or hors d’oeuvre offered to guests seated at their tables.

• Compliments of the chef.

• Usually in more expensive restaurants.

• It is offered either before or after they have ordered from the menu.

• It is an opportunity to showcase an aspect of the chef’s cooking style and talent and to welcome the guests.

• Nearly anything that can be served in a tiny portion can be served as an amuse bouche.

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Amuse Bouche

Recipe Pronunciations

• Hummus (Chickpea Dip) (p. 788)

• Guacamole (p. 789)

• Rumaki (p. 794 )

• Crêpes (p. 797)

• Belgian Endive with Herbed Chèvre (p. 798)

• Profiteroles with Ham Salad or Deviled Ham (p. 798 )

• Mushrooms Stuffed with Tapenade (p. 800)

• Miniature Gougère Puffs (p. 801)

• Black Bean Quesadillas (p. 802)

• Chicken Liver Pâté (p. 804)

• Brandade de Morue (p. 804)

• Bruschetta (p. 805)25

Recipe Pronunciations

• Spicy Meat Empanadas (p. 806)

• Vegetable Samosas (p. 806)

• Cauliflower Pakoras (p. 808)

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