FRMCA Level 2, Chapter 4

Salads and Garnishing

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Session Objectives

Identify various types of salad and explain how to prepare them.

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Identify proper procedures for cleaning salad greens.

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Differentiate among various oils and vinegars.

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Prepare vinaigrettes and other emulsions.

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Give examples of garnishes.

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Garnish various items, including plates, desserts, and soups.

9.1

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A Few Things...

-Wednesday Catering during lunch for Dr. B

-Volunteers to Prep After School TODAY

-Friday Field Trip ($$,permission slips, attire, agenda)

-Lab Cooking Days

-Hallway, Classroom, & Table Decor today

-Need to clean uniforms

-Competition Practice (8 weeks until state competition)

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Preparing Salads

Three keys to making a quality salad:

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• Use fresh ingredients.

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• Have all the ingredients blend together in harmony.

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• Make sure the salad is aesthetically appealing.

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9.1

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Types of Salad

There are five main types of salad:

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1. Green salad, of which there are two types: tossed and composed (also called mixed).

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2. Vegetable salad, composed of cooked and/or raw vegetables.

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3. Bound salad, which features cooked primary ingredients like meat, poultry, fish, egg, potato, pasta, or rice.

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9.1

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Types of Salad continued

4. Fruit salad is prepared with fruit using a slightly sweet or sweet/sour dressing to enhance the flavor.

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5. Combination salad incorporates a combination of any of the four salad types.

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9.1

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Cleaning Salads

• Clean, fresh ingredients are key to preparing good-tasting, interesting, attractive salads.

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• Always thoroughly wash greens, as dirt can lodge between leaves.
• Use water a little warmer than the greens being washed.

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• Dry washed greens thoroughly.
• Water left on greens will not allow dressing to adhere to the leaves.

9.1

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Storing Greens

After the greens are clean, proper storage is essential to keep them fresh.

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Unopened commercial produce can be stored for two to three days.

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Rinsed and dried greens can be refrigerated for a few hours; sturdier greens, such as iceberg lettuce, can be held for as long as 24 hours.

9.1

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Oils

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9.3

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Vinegars

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9.3

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Salad Dressings

• Salad dressings are liquids or semiliquids used to flavor salads.
• Dressings act as a sauce that holds the salad together.
• Dressings can range from mayonnaise for potato-based salads to vinaigrettes for lettuce-based salads.
• Match dressings to salad ingredients.
• Use tart or sour dressings for green salads and vegetable salads.
• Use slightly sweetened dressings for fruit salads.
• Mix some dressings with the ingredients ahead of time, such as for a “bound salad.”
• Add some dressings at plating and service to bring an additional flavor aspect to the final product.

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Vinaigrettes and Emulsions

• Vinaigrette: Made from oil and vinegar

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• Emulsion: Mixture of ingredients that permanently stay together
• An emulsifier binds dissimilar ingredients. Eggs, for example, are a good emulsifier.
• Mayonnaise: The most stable and thickest emulsified dressing

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9.3

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Design Attractive Salads

• Look at the plate or bowl as a picture frame. Select the right dish for the portion size. Keep the salad off the rim of the dish.
• Maintain a good balance of colors. Three colors are usually enough.
• Height makes a salad more attractive.
• Always cut the ingredients neatly and uniformly.
• Make sure every ingredient can be easily identified.
• Finely chop items used as seasoning, such as onions.
• Keep the arrangement of ingredients simple.

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Garnishing: Why and How

• Proper garnish complements the main dish in color, flavor, and texture.

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• Garnish should enhance the flavor of the dish.

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• Preparation for garnishes is an essential part of the dish.

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• Some garnishes can be prepared in bulk for use when plating and finishing both hot and cold items.

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• Ideally, garnishes are an ingredient used in the dish.

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• Garnishes must be easily edible.

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Garnishing: Why and How continued

• Which garnish to use depends not only on the food being served, but also on how the food is laid out on the plate.

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• The purpose of the plate presentation is to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the food.

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• Garnishes used to add height to a plate or platter include:
• Vegetable timbale: Various ingredients baked in a round mold
• Dauphinoise: Potato baked with cream, garlic, and cheese, cut into rounds or triangles
• Duchesse: Boiled and mashed potatoes, baked with butter and egg yolks

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Common Garnishes

• Fried parsley
• Fried leeks
• Cucumbers
• Mushroom caps
• Radishes
• Scallion bunches
• Pickles
• Frosted grapes
• Lemons
• Cucumber fans

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9.3

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Garnishing Dessert

Garnish desserts with:

• Fruit coulis in many varieties
• Whipped cream, flavored and unflavored
• Frosted mint leaves
• Chocolate work in the form of string work or formed pieces
• Spun sugar work
• Sweet sauces

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9.3

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Garnishing Soups

Garnishes for soups are classified into three groups:

• Garnishes in the soup are the actual ingredients
• Toppings: Place toppings on soup immediately before service to avoid melting or sinking to the bottom
• Accompaniments: Include crackers, melba toast, corn chips, breadsticks, cheese straws, whole-grain wafers, and gougères

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9.3

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