Cold food displays and presentations take on many forms from fruits, vegetables, salads, cold deli meats, cheeses, aspics, chaud froid, caviar, canapés, cold hors d’oeuvres, charcuterie, garnish and garniture, and edible centerpiece carvings such as ice, vegetable, fruit, cheese, salt, dough, and tallow.  Typically, these preparations are relegated duty of the Garde Manger (GM) station of traditionally organized brigade style kitchens, or the pantry for smaller facilities. The GM station of the kitchen has the most opportunity to shine with artistic talents and can be one of the more tedious stations with respect to patience, time, and talent. For more detail on the derivation and definition of the term Garde Manger, click the hyperlink to learn additional information. Also, if you want to see some examples of the various types of edible carvings, click on the hyperlinks for those too. (NOTE: Click on images for a larger view.)

This started out as a simple post about fresh fruit displays, but knowing it would only touch on a small portion of the larger GM picture, it has thus incorporated the broader scope with this writing. Having taught three classes in Garde Manger at the Delgado Community College Culinary Arts Department, I felt more needed to be said about the bigger picture.

Cold food displays, including trays, and mirrors have been a part of my catering and banquet repertoire since going back to the apprentice days at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, LA. When working the Garde Manger station it was not unusual to spend the entire day peeling, seeding and slicing or dicing fruit, cases of fresh watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydew, Crenshaw, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, kiwi, star fruit, and washing pounds of grapes, strawberries and blueberries. Filling up rolling carts with sheet pans of sliced fruit protected with layers of parchment paper and then wrapped within plastic wrap for storage until ready to plate up or tray them onto lettuce leaf lined platters, trays or mirror displays for buffets, banquets and special functions.

The images below represent several stages of learning during the apprenticeship years while working the Garde Manger station at the Hyatt, and one from culinary class at Delgado. These images are taken from my Culinary Apprentice Log Book, signed weekly by the property chef and which was a requirement for certification.

Charcuterie Display	Fruit Tray Display
Cheese Tray Displays	Canapé Displays
Canapé & Deli Displays

Fresh Fruit Display

On Saturday, November 7, 2009 our little Ben become confirmed into the Catholic Church and we threw a party in his honor with about 30 or so friends and family in attendance I decided to throw down a bit and show off my Garde Manger talents. With an apple bird in the plans, turns out that three other fruit centerpieces took center stage, the apple bird never appeared, but maybe next time. However, found this instructional video, which is quite similar to the technique I have utilized and taught over the years, click on the hyperlink to view the apple bird demonstration.

With some newly purchased white platters from Pampered Chef, I created three fruit displays of the assorted fresh delights. Some skill is involved with the fruit centerpiece carving skills, and with a very minimum of making simple baskets and at the other option of making intricate carvings …which takes time and patience…both of which I was without late Saturday afternoon. Presentation depends on if the fruit is on platters, plates, or mirrors, with more room for scattered effect from lettuce-lined trays, but mirrors take more skill. For example, once an item is placed on a cleaned mirror, it should not be lifted due to food residue leaving marks on the reflections.

Artistry and Creativity

Creativity plays a large part in putting together fruit displays. The same can be said for cheese trays, canapés, and any cold food presentations on buffets, banquets or party tables and spreads. The plethora of colors, shapes, and combinations of various fruits, cheeses, and edible decorations combine to form a flowing presentation that typically is accentuated by multiple levels. Building levels on presentations with the higher level toward the back and flowing downward toward the front of the service line besides giving the perception of height and copious amounts, but aids in the guests when reaching for food items toward the back.

A few more tips, when making cold food presentations include a balance of colors, shapes, textures, and flavors. Portion size is not a real concern as it is for plating, since most cold food displays and presentations are in the buffet style, diners will pick their own portions. Just make sure you have enough quantity for the number of expected guests.