Plan Your Meetings

Getting garnish: March 2007 Morsel

This month we are going to look at garnishing … or should I say the lack thereof?

For whatever reason the culinary industry has gotten away from putting a garnish on the entrée plate. In the olden days (as I date myself) we used the tomato rose, the carrot butterfly, the radish rose, yadda yadda yadda … but at least it was something! With kitchen staffing being a challenge, and what I feel is a general lack of creativity in the kitchen, we have gotten away from doing that extra touch that completes the plate.

Sometimes chefs do garnish buffet chafing dishes. But what makes me crazy is that nine times out of 10, it is out of context. If you are going to complete the food with a look, choose a garnish complementing the food.

For example, last year I had salmon on a buffet dinner. What do you think it was garnished with? Large slices of red onion! Large slices of onions don’t belong with fish; the flavor soaks in. It is out of context with the food being served. Now, if the chef had garnished with slices of grilled lemon and a toasted basil leaf, we would be in good shape. That makes sense.

Folks, this happens all the time. So start watching and talking to your chefs about making sure your culinary look is complete.

Claire R. Gould is the owner of Rx for Catering, LLC, a culinary and logistics company that works globally negotiating and designing menus for meetings and events. Her company has done work for Coca-Cola, IBM, Honeywell and Randstad, among others. Gould teaches and writes about culinary and banquet trends and topics, and publishes a quarterly online newsletter “The Claire Diaries.” If you have any feedback for her, please leave a comment below.