Hors d oeuvre | appetizers | French classical menu

 Serving Hors d’Oeuvres

The two most common ways to serve hors d’oeuvres are

Butler-style service - offered to guests by servers on small trays.
Buffet-style service

 Canapés: canapes may be defined as bite sizes open faced sandwiches.

they consist of :

base
spread
garnish 

canape bases

bread cutouts
toast cutouts
crackers
melba toast
profitroles (tiny unsweetened cream puff shells)
toasted pita wedges
tortilla chips or cups
tiny biscuits
polenta cutouts 
miniature pancakes

canape spreads

can be as simple as softened butter or cream cheese but cam be highly flavoured.
spreads can be divided into three categories

flavoured butters
flavoured cream cheese
meat or fish salad spreads

canape garnish

any food item that is places on top of the item to enhance the presentation of the canape

1.    vegetables, pickles, and relishes
2.    fish and shellfish
3.    meats
4.    cheese
5.    hard cooked eggs

flavouring items

lemon, caviar, shrimps, parsley, mustard, olive, tarragon, horseradish, shallot, chive, pimento, scallions, anchovy, blue cheese, curry, capers.

  Cocktails:the term cocktails is used not only for alcoholic bevrages nad juices but for a group of appetizers made with seafood or fruits. usually served on a bed of crushed ice.

examples are

shrimp cocktail
crab cocktaill
lobster cocktail
flaked white fish cocktail
fruit cup

all served with an appropriate sauce and garnish.

Relishes: these cover two categories of foods:

raw vegetables

1.    called crudites which in french means "raw"
2.    the most popular vegetables are celery, carrots and radishes.
3.    vegetables should be crisp and well chilled
4.    use the freshest, most attractive vegetables possible

•     pickeled items

1.    items like dilled cucumber pickeles, gherkins, olives, watermelon pickles, pickeled peppers, sliced beets.
2.    all items should be well chilled and attractively presented

Dips: 

•     savory dips are popular accompaniments to potato chips, crackers, and raw vegetables
•    a proper consistency is important for any dip. proper consistency means thickness at serving room temperature. 

Miscellaneous Hors d’Oeuvres: a great variety of foods can be served as hors d'oeuvres: any foods that can be eaten with the fingers and or speared with a tooth pick

 Antipasto: 

italian cuisine is particularly rich in hors d'oeuvres of antipasti. as they are called. many menus of italian style restaurants offers a cold plate of antipasti, or assorted flavourful titbits.

can include:

cured meats

seafood items

cheeses

hard cooked eggs

relishes

mushroom and other vegetables cooked dry beans.

 Bruschetta: 

bruchetta is a slice of italian bread, tossed,, rubbed with crushed garlic, and drizzled with olive oil.

served with toppings, the most common of which is seasoned diced fresh tomatoes.

Tapas: 

spanish tapas are small food items intended to be eaten with wine, usuallly in bars or taverns.

in sppanish, it literally means "lid"

 Caviar: 

  These are roe of sturgeon

Roe- processed fish eggs

Sturgeon- Particular species of fish found in Caspian Sea or black sea

Types-

·         Grainy Caviar

·         Pressed Caviar

              Grainy caviar can be further classified into-

              Beluga- white in colour

              Sevruga- dark in colour

              Ossetra- Black in colour

•       it isold in weight basis. Almas is the costliest among all the caviars which costs 23000 dollar per kg.

  Cover- Caviar Knife/ Fish Knife on the right side of the cover, caviar pot on a bed of crushed ice in a caviar plate

Accompaniment- Blinis/Toast ( blinis is a savoury Russian pan cake made of buckwheat flour), sieved egg yolk, chopped egg white, chopped shallots and segments of lemon

 Amuse Bouche: 

•     it is a tiny appetizer or hors d'oeuvre offered, compliments of the chef.
•     usually in more expensive restaurants.
•     nearly anything can be served as amuse boudhe: salads, soups, canapes, fish, and vegetables.