Cold hors d’oeuvres is one category of Garde Manger. This image includes deviled eggs, ham and olive crepe gateau and savory-filled tartlettes which are a type of canape. Together this display made a lasting impression for an Easter Buffet when I was the Chef of the University Club of University of Missouri.

Mention the word Garde Manger to a group of non-culinary people and prepare yourself for a blank stare or the question, “What are you talking about?” In this age of chef celebrities, Youtube how-to videos and TV food shows, the world of Garde Manger is not well known. In its simplest form, Garde Manger could be described as the art of cold food preparation and presentation.

Most culinary schools teach Garde Manger in a single, one semester three-credit hour class. However, it is such a broad topic and there are a number of textbooks written about it. I am presenting you with an an outline of categories used in Garde Manger. This is basically how I teach it in my eight-week class at Ozarks Technical Community College:

• Salads – tossed, composed and bound
• Cold hors d’oeuvres and appetizers (canapes and tea sandwiches)
• Chilled seafood – raw, cured, smoked, poached and grilled seafood (sushi, ceviche, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail)
• Charcuterie (includes pates, terrines, mousses, rillettes, and sausages)
• Cold food trays and platters (crudité- vegetables, fruit displays, cheese trays and cold cut and deli trays, etc.)
• Food art – vegetable carving and fruit carving
• Non-food art – ice sculptors, dough sculptors, butter and tallow sculptors all used as centerpieces for cold buffets
• Blue crab and mango salad garnished with fried bean thread noodles

Salads
Salads can be divided into three sub-categories: tossed, composed and bound. The most common tossed salad is undoubtedly a green salad made up of a variety of greens and lightly tossed with an oil and vinegar-based dressing. Composed salads are salads that are laid out in a decorative manner and then served drizzled with dressing or dressing served on the side for the guest to use. Bound salads are salads mixed with a dressing that binds all the ingredients together. You can think of chicken or tuna salad. Bound salads can be served as is on a bed of greens, in sandwiches or as an hors d’oeuvre such as a single-bite serving presented on spoons. Two of the most important concepts for this category that I cover are the ratio of oil to vinegar, which is three to one to make a simple vinaigrette and the method for preparing mayonnaise to understand the emulsification process.

A composed salad is made by laying out the ingredients in a decorative fashion for either a single-served course or as a platter on a buffet. The dressing is normally served on the side or drizzled over the salad when served.

Cold hors d’oeuvres and appetizers
Canapes and tea sandwiches are very popular and used for butler-passed appetizers, on a buffet or served on platters as is done in a classic tea party. Canapes are normally made with three components with a standard ratio of a one third base such as a croustade, one third spread and one third main item or garnish. In my class, I offer alternative ideas for bases such as tartlettes, choux puffs, crisp wontons, puff pastry, phyllo pastry and vegetables. The possibilities are endless when combined with all the spreads such as compound butter or herb cream cheese mixtures along with delectable main items such as shrimp, smoked salmon, ham, beef tenderloin or caviar.

Finger sandwiches and tea sandwiches are small dainty sandwiches that are larger than single bite canapes. They are normally two or three bites and usually built with fresh bread. A few examples are chicken salad, ham salad, egg salad or watercress cucumber.

Chilled seafood
Mono Maki style sushi (translated to rolled Sushi) is one subcategory of this beloved Japanese cold food and is extremely popular and served in many restaurants and eateries.

Chilled, smoked and cured seafood covers a vast number of specialties that include smoked salmon, poached seafood (shrimp and lobster), gravlox and the ever-popular sushi. We cover these types of cold food in two class periods, which is not much time when you consider the vast number of presentations and types of seafood that are served in this way.

Gravlox is a Scandinavian specialty. It is prepared by curing very fresh salmon with salt, sugar, dill and pepper. Cured in this way, it can be preserved for a longer period. Traditionally, it is served with ice-cold aquavit.

Charcuterie
Charcuterie is a time-honored traditional method for cooking, preserving and utilizing all of the meat and organs from a pig after it is slaughtered. It includes pates, terrines, rillettes and all types of sausages. Over time it has evolved into the practice of using other meats (such as game and poultry) and some seafood and vegetables as well. This topic is becoming popular again and is the sole subject of some books. A subcategory of Garde Manger, charcuterie is a highly advanced skill that takes years to master. The methods I cover in our class are the four types of forcemeats used for pates, terrines, and galantines. We also prepare a simple fresh sausage method so students can learn the technique of how to stuff sausages into casings. We also discuss other methods and ingredients used in the practice of charcuterie.

One of my charcuterie specialties is Chicken and Apricot Terrine. In it, I use the breast meat for a mousseline style forcemeat and the brine-cured smoked meat from the legs. The terrine also includes diced ham, dried apricots and pistachios.

Cold food trays and platters
Tray and platter design is like any other visual art form and it employs methods and techniques for laying out food in the most decorative eye-appealing way. I discuss, draw, show pictures and books that illustrate some of these basic concepts for this class portion. These are: the focal point, flow, slicing, serpentine, tin solder and the use of negative space.

Food art
Vegetable and fruit carving can be simple and yet quite effective if done correctly and used in the proper combination with various foods. By learning and practicing basic techniques, one can start the journey to more complicated and elaborate presentations such as those used in Thai melon carving which has a history of being served to the royalty of Thailand hundreds of years ago. This food art form takes extreme skill and practice to become proficient.

Fruit and cheese is a classic combination and served in many different ways and presented at all types of banquets and receptions. We cover the steps of cheese production and certain cheese types that are produced and arranged by texture. In the kitchen lab, students learn methods on how to display and serve it with fruit.

Non-food art
The last subcategory of Garde Manger is taught as an overview. This class focuses on centerpieces and sculptures or carvings and covers the methods used to produce ice carvings, the most popular of centerpieces. It also touches on dough sculpture and the history of tallow and butter sculpture, which has fallen out of fashion and is rarely seen today.

In only 16 class periods, the broad subject of Garde Manger can only be covered as an overview or in academic terms as an exploration class. Consider the fact that baking and pastry arts are taught in a two-year period due to the current interest of many of today’s students. The subject of Garde Manger takes just as much time to learn and master and can be every bit as artistic as those in the pastry arts field. Furthermore, it is a major sector of culinary arts.

Hopefully, it will become more widely known again so as not to become the subject of another lost art form. That would be a shame!