2008.05.02
Garde manger classes show their stuff
Yesterday, I attended a wonderful event at the Culinary Institute of Western Virginia. For their final exam, two garde manger classes prepared a feast of hors d'oeuvres, sandwiches and salads for their families and school staff.
They were kind enough to invite me, and I was duly impressed.
Garde manger is a French term for the cool storage area in many restaurants where cold dishes like salads, pates, cold hors d'oevres and other foods are prepared. The class also includes the study of garnishings.
Some of the students also completed projects involving salt dough. One student created the school's logo entirely out of salt dough.
Please enjoy these pictures and look for more information about the culinary school in the next few months!
Note: The above picture shows edible tortilla spoons with shrimp ceviche.
The following pictures show, in order of appearance: several students putting finishing touches on the table; an ice sculpture of a swan, which was created by an instructor with student assistance; an ice sculpture of a pineapple; a plate of BLT crostini; a plate of crabcakes on toast rounds with dill sauce; the salt dough school logo and a fondant display.
Oh wow. That food is gorgeous!
Comment by Debbie — May 2, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
There's no better smell in a kitchen than youthful optimism and creativity. I love it!
I remember our college (Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks of NY state) put on a Thursday night buffet each week. At least one culinary student and one management student were paired up (sometimes as many as four altogether) and had to produce a gourmet buffet. I remember we had a Halloween theme and offered a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I can still smell the burnt baby pumpkins (carved by yours truly) on each table.
Comment by Amy Hanek — May 3, 2008 @ 12:36 pm