Food Art Continued...
Its funny sometimes how we talk about things then they happen. My last post I talked in detail about plate design and food art and the basic rules that should be followed.
For the last 3 days at work weve been preparing for a 600 person Dinner Ball, and Ive been serving time in the Bake Shop while we prepared for the event. Three days ago we were going over some of the items that needed to be prepared and I was assigned to do "Ice Cups".
I was given a brief demo and let loose to complete 600 of these bad boys. The concept in itself was not a bad idea, but the final product was not impressive.
The process starts with 600 tinfoil soufflee cups. You place a single large rose petal into the cup and place two pieces of ice on top of it to wiegh it down then pour in enough water to cover. Then you place the cups into the freezer until the water sets to solid ice. When all the cups have set you mix in blue food coloring into more water and pour that on top of the ice and refreeze.
When set and ready for service we cut away the cup and placed the ice on a small plate and placed a scoop of Rasberry Sorbet on top.
Basicly the theme to the Diamond Ball this year was Fire and Ice. The chef was looking to create that feel with the bright red from the rose and the blue in the ice. But the dish has numerous issues that Id like to review with you.
-For starters Im not sure that as a guest Id want a big block of ice put in front of me.
-The amount of labor put into the dish was far more extensive then should have been for such a small desert course. The dish was one of three desert courses and was by far the most work heavy.
-The plan didnt transfer well into action. The ice from the first freeze melted quickly during the second addition of water, causing the rose to come floating up, and when refreezing suspended in the middle of the block instead of at the top.
-During service I had to babysit the racks and racks of trays with the plates on them to ensure they didnt melt and to make sure the servers treated them properly.
Overall we all agreed that the presentation was seriously lacking at best. On top of everything as I was babysitting the trays I noticed the banquet hall was lit with blue lights, making any detail on our plates pointless. They would never see the light blue ice or even make out the rose petal.
So i questioned my fellow externs as to what they would do in place of the ice. One girl responded "Id just do a damn cookie and be done with it." , the other said she had no clue.
The way my mind works is that if I see an issue with a plate design or setup ill take it apart in my head and try to find a better setup for it. So I let fly with my idea.
The concept of the suspended rose petal I really liked. And the ice blue color works beautifully with the red of the peral. The petal turned a dark red from the water in the petal freezing, ruining the color. So I thought that you could actually use a Gelee and color it light blue and suspend the rose petal in it, or even do a Sweet Aspic and set the petal in that one the bottom of the plate. But the problem with them is the guest might want to eat them thinking its jello. But the Gelee would take care of the issue of babysitting the plates and the amount of labor put into the dish.
Even taking it further you could do small shot glasses and freeze the petal into the bottom and form the sorbet on top of that.
But all in all the experience was a good chance to see what doesnt work and what does in the world of plate design and function.
For the last 3 days at work weve been preparing for a 600 person Dinner Ball, and Ive been serving time in the Bake Shop while we prepared for the event. Three days ago we were going over some of the items that needed to be prepared and I was assigned to do "Ice Cups".
I was given a brief demo and let loose to complete 600 of these bad boys. The concept in itself was not a bad idea, but the final product was not impressive.
The process starts with 600 tinfoil soufflee cups. You place a single large rose petal into the cup and place two pieces of ice on top of it to wiegh it down then pour in enough water to cover. Then you place the cups into the freezer until the water sets to solid ice. When all the cups have set you mix in blue food coloring into more water and pour that on top of the ice and refreeze.
When set and ready for service we cut away the cup and placed the ice on a small plate and placed a scoop of Rasberry Sorbet on top.
Basicly the theme to the Diamond Ball this year was Fire and Ice. The chef was looking to create that feel with the bright red from the rose and the blue in the ice. But the dish has numerous issues that Id like to review with you.
-For starters Im not sure that as a guest Id want a big block of ice put in front of me.
-The amount of labor put into the dish was far more extensive then should have been for such a small desert course. The dish was one of three desert courses and was by far the most work heavy.
-The plan didnt transfer well into action. The ice from the first freeze melted quickly during the second addition of water, causing the rose to come floating up, and when refreezing suspended in the middle of the block instead of at the top.
-During service I had to babysit the racks and racks of trays with the plates on them to ensure they didnt melt and to make sure the servers treated them properly.
Overall we all agreed that the presentation was seriously lacking at best. On top of everything as I was babysitting the trays I noticed the banquet hall was lit with blue lights, making any detail on our plates pointless. They would never see the light blue ice or even make out the rose petal.
So i questioned my fellow externs as to what they would do in place of the ice. One girl responded "Id just do a damn cookie and be done with it." , the other said she had no clue.
The way my mind works is that if I see an issue with a plate design or setup ill take it apart in my head and try to find a better setup for it. So I let fly with my idea.
The concept of the suspended rose petal I really liked. And the ice blue color works beautifully with the red of the peral. The petal turned a dark red from the water in the petal freezing, ruining the color. So I thought that you could actually use a Gelee and color it light blue and suspend the rose petal in it, or even do a Sweet Aspic and set the petal in that one the bottom of the plate. But the problem with them is the guest might want to eat them thinking its jello. But the Gelee would take care of the issue of babysitting the plates and the amount of labor put into the dish.
Even taking it further you could do small shot glasses and freeze the petal into the bottom and form the sorbet on top of that.
But all in all the experience was a good chance to see what doesnt work and what does in the world of plate design and function.