10.02
Salads and Dressings
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Garde manger (gard mawn-ZHAY) is the department typically found in a classical brigade system kitchen and/or the chef who is responsible for the preparation of cold foods, including salads and salad dressings, cold appetizers, charcuterie items, and similar dishes. Most of the decorative buffet work would come from the garde manger department. The garde manger department is also referred to as the pantry.
Salad
Most salads consist of a lettuce base, but a wide variety of ingredients can go into a salad. Meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and starches, such as potatoes or pasta, can all go into a salad. A salad is defined as a single food or a mix of different foods accompanied by or held together with a dressing. The three keys to ensuring a quality salad, regardless of the ingredients used, are as follows:
Ensuring freshness of ingredients
Having all the ingredients blend together in harmony
Making sure the salad is appealing to the eye.
Always consider freshness, flavor, and eye appeal when making any type of salad.
Although salads are made up of many ingredients and vary greatly in appearance, the four basic parts to most any salad follow:
Base
Body
Garnish
Dressing
The base of a salad is usually a layer of salad greens that line the plate or bowl in which the salad will be served. Use smaller leafy greens, cup-shaped Boston lettuce, or iceberg lettuce leaves to give height to salads and form edible containers. Also use romaine, Belgian endive, and leaf lettuce as a salad base.
The body of the salad consists of the main ingredients. The body can be a mixture of vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrots, etc.; meats, such as turkey breast or ham; and various fruits, such as mandarin oranges or apples. Use mayonnaise-based salads, such as tuna salad or crabmeat salad, as a salad body placed on a base of lettuce. Salad ingredients can vary by season or occasion, but freshness is always important.
Garnish enhances the appearance of the salad while also complementing the overall taste. A garnish should be something that will be eaten with the body, functioning as a flavor component. Simple garnishes are the best. Mix them with the other salad ingredients or add garnishes at the very end. For example, add cheese, nuts, seeds, raisins, shredded carrot, or a fine julienne of red bell pepper on top of the greens. This garnish is decorative as well as tasty. Always consider the components and overall taste of the salad when choosing a garnish.
Salad dressings are liquids or semiliquids used to flavor salads. They act as a sauce that holds the salad together. Dressings can range from mayonnaise for potato- or macaroni-based salads to vinaigrettes for lettuce-based salads. Sometimes dressings are called cold sauces because their purpose is to flavor, moisten, and enrich food. Use tart or sour dressings for green salads and vegetable salads. Use slightly sweetened dressings for fruit salads. Mix some dressings with the ingredients ahead of time, such as for “bound salad.” Add some dressings at plating and service to bring an additional flavor aspect to the final product.
Because salads are not cooked, it is especially important to be extra careful about proper handwashing when preparing them. Remember that many health departments require single-use gloves to be worn—and changed frequently—whenever working with products that will not be cooked before service.
Main types of salad:
Green—tossed and composed
Bound
Vegetable
Fruit
Combination
The two types of green salad are tossed and composed (or mixed). Prepare all ingredients individually for either salad. Mix (toss) together the ingredients of a tossed green salad prior to plating. Place a tossed salad on a base or serve without further garnish. Do not toss together the ingredients for a composed salad. Arrange the ingredients on the base separately to create the desired taste experience and achieve a high level of visual appeal.
Prepare the bound salad from cooked primary ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, egg, or starch such as potato, pasta, or rice. The ingredients are “bound” with some type of heavy dressing such as mayonnaise.
Prepare a vegetable salad from cooked and/or raw vegetables. Use a heavy dressing to bind this type of salad or toss with a lighter dressing. For example, bind the cabbage for coleslaw with a heavier mayonnaise-based dressing or a lighter vinegar and oil dressing. As part of the preparation, allow the ingredients in a vegetable salad to rest for a period of time to increase flavor and change texture in the mixture of ingredients.
Prepare a fruit salad from fruit using a slightly sweet or sweet/sour dressing to enhance the flavor. Handle the fruit carefully, and prepare the salad close to service to prevent the cut fruit from softening, browning, or losing moisture.
A combination salad incorporates a combination of any of the four salad types discussed previously. When making a combination salad, prepare the different components according to their individual guidelines. Be sure to follow the guidelines for attractive salad arrangement.
Dressings
Types of Dressing The flavor of a salad dressing complements or enhances the salad ingredients. For example, when working with a slightly bitter green such as arugula or radicchio, give the dressing a hint of sweetness (as well as a slight acidity) to work with the bitterness of the green. The type of dressing also depends on the texture of the salad ingredients. Use lighter dressings on more delicate ingredients; use heavier dressings on more robust, heartier ingredients.
Dressings can be made from a number of different ingredients, but the primary dressings are listed below:
Vinaigrette
Emulsified vinaigrette
Mayonnaise-based
Mayonnaise Vinaigrette (vin-uh-GRETT)
Dressing in its simplest form is made of oil and vinegar. Vinaigrettes are lighter, thinner dressings often used on more delicate ingredients, such as greens and vegetables. The standard recipe for a basic vinaigrette is three parts oil to one part vinegar. Substitute acidic juices like lemon, lime, or orange for part or all of the vinegar. When shaken together, these ingredients form a suspension. A suspension is a temporary mixture of ingredients that eventually separates back into its unique parts. The ingredients in vinaigrette will separate after nonuse; remix them before every service. Use certain vinegars with sharp flavors, such as tarragon or balsamic vinegar, sparingly. Strongly flavored oils, such as extra virgin or virgin olive oils (which are made from the first pressing of the olives) and nut oils, contribute a flavor of their own and can overpower the other flavors in the dressing and the salad if not used in moderation. Generally, add other flavoring ingredients to the vinegar and oil mixture.
How to Make a Vinaigrette
Compared to the suspension mixture of regular vinaigrettes, emulsified (uh-MUL-si-fide) vinaigrettes have gone through the emulsion process. An emulsion is a mixture of ingredients that permanently stays together, unlike a suspension that eventually separates. In order to create an emulsion, you need an emulsifier. An emulsifier is an ingredient that can permanently bind dissimilar ingredients, such as oil and vinegar, together on a molecular level. Eggs are good emulsifiers. Eggs bind together oil and vinegar permanently, so these three ingredients make up the base of many emulsified vinaigrettes. Emulsified vinaigrettes are thicker than suspension vinaigrettes and coat ingredients more heavily. They are good dressings for salads containing sturdier, more robust ingredients, such as pastas, meats, or fish.
Mayonnaise-based dressings are typically creamy dressings, such as Russian, ranch, thousand island, and blue cheese. They are often thicker than emulsified vinaigrettes (but not always). These dressings are versatile in that foodhandlers can use them to dress lighter greens or heartier proteins. Apply them like the vinaigrettes, as close to service as possible
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