NON EDIBLE DISPLAYS & CENTERPIECES
In French they are known as “Piece Montée”.Originally a large ornamental item of patisserie used to decorate the
table at a banquet or a party. It usually reflects the theme of the occasion. In France, it is still popular for a
wedding or baptism and displays the artistic skills of the confectionary trade.
It was very popular in the Middle Ages, today a simple type of piece montée is the croquembouche, made of profiteroles
filled with cream which has been sweetened and suitably flavoured, glazed and
decorated with fancy sugar work.
Although food holds the spotlight in all buffet
presentation, the objective of buffet planning must be to achieve visual beauty
both in the artistic presentation of each item of edible food and in the
arrangement of the many dishes on the buffet table. Nothing heightens the
beauty of the buffet more than an outstanding centre piece (piece montée) which
may be made of ice, tallow or other such materials. The term non-edible is used
generally, to indicate that the centre piece is not meant for consumption along
with the rest of the food on the buffet.
The guest should be able to identify the theme of the
buffet at a glance, just by observing the non-edible decorations that provide
eye-catching background for the presentation. A non-edible decorative display
piece should be a work of art, always in good taste, whether the figure is made
of ice sugar, tallow or any other material.
The may be
classified into:-
ARTISTIC DISPLAYS FOOD DISPLAYS
- Ice carvings Bread Displays
- Fallow Displays Cheese & wine displays
- Butter/Margarine sculptures Seafood Displays
- Salt dough sculptures (Saltilage) Pastry Display
- Sugar craft (pastillage) Spice Display
- Chocolate Mouldings Fruit & Veg.arrangements
- Fruit and veg. carvings Suckling pig Roast turkey Hams Chaud Froid Aspic cut outs
ICE CARVING
The Ice sculpture is the highlight of any buffet, and
its focal point. Ice can be carved into any shapes, size or figure that fits
the theme or occasion. For e.g. Christmas- Santa Clause, Anniversary- a heart.
The essentials of Ice-carvings.
- Use 100-300 pound block of ice 40 inches high by 20 inches wide by 10 inches thick.
- A pair of ice tongs for moving ends and handling the ice.
- An ice shaver with 3 to 4 prongs used to carve out the details and do the small cuttings on the block of ice.
- An ice pick is used to split block of ice.
- A hand saw is used to remove large cuts of ice or to make rough outlines
- Chisels ranging in size from ½ to 2 inches.
- A good pair of gloves which have metal finger tips to prevent accidents.
- A variety of templates.
- An electric chain saw-(optional).
- Salt is used for mending broken pieces of ice.
Points to be kept in mind
- The optimum temperature for ice carving is 28°F or less. An ice block will melt at the rate of half to an inch per hour at room temperature.
- Such ice carvings must have a base that is at least 6 inches high, for stability
- If a piece of ice breaks off dip each broken edge into salt and press back together for a few minutes till it holds.
- The table used for the carving must be sturdy to support the weight of the ice.
- The carved ice block should be placed in specially constructed pans wider that the base of the wooden block, on which, the ice carving will rest securely on top of the wooden block.
- Coloured rotating lights could produce dramatic effects.
- The ice sculpture could be placed on a rotating turn table.
- The pan under the ice sculpture on display should be decorated with a linen cloth, flowers, ferns or other decorative material.
TALLOW WORK:
Patterns and sculptures made with animal fat creating
an eye- catching tallow piece is always time consuming, and should be planned
well in advance. Such displays can be used over and over again but they should
be covered with translucent wrap when not in use as dust tends to stick to
them.
- To be successful in the execution of a tallow display,
the person making the display should have a model or a photograph of the piece
to be made. In general a formula made up in the following proportions work well
in tallow displays: 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 paraffin wax, 1/3 beef fat the quantity of
fat may be increased to make it more pliable.
- A solid secure wooden base must be used.
BUTTER AND MARGARINE CARVINGS:-
Very often in place of tallow, butter or margarine
could be used, margarine is more preferred as it is easier to handle, and it
could either be moulded or sculpted.
CHOCOLATE MOULDINGS
Tempered chocolate can be used to make figures which
can be attractively arranged to be used as centre pieces during festive times
like Christmas and Easter, or may be used to adorn the dessert buffet.
SALTILAGE
These are salt dough used for sculptures. Combine 1
cup of water and 1 cup of cornstarch. Mix well over medium heat, stirring
constantly, to a very thick paste. Knead 2 cups of salt into the hot mixture.
It could be coloured e.g. soya sauce for brown colour. When the sculpture is
finished it must be painted with cornstarch mixture.
Saltilage
dries quickly and tends to crack easily.
Fruit & vegetable carvings
Very attractive
centre pieces can be made by carvings various shapes out of fruits and
vegetables. Large pumpkins, melon and such vegetable vegetables can be
used as containers or carved into objects such as boat, ships, birds etc.
various flowers can be made, the variety in colour of fruits and vegetables
adds to a lot of eye appeal and the presentation of the centre pieces. Care
should be taken not to use non food items such as pins, staples, toothpicks,
drawing pins to hold the arrangement in place. Water may be sprayed to make to
look fresh.
SUGAR CRAFT “PASTILLAGE”
This could include
(1) Pulled Sugar
(2) Poured sugar
(3) Blown sugar
(4) Spun sugar
Cooked sugar can
be used in various forms to provide stunning works of art that could adorn a
dessert buffet.
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