Planning an Elegant Menu
Let's take a closer look into the mysteries behind putting together an elegant meal for VIPs.
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Although the days of housewives preparing lavish dinners and cocktails for the husband's boss are long gone (and have been for quite some time), there is no reason why the practice of formal dining should not be revived.
Needless to say, there are several points to keep in mind when planning such a function; the most important point is planning one's menu. One could spend enormous amounts of money of caviar, truffles, and rare vintages from all over the globe but, sadly, these would be in vain if there is no proper planning of the menu.
The foremost task of a host or hostess in planning the menu is to decide what the main dish will be; all other courses and drinks can be subsequently decided in consideration of this. The main dish usually appears towards the center of the meal regardless of the number of courses to be served. It does seem foolish to start planning in the middle and then go to the beginning, but for the sake of the enjoyment of guests, it is of the utmost importance to make this decision from the start.
Appetizers and Hors-d'Oeuvres should only make up a part of a meal which does not contain a soup, and may always be served as part of a luncheon. Cold Appetizers and Hors-d'Oeuvres should be served at luncheons, where they are not only traditional but indispensable. The opposite is true for dinners, which lend themselves to Hot Appetizers and Hors-d'Oeuvres.
First courses generally comprise of either a vegetable dish, pâtés, soups, or eggs. Eggs as a first course are traditionally only served at luncheons (sometimes breakfast), but in the last 30-40 years or so this has been largely ignored. Moreover, they have somewhat fallen out of fashion in preference to soups, as well as salads. Often in Europe salads are served before the dessert; this is not generally the case in North America.
The subject of choosing wines is a rather vast and often of heated debate. That being said, one can still cling to a few very good rules of thumb. Wine is not appropriate for service with marinated vegetables, salads with vinaigrette, asparagus, or artichokes; all these instances call for a sparkling mineral water of excellent quality. Sparkling wines are preferred pairing when a pâté is to be served in any case to wipe the mouth clean of its richness. When one decides to serve a soup as a first course a Dry Sherry or Madeira is paramount. White wines are served before Reds (except Dessert wines), Dry before Sweet, Young before Old, and dare we say Cheap before Costly. If one wine is to be served for the entire meal it is advisable to choose a full-bodied White, as many people are unable to drink Reds in quantity. Champagne and Effervescent wines (such as Cava and Prosecco) can be served throughout the meal but the preferences of one's guests should always be taken into utmost consideration.
The final course will generally take three forms, namely a dessert or sweet, fruit and cheese (which is the most simple and at times the most preferable), or a savory. Cheese should always be served with fruit, but fruit may be served by its lonesome without a companion.
Savories are exactly what they claim to be: they are savory rather than sweet and tend to have a very similar construction to Appetizers and Hors-d'Oeuvres, only they appear as a finale. These are very uncommon outside Great Britain and Ireland, though sometimes a welcome change. They are commonly served with Port, before the cordials/liqueurs and coffee.
With all these points in mind, a final few helpful suggestions worth noting are that no two courses should contain the same vegetable, meat, or sauce, (only hunting dinners may have two courses with the same game meats), and the meal should progress from substantial to light, or toggle between substantial and light. Hors-d'Oeuvres should be in middle ground of substantial and light, and great care should be taken that no dish causes offense to one's guests.
The idea of an elegant dinner may seem formidable, but if these simple points are followed then all will be well. As Escoffier would say, "good cooking is the foundation of true happiness."
About the Creator
Titus Le Carter
I am a lover of beat poetry, jazz, the fine art of classic cuisine, history, and learning. Somewhere along the way...I tend to fall into the category of a shameless antiquarian.
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