Gelatins

When I do Chaud Froid or Aspic work  today, which is rarely. I do it the old fashioned way. I do not mix mayo, gelatin and food color togther like a lot of places do. What you would have to charge today to do a Galantine or Salmon en  Belvue style with truffles Or Lobster Parisseinne the old way  is price  prohibitive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefedb ... the old way  is price  prohibitive....

Old, new, shmoo, EVERYBODY knows you just triple the food cost and you'll make money,right?
 

I think those items are too strange for most people. I can't help but gag when I take a spoon of gelee, even though it tastes good. My brain, mouth, and toungue are programmed to expect sweet Jello. Also, these kind of items unfortunately resemble the stuff in canned cat food.

When we did a Gallantine it was fully decorated in chaudfroid with a painting and then aspic usually surrounded by chicken Jenettes which were individual portions also chaudfroid and aspic. 1 day we made the gallantines next day all the deco.

Chaud-froid is a cold veloute with gelatin and is used to decorate many cold foods . It is nt put over hot foods in fsct the colder the better for adhession purposes. Chaud froid means  Hot/Cold which means the sauce unlike mayo is made hot and served cold.  We used to glaze even devilled eggs with aspic, they looked nice and would not discolor. Chaudfroid work and aspic work is almost a lost art and it was not done by the Garde 'Manger. In the old hotels it was the Chef Decorateurre, who worked under the Garde' Manger.

Gelatine has never been away in savory food. But aspic, chaud-froid are a bit oldfashioned. Oldfashioned only by name, as I have never seen so much solidified additions to modern plates as today, wether cut in whatever shapes or turned into gels after being solidified!

Nearly every contempory chef now works with agar-agar or a combination of agar and gelatine. Modern plates contain all kinds of shapes made with mostly agar, served cold or.. warm. That's the advantage of agar; you can turn a liquid or thicker viscous liquids or puréed ingredients into solid results; going from very soft and smooth to quite solid. You can cut or push any kind of shape out of it and... warm the shapes in the oven to nearly 80°C without seeing them melt like shapes made with gelatine only. Serving aspic made with gelatine alone in a hot climat is asking for trouble. Agar is much more versatile than gelatine alone but it doesn't have the same mouthfeel nor melts so easy in the mouth like stuff solidified with gelatine alone.

Just my thoughts, the cold station on buffets usually had some sit time on the table. I have to believe a good portion

of that type of garnish was to preserve. allot of the time it didn't enhance flavor and most times scraped off.. Chefed will tell you, way back when the chaud froid

was scrutinized to make sure there were no hole in the coating. I don't know, really.

Panini is correct.!  If you entered a piece and there were any run marks or holes you were disqualified. The judgest stuck skewers in the displays to make sure they were not made of styrofoam or wood. Everything had to be top shelf. I was fortunate to have assisted the chef who won the medal of the French Government in the late 60s. The winning hotel had to host the award banquet. I have never in my life again seen such a conglomeration of The best Chefs and Pastry chefs of their time.. It was great.