5 Ideas and Trends Shaping Today’s Catering Industry
Gratefully borrowed from D. CHANNING MULLER – a US journalist
Here are five catering ideas and trends.
- Catering to special diets is the new norm.
Having a single vegetarian alternative to your meat-focused main dish no longer meets the needs of attendees. Vegan, gluten-free, organically grown, and nut-free are more common diets than ever. Planners and caterers need to be aware of all allergies and diets when crafting the menu. Lynn Buono, the owner of an event catering business in Philadelphia, accommodates diverse diets by changing her Asian noodle station at events into a rice bowl station with toppings such as lemongrass chicken, brisket, and vegetables. Guests can choose toppings based on their diet. - The right garnish can take your dishes to the next level.
“It’s not just what you put on the hors d’oeuvres, but also how you display it,” said Rachanee Keovorabouth, executive chef at Thomas Caterers of Distinction in Indianapolis. Keovorabouth sources her garnish ideas from common items displayed in unique ways.
When serving fish, she removes and bakes the skin, adds some salt, and serves it as a skin crisp to complement the main dish. With beef, she utilizes red wine and leftover mushrooms to create a red hibiscus wine sauce with dehydrated mushroom chips. Other popular garnish ideas include edible flowers—the latest craze—as well as charred lemons and limes and carrot ribbon chips.
- Reinvent ways to present hors d’oeuvres and small plates.
Keovorabouth recommends getting creative with hors d’oeuvres and small plates. Take bruschetta, for instance, and create tomato shells filled with parmesan mousse and garnish with balsamic glaze and basil crystals. It’s the same combination of flavours as the traditional presentation, but with a new spin.
“We do food labs in our kitchen once a week, and every chef has to come up with an idea for that week’s theme,” said chef John Walsh of Maryland-based company the Classic Catering People. Walsh presented ideas for using Iberico ham in small plates, including an Iberico bacon and apple tart made with onion, Fuji apples, Spanish pepper, and manchego cheese. Walsh’s chef de cuisine Bryan Davis also served chorizo with a saffron risotto of manchego cheese, leeks, onions, and shallot reduction.
- Stations are becoming more interactive.
United States Chefs from Purple Onion Catering, Certified Angus Beef, B&B Inc., and Blue Ridge Catering Company discussed the popularity of their food stations, which all feature interactions between chefs and guests.
“When we do these [Iberico ham] stations, guests come up to us, and we have stories to tell them about how the hams are fed and the ingredients in the dishes. It makes people happy when you interact with them,” said Davis.
Beyond the chef interaction, Blue Ridge Catering Company owner and chef Mark Baldwin gets guests involved with a grits station offering three options—pimento cheese, smoked cheddar and jalapeño, and creamy corn—for the classic Southern side dish to accompany a carving station of chicken, pork, or beef. Toppings like bacon, cheese, and shrimp gravy are also included.
- Turn to clod cuts for beef service on a budget.
According to Peter Rosenberg, corporate executive chef for Certified Angus Beef, clod heart is the most underutilized cut of beef. He recommends seasoning it with garlic to neutralize what some find to be a livery taste for a less expensive beef cut for large events.
From me.
There is nothing new about cooking those cuts of meat that fall outside routine menu preference. However, cheaper cuts of meat, which have been prepared, cooked and presented imaginatively by creative chef talent can reveal attractive margins. It’s all about knowing how to get the best out of the produce, which is why the Catering & Hospitality trade will always need craft trained chefs who push the boundaries.
There is an amazing artisanal movement in the UK inspired by the greats such as Heston Blumenthal and his scientific and experimental approach to cooking. Heston can make an unusual ingredient into something totally delicious and on trend. Chefs have embraced the desire to push the same boundaries and create their own style of cuisine.
When you watch a very clever TV advert which drives home the product or brand by using very clever messaging and graphics, you wonder if it can be bettered, but there is always another clever ad the next week, and the week after. The same applies to the professional cookery. There will always be another clever dish to raise the eyebrows created by the hand of a passionate chef.
I’m predicting the next service trend to become popular in the UK will be Live Food Station Cooking. These allow clients to merge with the cooking experience and edit their own dishes in real time. With the rapidly emerging Vegan, Allergy and Organic movement, food stations will allow diners to view and endorse their favourite ingredients then ask the chef to create a dish. Ingredients such as Noodles, Rice & Pasta offer an excellent base for chefs to create dishes right in front of the diner. Food station cooking can add a unique interactive service theme to your restaurant and because the whole experience is a collaboration between chef and diner, I can see them been very popular and trendy. The Food station concept has taken off in the US and chefs are utilising single and double table top induction hobs to great use. Caterquip supply professionally reconditioned induction hobs, so if you fancy embracing the Food Station trend, give us a call. 01733 286 000
Thanks for taking a look.
Paul
