Garde Manger and the Cold Kitchen
Forcemeats and charcuterie
Garde manger covers cold preparation: salads, dressings, canapés, sandwiches, pâtés, terrines, galantines, rillettes, cured and smoked items. Forcemeats are emulsions of meat and fat; keep everything ice-cold and grind fine for smooth textures. Curing uses salt, sugar, spices and curing salts-Prague powder #1 (about 6.25% sodium nitrite) for short cures and #2 for long-cured products. Never exceed stated nitrite levels, and store curing salts away from table salt. Aspic is clarified stock set with gelatin; gelatin blooms in cold water (sheets usually 5–10 minutes) and dissolves hot.
Salads and cold sauces
Know the vinaigrette ratio of three parts oil to one part vinegar, and that mustard or yolk stabilizes an emulsion. Salad types-bound, composed, tossed, vegetable and fruit-are named in questions. Cold holding is 4 °C or below, and cold plates must not be over-stacked or the temperature rises.
Sandwiches and presentation
Portion sandwiches consistently, balance spread, filling and bread, and keep fillings shallow and cold. Garnish must be edible and relevant. Cross-contact with allergens is a real risk in the cold kitchen because many items are handled raw.
Worked example: 200 mL of classic vinaigrette is 150 mL oil plus 50 mL vinegar, seasoned and emulsified with a small amount of mustard.
Traps: blooming gelatin in hot liquid; using #2 cure for fresh sausage; over-emulsifying a dressing until it tastes oily; leaving canapés at room temperature.