Garde de manger - Cold Kitchen

    Garde de manger - Cold Kitchen

        The garde de manger or the cold kitchen is the place where all cold sauces, carvings, salads, mousse, sandwiches and displays are prepared.

                    Here, the staff is skilful and the work done is very different from the other kitchens. The larder or the Garde manger is the cold preparation area in the kitchen organization where all cold items found on the menu such as, hors d'oeuvres, cold meat or fish preparation, salad or sausages, galantine, ballotine, mousse, mousseline, påte's, terrines, aspic, gelly, chaud-froid, etc., are prepared. The equipment in the cold kitchen is also designed to suit the workflow of the area.   

               The chef de garde manger plays a very important role in performing the art of cold preparation in the garde manger. This department besides a preparation area, also acts as storage area for various cold items. To function in an effective manner, the larder department must operate in harmony with the kitchen in particular and with many other departments. A number of garnishes or accompaniments to several dishes served from the kitchen department are prepared by the garde manger along with stuffings like forcemeat and lard.

                                  Various salad displays, fruit displays, meat platter displays in a decorative and fancy manner are presented to improve the standard of the hotel. Fancy carvings and decorative displays are always liked by the guests.

                 In this unit, you will learn about the various functions of the cold kitchen. In addition, you will learn about the various types of equipment and vessels used in a cold kitchens. Moreover, you will learn about the basic charcuterie delicacies, and their uses in creations of food products. Also, you will learn about forcemeats and their types. Further, you will learn about the various types of brines, marinades and their preparation, methodology and significance. Finally, you will learn about the various steps involved in the preparation of forcemeats and a few recipes based on the principles and delicacies discussed in this unit.

The garde manger official should exercise the strictest possible control over the foodstuffs received and stored in the department. This involves:

● Checking the quantity and quality of all goods delivered to the larder.

● Ensuring that all the foodstuffs are stored at the right temperature and that they can be easily checked

• Ensuring that the food is protected against contamination by vermin, etc.

 • Controlling rigidly the portion provided, for e.g., a given weight of meat, or fish, or vegetables, etc., should always produce the required number of portions of steaks, fish fillets, salads, or Hors d'oeuvre

• That stock of food is regularly turned over.

• That food is not over-stocked

• Keeping a simple, daily stock in each sub-department and handed to the chief garde manger at the end of day's business to enable him to write his order for the following day.

• Maintaining the highest possible standard of hygiene, to prevent any deterioration in the foodstuffs under his control and take every precaution to discourage pilfering.

                      Since this department stores all the perishables required in a catering operation, the chef garde manger is responsible for ordering, quality check, storing and controlling of the stock. He has to supply such items to the various sections of the kitchen and also to the department like restaurants and bars.

              To function in an effective manner, the larder department must operate in harmony with the kitchen in particular and in many cases with the pastry department too in order to avoid confusion and wastage.

Basic functioning of the larder

1. Sub-division of garde manger are as follows:

• Salad section

• Cold meat section

• Dressings and condiments section

• Canapés section

• Sandwich section

• Cold beverage section

2. All sub-sections of Garde manger are related to each other and without proper coordination, they cannot perform.

3. The garde manger kitchen is responsible for all kinds of cold buffet displays like Breakfast buffet, Lunch buffet, Dinner buffet, Brunch buffet, Special eve buffet (New Year, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.)

4. The garde manger is also responsible for cold a-la-carte service.

5. All hors d'oeuvre and deluxe hors d'oeuvre are made in the Garde.

6. All cold live stations are done by the garde manger (salad station, cheese counter, caviar station, oyster station, fruit display, etc.)