The Art of Presentation

The Art of Presentation

The Art of Presentation

Many restaurants serve food in hot display cases to maintain consistency, keep foods warm and prevent bacterial contamination. It’s also one way to encourage quick customer service and increase sales.

Understanding your audience is critical to making a good presentation. Adult audiences are often more stimulated when the presenter explains why the subject matters.

Versatility

While everyone has experienced the jaw-clenching cringe of a lousy presentation, most have also appreciated the vitality and insight of a well-constructed, effective one. However, creating presentations is not an intuitive process. Consider the audience, the complication, and the implications of your work to make it meaningful.

Purchasing hot food display equipment is a significant investment, so it’s essential to consider the size and humidity of your establishment before making a decision. You may need to invest in a case with different racks, inserts, and trays to accommodate various items.

Another benefit of hot food displays is that they enclose the food and prevent contamination. This can reduce the amount of food waste your business produces, which is costly and detrimental to the environment. Food waste is responsible for biodiversity loss and wastes 1/3 of our planet’s farmland. Solving this problem will help to feed 25 million people worldwide. Moreover, reducing food waste will save your company money.

Convenience

A hot food display is a great way to keep your products warm until you’re ready to serve them. This option is ideal for delis, supermarkets, and convenience stores. These displays come in full-service and self-serve options to choose the best one for your establishment.

With a hot food display, your cooking staff can prepare meals in large batches and keep them warm until serving. This reduces the food to be prepared on-site and allows your team to focus on other tasks. Food waste is costly for your business, harming environmental biodiversity and destroying 1/3 of our planet’s farmland. Hot food displays minimize this waste by keeping foods warm until they’re served.

When choosing a hot food display, consider its size and the versatility of your products. Some units are one-trick ponies that only hold a single type of food, so be sure to choose a versatile model that can handle all your needs.

Cost

Food displayed in hot food displays must be kept at a specific temperature to keep it tasting fresh and prevent harmful bacteria from forming on served foods. Most restaurants must adhere to This food safety guideline to stay compliant and avoid liability. These displays also enclose food, protecting it from contaminants like insects, dust, and dirt. This protects the food from contamination and helps reduce cleaning costs in the kitchen.

Displaying your food on hot food displays allows you to showcase your products and makes it easier for customers to pick their preferred items. It also saves staff time from having to check back and forth between the kitchen and serving area. This can be significant cost savings for your business, especially since food waste is responsible for biodiversity loss and wasting 1/3 of the world’s farmland. Solving America’s food waste problem could feed 25 million people.

Design

Presentation is essential whether you’re plating up a salad, roast chicken, or pasta bowl. After all, people eat with their eyes first. That’s why it’s crucial to use food display equipment that can help with your presentation.

For displaying hot foods like fried chicken, French fries, sandwiches, and hamburgers, you can choose from full-service, self-serve, or buffet-style hot food displays. These commercial food displays are designed to keep your products at safe serving temperatures and have a customer-facing menu board for you to customize each day.

Another critical aspect of presentations is to set ground rules for the audience. This will help prevent interruptions during the presentation and give your listeners a chance to prepare for your message mentally. To do this, ask your audience their expectations and how much technical detail they expect to hear. This will also help you tailor your presentation to the audience’s needs.

Use it up jam recipe: turn a soggy fruit salad into a long-lasting preserve | Australian food and drink

Use it up jam recipe: turn a soggy fruit salad into a long-lasting preserve | Australian food and drink

Picture this: it’s the day after a big party – perhaps it was a summer picnic – and among the empty glasses and used plates, slightly soggy crackers and decidedly secondhand-looking wodges of cheese, there’s an assortment of leftover fruit.

Maybe it’s berries or passionfruit that weren’t used on the pavlova, or excess flesh not used in the mango float. More than likely, there’s some sliced lemon that never realised its dream of becoming a garnish. Whatever it is, there’s not really enough of any one thing to do much with, so chances are these odds and sods will either sit on the bench or in containers in the fridge until they’re definitely no good to anyone.

Enter: use it up jam! This recipe allows you to turn bits and bobs of fruit into a delicious preserve that has the potential to last for years in the pantry. It works best with soft summer fruits like cherry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, mango, passionfruit, peach, apricot, nectarine and plum.

Anna Matilda’s leftover fruit jam recipe
Anna Matilda’s leftover fruit jam recipe works well with summer berries and stone fruits. Photograph: Anna Matilda

If you’ve never jammed soft fruit before, don’t stress – it’s really not difficult. Boiled down (forgive the pun), it basically amounts to:

  • Mix fruit with ¾ its weight in sugar.

  • Leave until it goes runny.

  • Heat until it goes jelly-like.

  • Seal it in a very clean jar.

Seriously easy!

Of course it’s important to make sure you do stuff safely – like sterilising jars – but if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed about trying a traditional-type skill for the first time, just remember that once upon a time, people used to learn said skill with no fancy cookbooks, no TV shows, and definitely no internet.

I’ve given an example of weights, but you can absolutely tailor this recipe to whatever you have. Just be sure to add ¾ (75{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889}) as much sugar as you have fruit, and you’ll be fine (from a food-preservation point of view).

Ingredients

Fruit that has gone runny after being left to macerate in sugar for a couple of hours
Macerating the fruit allows you to boil it to a set more quickly. Photograph: Anna Matilda

Basic:
Soft fruit
Sugar
Lemon

Example:
350g mixed raspberries, blueberries and mango
262g sugar
to suit our fruit weight (350g x 75{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} ­­= 262g)
About ½ a lemon’s worth of slices
, 1-2 lemons is good for most quantities

Wash the fruit in warm water, then trim off any manky bits.

Chop larger fruit into similar-sized chunks and remove any pips from stone fruit. Lightly smoosh blueberries if using. Combine with sugar in large pot.

Wash lemon, slice in half (if not already in slices), and squeeze juice into the pot, then add the leftover skin and pulp.

Stir until well combined, cover and leave to macerate for a few hours. Macerating is the process of drawing the juices of fruit out using sugar, which turns the sugar into liquid. This allows you to quickly boil jam to a set – meaning the fruit is more likely to stay in pieces rather than turning to mush.

Once the sugar has liquefied, put the pot on the stove and bring it to a rolling boil.

Test to see if a jam is set by dripping a bit on a cold plate, letting it cool, then giving it a poke
Test to see if a jam is set by dripping a bit on a cold plate, letting it cool, then giving it a poke. Photograph: Anna Matilda

Keep the jam boiling until it sets. A jam or jelly is at setting point when it gels enough to form a wrinkled skin when you push your finger through it. The simplest way to test this is to drip a bit of boiling jam or jelly on a cold plate, letting it cool for five minutes or so, then giving it a poke. If it doesn’t look gelled enough, continue boiling for another five minutes and try again.

Being careful not to burn yourself on the hot, set jam, remove the lemon pieces.

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal while hot.

Store in a cool dark cupboard, for potentially years before opening, then keep it in the fridge once you’ve cracked the jar.

Notes

  • Most berries and soft fruits can be frozen, so if only have a tiny bit of fruit on hand, just add them to a container in the freezer until you have enough to make a batch of jam. No need to thaw the fruit before macerating.

  • Due to the low pectin levels in ripe strawberries and blueberries, this recipe might make a slightly runnier jam than you’re used to. Be sure to add any white bits of strawberry, as these have more pectin in them and can help reach a set.

  • If your jam just doesn’t want to set, rather than continuing to boil it until it becomes toffee, just jar it up runny and call it syrup! Excellent on ice-cream or yoghurt as a dessert.

  • Hang on to the bits of lemon you pull out of the jam before jarring up – either dehydrate them to enjoy as sticky, gooey candied treats, or pop into a glass with G&T or bubbles. Deliciously frugal!

Anna Matilda, AKA the Urban Nanna, uses permaculture principles to teach traditional skills, crafts and methods of living in the framework of a modern-day world. Visit her website for more jam-making tips.

Fergus Henderson’s recipes for braised rabbit and beetroot salad | Food

Fergus Henderson’s recipes for braised rabbit and beetroot salad | Food

Today’s recipes are in a pleasing seasonal purgatory, but speak chiefly of summer months, even although they are made with substances that will not lead to guilt when acquired in the colder months. This would make them suitable to have in your arsenal for when the climate is turning. They are a celebration of deconstruction – not in the nouvelle cuisine sense, where by perfectly wise things are taken apart in a sequence of blobs, whooshes and towers (these kinds of plates communicate of meals that has been breathed on a tiny also a lot). The intervention of the knife and fork is inescapable, so we really should welcome the messing-up course of action there is a positivity to a approach in which deconstruction is the final act of construction – swirling with each other piles of capers, beetroot, creme fraiche and leaves, or choosing the flesh off rabbit bones for the joy of leftovers. These dishes enjoy the input of St John’s executive chef, Jonathan Woolway, and each have the type of understated magnificence you can anticipate at our new venture, St John Marylebone, which opens later on this thirty day period.

Braised rabbit, mustard and bacon

Any leftovers can be picked off the bone and served the upcoming day with tagliatelle and a gesture of chopped tarragon.

Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr 20 min
Serves 6, or 4 enthusiastic rabbit lovers

1 tbsp duck extra fat or lard
Sea salt and black pepper
2 wild rabbits
(about 600g each and every), the two jointed into 2 shoulders, 2 legs and 2 saddle sections (farmed rabbits make a excellent substitute if you lack a shotgun or a trustworthy provider)
1kg piece smoked streaky bacon, chopped into hearty chunks
18 shallots, peeled
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 bunch
sage, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
500ml dry cider
Rooster inventory – you will will need enough to fill your ovenproof dish
2 balanced tbsp dijon mustard
4 balanced tbsp creme fraiche

Heat the oven to 180C (160C admirer)/350F/gas 4. Set the unwanted fat in a frying pan on a medium heat, season the rabbit, then brown it all over, in batches if have to have be. Transfer the seared rabbit to an ovenproof dish deep ample and extensive sufficient to accommodate almost everything later.

In the identical pan, brown the bacon, then increase the complete peeled shallots and garlic, go away them to soften devoid of colouring, then introduce the bay leaves and sage to the pan. Nestle every thing in all-around the rabbit in the ovenproof dish.

Place the ovenproof dish on the hob, bringing every little thing to a sizzle, then add the cider and lessen by fifty percent. Insert ample stock just to deal with the rabbit, becoming careful not to flood the nest.

Whisk the mustard and creme fraiche in a compact bowl. Making use of a splash of the braising liquid, loosen the mustard combination, then stir it all into the braise. Include with foil and roast for about two hrs, or until tender and offering.

Beetroot, red onion, purple cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil

Fergus Henderson’s salad of beetroot, red onion, red cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil.

As well frequently you are provided a fait accompli (the inevitable) on a plate, a weave of components in which your only involvement will be to make a mess of it with your knife and fork. Very well, listed here is a salad that welcomes the messing-up procedure.

Prep 5 min
Assemble 5 min
Serves 6

For the salad
2 raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
¼ raw cabbage, main reduce out and discarded, the rest extremely finely sliced
1 small pink onion, peeled, slash in fifty percent from prime to base and finely sliced
6 healthier dollops of creme fraiche
2 excellent bunches of chervil, or 1 bunch of dill, leaves picked

For the dressing
Wholesome splashes of additional-virgin olive oil
A gesture of balsamic vinegar
1 small handful further-wonderful capers
Sea salt and black pepper

Make the dressing by mixing all the things in a bowl. Toss the three purple elements as a result of the dressing, then location a bushel of this purple combination on every single of six plates.

Nestle a blob of creme fraiche upcoming to it, as if the two components are fantastic mates, not on prime of just about every other as if they have been enthusiasts. Finally, rest a clump of the chervil (or dill) in a helpful style following to the other components and provide.

  • Fergus Henderson is chef/co-owner of St John and St John Bread & Wine in London. A 3rd site, St John Marylebone, opens later on this thirty day period.

Sweetcorn and spicy salad: Joe Woodhouse’s recipes for grilled vegetables | Food

Sweetcorn and spicy salad: Joe Woodhouse’s recipes for grilled vegetables | Food

Barbecue time could have passed, but all grilling – outside or indoor – imparts an addictive smokiness to foodstuff. Today’s Turkish salad utilizes the preliminary strength of the flames I enjoy tumbling veg on to a barbecue (or griddle pan), where by the high heat cooks them rapidly, which helps maintain them juicy. And just about all people loves elotes, a Mexican avenue food of grilled and dressed sweetcorn. Thoughts you, everything is improved cooked about fireplace or scorched.

Grilled elotes (pictured top)

Cooking corn with the husks on assists the kernels to steam internally when grilling, so they stay juicy, but continue to get a superior, smoky flavour. To test if they’re done, carefully peel again 1 of the husks and slice a pair of kernels absolutely free with a small knife if they’re not nonetheless comfortable, basically prepare dinner the corn for a bit for a longer time.

Prep 10 min
Soak 1 hr
Prepare dinner 20 min
Serves 6, as a starter or a side

6 sweetcorn cobs, preferably with husks on
150g parmesan
, finely grated, or blitzed in foodstuff processor
1 tbsp smoked paprika
Sea
salt flakes, to taste
2 limes
, zested, then slash into sections
1 handful new coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely diced
125g mayonnaise

If you’re applying corn with husks, submerge them in chilly h2o for an hour in advance of you commence cooking (this will quit the husks burning or drying out although grilling). Normally, brush each and every cob all in excess of with a tablespoon of oil.

Grill the corn with husks evenly, turning them on a regular basis, for 15-20 minutes (if you’re working with corn devoid of husks, retain them moving to make confident they really do not overcook they will be prepared a great deal a lot quicker than those with husks). If you don’t have a barbecue, a plancha, griddle pan or cast-iron skillet will also perform.

Meanwhile, combine the cheese, paprika, a very good pinch of salt, lime zest and coriander stalks, and scatter evenly on a massive plate.

When the corn cobs are ready, peel back the husks and twist them to trend a makeshift cope with. Brush every single a single evenly with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, then roll them in the cheese combine. Organize on a serving plate and garnish with the coriander leaves and lime. If you want the corn to be more of a side dish, minimize them into sections before plating.

Grilled Turkish salad

Joe Woodhouse’s grilled Turkish salad.
Joe Woodhouse’s grilled Turkish salad.

A excellent, chunky, spicy salad to go with any grill supplying. Regulate the chilli to your flavor, or, after the chilli is grilled, finely mince it and serve on the side for people to add their personal.

Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4

3 purple onions, peeled and minimize throughout the equator
4 peppers – a combination of colors, ideally
1-2 crimson chillies
500g tomatoes
15g parsley leaves
, about chopped
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
3 tbsp added-virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes

Set the peppers, onions (reduce side down), chillies and tomatoes on a barbecue or griddle pan. (Relying on the dimensions of your tomatoes, and the width of the gaps in the grill grate, use your judgment as to no matter if it would be clever to prepare dinner them in a cast-iron pan.)

Cook the peppers and chillies, turning them periodically, for 15-25 minutes. At the time the flesh is delicate and the skins are charred and blackened, transfer to a bowl and protect with a plate, so the skins steam cost-free of the flesh.

When the onions are perfectly charred on their minimize sides, turn them around and do the very same on the other side. As soon as done, peel off and discard any excessively black levels, then quarter the onions and place in a bowl with the parsley, molasses and oil.

Finely chop the skinned chilli, with or devoid of seeds, as you choose, and increase to the onion bowl. When the tomatoes are collapsing, approximately chop them into respectable chunks and increase to the onion blend.

Take away the stalks, pith and most of the seeds from the peppers, then peel away as significantly of the pores and skin as you can (some remaining is not a dilemma, and the identical goes for the seeds). Minimize the peeled peppers into rough quarters, then minimize in 50 percent all over again across the centre and insert to the onion mix. Period with a generous pinch of salt, mix and style, introducing extra salt or molasses as wanted.