Salads and

Salad
Dressings

Salads and Salad Dressings

Before refrigeration, the pantry was

where food products were kept before
going into the kitchen.
It was especially suited to production of
cold foods.
It was called Garde Manger.
Garde manger chefs have to master a
wide range of cooking techniques and
have artistic judgment.

The Salad

The definition of a salad: A single

food or a mixture of foods
accompanied or bound by a dressing
A salad can contain meat, grains,
nuts, or cheese and contain no lettuce
It can be an appetizer, entre, side
dish or dessert
The color, texture, and flavor should
compliment each other

Appetizer Salads

Many establishments serve salads as a

first course.

Takes pressure off the kitchen

Satisfies the customer with something to eat,
quickly

Appetizer salads should stimulate the

appetite with tangy, flavorful dressings
and look good.
Appetizer salads should not be too filling
Attractive arrangements and garnish are
important.
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Accompaniment Salads

Salads served with the main course

Serve the same function of other
side dishes (vegetables and
starches)
Must be harmonious with the rest of
the meal
Light and flavorful, not too rich
Heavy salads with macaroni or
potatoes are less appropriate
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Main-Course Salads

Cold salad plates are popular with

luncheon and diet-conscious
customers.
They should be large enough to be
a full meal and contain sufficient
protein.
They should offer variety and a
balanced meal in terms of flavors,
textures, and color.
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Separate-Course Salads

The European version of a salad.

A refreshing salad after a wonderful
entre to cleanse the palate and get
ready for the dessert.
It should be in no way filling.

Dessert Salads
Usually sweet and may contain
fruits, sweetened gelatin, nuts, and
cream.

Ingredients

Freshness and variety

of ingredients are
essential for highquality salads
Lettuce is the first
choice for most people
Ingredients can be
classified by category
and other ingredients
may be used too.

Bibb/limestone lettuce
Loose leaf lettuce

Escarole
Chicory

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Frisee

Belgian endive
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Watercress
Argula

Mesclun
Tatsoi

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Mache

Radicchio
Treviso
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Salad Greens

Lettuce

Bibb or limestone
Boston
Iceberg
Leaf
Romaine

Escarole
Chicory or Curly Endive
Frise
Belgian Endive
Radicchio
Chinese Cabbage or Celery
Cabbage
Spinach
Dandelion Greens
Watercress

Arugula
Radicchio
Mesclun
Tatsoi
Mche
Microgreens or Baby
lettuces

Brune dHiver
Lola Rosa
Red Sails
Pirate

Sprouts
Edible Flowers
Fresh Herbs

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Vegetables Raw

Avocado
Bean Sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celeriac
Celery
Cucumbers

Jerusalem artichokes
Kohlrabi
Mushrooms
Onions
Peppers
Radishes
Scallions
Tomatoes

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Vegetables, Cooked, Pickled, and Canned

Artichoke hearts
Asparagus
Beans
Beets
Carrots
Corn
Cucumber pickles
Hearts of palm

Leeks
Olives
Peas
Peppers, roasted
Pimentos
Potatoes
Water chestnuts

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Starches
Dried

beans
Potatoes
Macaroni Products
Grains
Bread (croutons)

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Fruits, Fresh, Cooked, Canned, or Frozen

Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Berries
Cherries
Coconut
Dates
Figs
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwi Fruit
Kumquats
Mandarin oranges and
tangerines

Mangoes
Melons
Nectarines
Oranges
Papayas
Peaches
Pears
Persimmons
Pineapple
Plums
Pomegranates
Prickly pears
Prunes
Raisins
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Protein Foods

Meats All
Poultry All
Fish and Shellfish
Salami, prosciutto
Bacon
Eggs, hard-cooked
Cheese, cottage
Cheese, aged or cures
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Miscellaneous Salad Ingredients

Gelatin (plain or flavored)

Nuts - all varieties

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Arrangement and Presentation

The Structure of a Salad

There are Four basic parts of a
salad:
Base

or underliner

Body
Garnish
Dressing

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Guidelines for Arranging Salads

Use a cold plate

Keep the salad off the rim
Strike a good balance of colors
Height keeps a salad attractive
Cut ingredients neatly
Make salad ingredients identifiable
Keep it simple

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Preparing Salad Greens

Washing
Draining
Crisping
Tearing and cutting
Mixing
Plating
Garnishing
Dressing (immediately before service)

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Vegetable Salads

Vegetable salads are those whose main

ingredient are vegetables other than
lettuce or other leafy greens.
Some vegetables can be raw like celery,
cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, and
green peppers
Sometimes cooked pasta or a protein
item is used along with cheese.
Remember height makes the salads
interesting.
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Bound Salads

Bound salads are mixtures of foods

that are held together with a thick
dressing, such as a mayonnaise type.
Popular choices for cooked salads are:

Chicken

Turkey

Lobster

Eggs

Potatoes

Pastas

Rice

Ham

Tuna

Crab

Shrimp

Mixed Vegetables

Salmon
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Bavarian potato salads

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Composed Salads

Composed salads are made by arranging two

or more elements attractively on a plate.
Guidelines:

Observe the guidelines for each of the salad

components, such as greens, vegetables, cooked
salads, and fruit salads
Prepare each component separately
Arrangements may be plated in advance if the
components will hold well
Prepare and add hot or warm components
immediately before serving
Observe general guidelines of salad arrangement and
presentation
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Mediterranean salads

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Gelatin Salads
Principles:
The history of gelatin salads started with
aspics, the highly ornamented appetizers
and elaborate pieces made with fish stocks
in natural gelatin. Aspics are part of
classical cuisine and part of modern buffet
work.
Purified granular gelatin and gelatin sheets
are available for use in the pantry
You need to know how to prepare these
salads using unflavored gelatin with fruit
juices and other ingredients for flavor.
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Fruit gelatin

Jellied garden
salad

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Salad Bars and Buffet Service

Salad bars have become standard fixtures in

restaurants
They are popular with operators and customers.
Customers like them because they can select
from a large number of items and choose exactly
what they want.
To be successful with salad bars you should keep
a few points in mind

Keep salad bar attractive and well stocked

Keep the components simple but attractive
Provide a variety of condiments for the customers
to select from

Simple ingredients
Prepared salads

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Salad Bars and Buffet Service

Arrange the salad bar using the following

format

Plates
Mixed greens
Condiments (the expensive last)
Dressings
Crackers, breads, ect., if desired

Make sure you adhere to the health code

Choose the right size plates and serving
pieces to allow for some portion control.

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Arrangement of Salad Bar

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Plate
Large bowl of salad greens
Condiments
Dressings
Crackers, breads
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Salad Dressings

Salad dressings are liquids or semi

liquids used to flavor salads
The basic salad dressings can be
divided into three categories
Oil and vinegar dressings
Mayonnaise-based dressings
Cooked dressings

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Ingredients

Because the flavors of most salad

dressings are not modified by cooking,
the quality of the dressings depends
on the quality of the ingredients
Most dressings are an oil and acid like
vinegar or citrus juices

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Oils

Kinds
Corn oil
Cottonseed, soybean, canola and
safflower oil
Peanut oil
Olive oil
Walnut oil

Quality Factors
All purpose oils have a mild,
sweet flavor
Winterized oil should be used
for dressings that will be refrigerated

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Salad Dressing Ingredients

Vinegar

Cider Vinegar
White or distilled vinegar
Wine vinegar
Flavored vinegars
Sherry Vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Others specialty vinegars

Lemon Juice

Malt
Rice
Fruit flavored like raspberry

Fresh lemon juice may be used in place of vinegar in

some preparations

Egg yolk

An essential ingredient in mayonnaise

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Seasoning and Flavoring

Nearly any spice or herb can be used in salad

dressings
Dried herbs and spices need extra time to
release their flavors
Most salad dressings should be made 2-3
hours before serving
Other ingredients added for flavoring are
mustard, catsup, Worcestershire sauce and
various types of cheese
Remember if you use a Roquefort cheese
dressing it has to be made with Roquefort
cheese
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Emulsions in Salad Dressings

Temporary Emulsions
Simple

oil and vinegar dressings are called

temporary emulsions because they will
always separate after shaking
The negative side of temporary emulsions
are they have to be shaken or stirred
before each use

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Emulsions in Salad Dressings

Permanent Emulsions
Mayonnaise

is a mixture of oil and

vinegar but the two are bound together
by egg yolks which act as a emulsifier
Commercial emulsifiers are gums,
starches, and gelatins

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Oil and Vinegar Dressings

Basic vinaigrette or basic French dressing

is a mixture of oil, vinegar, and
seasonings
FYI, the thickened, sweet tomato-based
dressing often served as French
Dressing is unknown in France
The ratio of oil and vinegar in basic
vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar
Some chefs use a 2 to 1 ratio, others 4 to
1 ratio. The more vinegar or acid used the
more tart the dressing will be.
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Emulsified Dressings

Mayonnaise is the most important

emulsified dressing. It can be served by
itself or added to make a new dressing
Emulsified French Dressing is similar to
basic French dressing, except egg yolk
has been added to keep the oil and
vinegar from separating.

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Mayonnaise

You can make your own mayonnaise but

remember it is not as stable as
commercially produced mayonnaise and
would not have as long a shelf life
The general ingredients are pasteurized
egg yolk, oil, vinegar, and seasonings

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Other Salad Dressings

Cooked salad dressing is similar to
mayonnaise, but it has a more tart
flavor. It is made with little or no oil
and thickened with a starch
thickener.

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Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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