CHAPTER 7

THE MENU, MENU KNOWLEDGE

AND ACCOMPANIMENTS
Learning Objectives
• Describe the purpose of the menu
• Identify influences on menu development
• Define the two main classes of menus
• Explain the classic menu sequence
• Identify differences with other types of menus
• Explain the main cooking terms used in a menu
• Identify sauce and accompaniments for different types of menu items
• Identify egg dishes
• Identify service requirements for pasta and rice dishes
• Identify the main types of fish and their service requirements
• Identify the service requirements for meats, poultry and game
• Identify the service requirements for potatoes, vegetables, and salads
• Identify different types of cheese and their service requirements
• Identify sweets and their service requirements
• Identify savouries and their service requirements
• Identify how desserts are served
Purpose Of The Menu
• The menu is primarily a selling aid.
• design of the menu should be appealing and interesting to the
customer so it encourages them to view its contents.
• Clear information that is easily found and followed will make the
customer feel more at home and will assist in selling the menu.
Purpose Of The Menu continue..
Design considerations of the menu include:
• Size and shape
• Artwork/colour
• Ease of handling
• Logical flow of information
• Providing a clear and accurate description of the dishes
• Clear indication of pricing
• Stating whether a service charge is included or not
• The inclusion of dietary information
Purpose Of The Menu continue..
Menus can be presented in a variety of ways. These include:
• Single laminated cards
• Fold out cards with inserts from the size A5 and above
• iPads
• Chalk boards
• White boards
• Printed signs, sometimes illuminated from behind
• Projections onto table tops
Menu Development
Principal influences on extent and style of menus
• the location of the establishment, both in terms of access for customers
and for obtaining deliveries
• the available kitchen space and equipment. If space is limited then the
storage, preparation and service of menu items will be restricted and a
smaller menu will need to be put in place
• the knowledge and ability of kitchen staff to ensure they can produce
the menu to the desired standard
• the level of service being offered
• the opening times of the operation
• the number of covers to be served in a specific time
Menu Development continue..
Principal influences on content
• The relationship between health and eating
• Dietary requirements (these can be both medical and lifestyle choices)
• Cultural and religious influences
• Vegetarianism
• Ethical influences
• Seasonality and locally sourced foods
Relationship between health and eating
• relationship between health and eating is having a healthy diet.
Malaysia Food Pyramid
Dietary requirements
• To aid the customer in making an appropriate choice, menu items that
are suitable for a vegetarian diet may be identified with a ‘V’.
• Those containing nuts may be identified with an ‘N’ next to their
description.
Cultural and religious dietary influences
Vegetarianism
Ethical influences
• Ensuring sustainability of foods consumed
• Fair trade
• The acceptability or otherwise of genetically modified foods or
irradiated foods
• Reducing food packaging and food waste
• Reducing the effects of food production and transportation on the
environment generally
Seasonality and locally sourced foods
Foodservice businesses, the benefits can include:
• Improved menu planning, as suppliers can give information in advance
on what they are able to provide
• More reliable products and service, with greater flexibility to respond
to customer needs
• Increased marketing opportunities through making a feature of using
locally sourced food
• And beverage items and through special promotions related to local
and seasonal food and beverage specialities
• Support for training of staff from local suppliers
Classes Of Menu
Table d’hôte menu À la carte menu
• The menu has a fixed number of • The choice is generally more extensive
courses • Each dish is priced separately
• There is a limited choice within each • There may be longer waiting times as
course some dishes are cooked or finished to
• The selling price is fixed order.
• The food is usually available at a set
time.
Classic Menu Sequence
1. Amuse-bouche
• Often offered in fine dining establishments as a small complimentary
appetizer.
• Does not count as a course in the menu
2. Hors d’oeuvres and other appetizers; Soup; Egg dishes
• Mostly these first three sets of dishes are now grouped together as ‘starters’.
• Sometimes separately presented as ‘cold starters’ and ‘hot starters’.
3. Pasta and rice
• May be as a starter or main course.
• Often known as farinaceous(flour) dishes
4. Fish
• May be as a starter or main course.
• May also be a middle course in.
Classic Menu Sequence continue..
5. Meats, poultry and game
• Often listed just as main courses.
• Sometimes meats, such as steaks, are listed separately under ‘grills’.
6. Potatoes, vegetables and salads
• If not included with a main course, these dishes are now often listed as ‘sides’
for which there is an additional charge.
7. Cheese; Sweets
• Cheese is shown here after the main course and before the sweet course.
• However, the sweet course is still sometimes offered before the cheers course
8. Savoury
• Simple savoury dishes served at the end of the meal
9. Fruit (dessert)
• Fresh fruit, nuts and sometimes candied fruits
Other Types Of Menus
• Breakfast menu
• Café complet
• The term ‘café complet’ is widely used in continental Europe and means a continental
breakfast with coffee as the beverage.
• The term ‘thé complet’ is also used, with tea provided as the beverage.
• Café simple or thé simple
• Is just a beverage (coffee or tea) with nothing to eat.
• Continental breakfast
• Traditional continental breakfast used to consist of hot croissant, brioche or toast, butter
and preserves, and coffee as the beverage.
• The current trend is to offer a wider choice including cereals, fruits, juices, yoghurts, ham,
cheese, assorted bread items and a wider selection of beverages.
• Full breakfast
• may consist of from two to eight courses and usually includes a cooked main course.
• This type of breakfast was traditionally known as an English Breakfast.
Other Types Of Menus continue..
• Afternoon tea menus
• Full afternoon tea
• the menu for a full afternoon tea usually consists of assorted sandwiches, bread and butter
(including fruit basket), toasted items such as crumpets, warmed scones with jam and
cream, cakes and pastries.
• High tea menu
• A high tea may be available in addition to the full afternoon tea.
• The menu for this usually includes the regular afternoon tea menu plus items such as
grills, toasted snacks, fish and meat dishes, salads, cold sweets and ice creams.
• Cream tea menu
• A cream tea consists of scones (which may be served warm), clotted cream (although
whipped cream can also be offered), and strawberry jam.
• Butter is generally not included.
Other Types Of Menus continue..
• Floor / room service menus
• Floor or room service varies from basic tea and coffee making facilities in the
room and possibly a mini bar, to vending machines on floors or the service of
a variety of meals in rooms.
• The extent of service in hotel guest rooms will depend on the nature of the
establishment.
• In five star hotels 24-hour room service is expected, whereas in two and three
star hotels service may be limited to tea and coffee making facilities in the
room and only continental breakfast will be available to be served in the room.
Other Types Of Menus continue..
• Lounge service menus
• Lounge service may include service of continental breakfast, morning coffee,
luncheon snacks, afternoon tea, dinner or late evening snacks as well as
alcoholic beverages..
• Mainly associated with hotels, lounge service is also found in public houses,
wine bars and on ships.
• Hospital tray service menus
• Hospital catering services have major foodservice goals, as all meals should
reach the patient quickly, look attractive and be of specific nutritional value.
• Private patients’ choice of food and beverages is usually larger and more
varied than in the main wards, and here the service is similar to hotel room
service.
Other Types Of Menus continue..
• Airline tray service menus
• on many short-haul routes, only snack-type meals or sandwiches and
beverages are offered.
• On long-haul flights, airlines provide a more extensive service of food and
beverages.
• airline will provide dishes to meet its passengers’ particular needs.
• Rail service menus
• Food and beverage operations on trains generally fall into one of four
categories:
1. restaurant (including having kitchen facilities on board)
2. kiosk (takeaway)
3. trolley service
4. limited room service for sleeper trains
Main Cooking Methods Terms Used In Menus
The main cooking methods are:
• Baking: cooking in either a fan oven or conventional oven. Often
referred to as ‘dry’ cooking.
• Boiling: cooking food in a simmering liquid.
• Braising: slow cooking in minimum liquid in a casserole dish with a
lid.
• Deep frying: cooking by placing into deep fat held at a temperature of
about 175–190 °C (350–375 °F).
• Grilling: quick and dry method of cooking food by radiant heat, either
over heated charcoal or under electric or gas salamanders.
• Microwave: cooking or re-heating food using high frequency power in
a microwave oven powered by electricity.
• l Poaching: cooking in a minimum amount of liquid held at simmering
point.
Main Cooking Methods Terms Used In Menus continue..
• Roasting: cooking with convected dry heat in the oven.
• Shallow frying: cooking in the minimum amount of heated fat or oil.
• Steaming: cooking heat is transferred from the water vapour (steam) to
the food being cooked.
• Stewing: Very slow cooking of food items in their own juices and
using the minimum amount of liquid, such as stock, in the process.
• Water bath: technique of vacuum packing ingredients and cooking
them at low temperatures in a water bath. This is a slow and gentle
process where moisture is not expelled and flavour is retained.
Main Cooking Methods Terms Used In Menus continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service
Sauces

These sauces provide the base for other sauces, by adding a variety of
different ingredients. For example:
• cheese to a béchamel sauce to create a Mornay sauce
• whipped cream to a Hollandaise sauce to create sauce Mousseline
• tarragon and other herbs added to Hollandaise to make Béarnaise
• gherkins, capers, and fines herbes to mayonnaise to form tartare sauce.
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Accompaniments
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Basic Sauces and Food Items Used in Service continue..
Hors d’Oeuvres And Other Appetisers
Hors d’Oeuvres And Other Appetisers continue..
Hors d’Oeuvres And Other Appetisers continue..
Hors d’Oeuvres And Other Appetisers continue..
Hors d’oeuvres And Other Appetisers continue..
Service Of Hors d’Oeuvres And Other Appetisers
• these dishes are served plated but they may also be silver served.
• Some may also be prepared and served in the room, for example,
caviar, pâté, seafood cocktails, smoked salmon, salads and dressings,
and melon.
• When the dishes are plated the cover:
• a small knife and fork
• fish knives and forks are presented with fish dishes
• a prawn cocktail is often presented with a small fork and a teaspoon/oyster
fork.
Soups
Soups continue..
Soups continue..
Service Of Soup
• soups are plated although they may also be silver served.
• usually eaten from a soup plate, placed on an underplate, and eaten
with a soup spoon.
• Consommé is traditionally served in a consommé cup on a consommé
saucer and set on a fish plate.
• Traditionally eaten with a sweet spoon but a soup spoon is now more common.
• Consommé may be finished in the room by the addition of warmed (flambéed)
sherry.
Egg Dishes
Service Of Egg Dishes
• Oeuf sur la plat
Cutlery is a sweet spoon and fork, with the addition of a small/side knife
depending on the garnish.
• Eggs served en cocotte (in a small, round earthenware dish with
straight sides about the size of a small teacup)
The dish is placed on a doily on an underplate
Cutlery is a teaspoon.
• Omelette
As a first course is eaten with a large fork (joint) placed on the right hand side
of the cover.
As a main course it would be eaten with a joint knife and fork.
• Savoury soufflés
Served in the ramekin dish
This is placed on a doily on an underplate
Cutlery is a teaspoon and/or a small fork
Pasta And Rice Dishes
• Referred to as farinaceous dishes and include all pastas such as:
Spaghetti
Macaroni
Nouilles
Ravioli
rice dishes such as pilaff or risotto
• Accompaniments
Grated Parmesan cheese
Sometimes the Parmesan cheese is shaved from a large piece rather than grated
• Service of pasts and rice dishes
pasta and rice dishes are now served plated but may occasionally be silver served, for
example gnocchi, pilaff or risotto
For spaghetti, a joint fork should be laid on the right-hand side of the cover and a
sweet spoon on the left.
For all other farinaceous dishes a sweet spoon and fork are used, with the sweet
spoon on the right and the fork on the left.
Fish Dishes
• Fish are divided into five main groups:
1. Round white fish: such as bass, bream, cod, coley, haddock, hake, John
Dory, monkfish, red mullet, and whiting
2. Flat white fish: such as brill, dab, flounder, halibut, plaice, skate, sole,
lemon sole and turbot.
3. Oily fish: such as eels, herring, mackerel, pilchards, salmon, salmon trout,
sardines, trout, tuna and whitebait
4. Shellfish
1. Crustaceans: such as crabs, crayfish, lobster, prawns, scampi, and shrimps
2. Molluscs: such as clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, scallops, and winkles.
5. Cephalopods: such as the octopus and squid
Fish Dishes continue..
Fish Dishes continue..
Service Of Fish Dishes
• Most main courses are plated but may also be silver served.
• For a fish course as a starter then often a fish knife and fork is laid, but
a small knife and sweet fork may be used instead.
• Traditionally, main course fish dishes were eaten with a fish knife and
fork but this practice is declining. More often now a joint knife and
fork are laid.
• Oriental dishes are often serviced with chopsticks and sometimes a
ceramic spoon. A sweet spoon might also be set.
Meats, Poultry And Game
Roast meats
In all cases roast gravy is offered.
For dishes where the roast is plain (not roasted with herbs) the main
accompaniments are shown below.
Meats, Poultry And Game continue..
Boiled meats
Meats, Poultry And Game continue..
Other meat dishes
Meats, Poultry And Game continue..
Poultry, furred and feathered game
Service Of Meats Poultry And Game
• Most main courses are plated although they may also be silver served.
• The cover is a joint knife and fork and a hot meat plate.
• Sometimes steak knives are offered.
• For oriental dishes, chopsticks and sometimes a ceramic spoon are
usually offered. A sweet spoon and fork might also be set.
Potatoes, Vegetables And Salads
• Potatoes
Four categories: floury, firm, waxy and salad potatoes.
From the tuber family, which also includes items such as sweet potato, yams
and Jerusalem artichoke.
• Vegetables
Roots: such as carrots, parsnips, salsify and beetroot.
Bulbs: such as onions and fennel.
Leaf: such as chicory, spinach, cress and the various lettuces.
Brassicas: such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and pak choi.
Stems and shoots: including asparagus, bean sprouts, celery, samphire and
globe artichokes.
Fruiting: including aubergine, avocado, cucumber, peppers and tomatoes.
Plantains: such as ackee and breadfruit.
Mushrooms and fungi: including field mushrooms, chanterelles, morels and
truffles.
Potatoes, Vegetables And Salads continue..
• Salads
• Plain salads, which consist of two main types.
• Green salads made up of green leaf ingredients
• Vegetable salads made up of one main vegetable ingredient which will dominate the
overall flavour of the dish.
• Plain salad may often be served with a main course or as a separate course after a main
course.
• Various types of dressings are either included in the salad or offered separately.
• Compound salads, which may be a plain salad plus other ingredients, such as
meat, fish and mushrooms, or a combination of a number of ingredients,
mixed together using specific dressings or sauces.
Potatoes, Vegetables And Salads continue..
Service Of Potatoes Vegetables And Salads
• Most often potatoes and vegetables are pre-plated, but may also be
silver served onto the main plate alongside the main dish.
• Potatoes, vegetables or salads can be separately pre-plated or silver
served onto a side plate or crescent-shaped dish, separate from the
main plate.
• This is positioned at the top left-hand corner of the cover.
• A separate sweet fork for the salad and service spoons and forks for
the potatoes and vegetables may be offered.
• Potatoes, vegetables or salads may also be placed on the table in multi-
portion serving dishes from which the customers can serve themselves,
using service spoons and forks (family service).
• Baked potato: a baked potato (pomme au four) may be accompanied
by cayenne pepper, peppermill and butter (or substitutes). Butter is not
now automatically put on the top of the potato, but is offered
separately, together with alternatives.
Service Of Potatoes Vegetables And Salads continue..
When a salad is served separately as a first course or after the main
course the cover is:
• a cold fish plate or bowl such as a soup plate on an underplate
• a small (side) knife and sweet fork
Cheese
• Cheeses are distinguished by flavour and categorised according to
their texture.
• Differ from each other for a number of reasons:
variations in the making process
milk used comes from different animals such as cows, sheep and goats
• Cheese should be stored:
• in a cool, dark place, with good air circulation or in a refrigerator
• with its original wrapping, otherwise it should be wrapped in either
greaseproof paper, cling film or aluminium foil to prevent any drying out
• away from food items that absorb flavours/odours, such as dairy produce.
• Categories of cheese are:
• Fresh
• Soft
• Semi-hard
• Hard
• Blue
Fresh Cheese
Soft Cheese
Semi-Hard Cheese
Semi-Hard Cheese continue..
Semi-Hard Cheese continue..
Hard Cheese
Blue Cheese
Blue Cheese continue..
Accompaniments
Accompaniments set on the table prior to the cheese being presented
and served may include:
• cruet (salt, pepper, and mustard)
• butter or alternative
• celery served in a celery glass part filled with crushed ice, on an
underplate
• radishes (when in season) placed in a glass bowl on an underplate with
teaspoon
• caster sugar for cream cheeses
• assorted cheese biscuits (cream crackers, Ryvita, sweet digestive,
water biscuits, etc.) or various breads.
Service Of Cheese
• Cheese may be served plated and may also be served from a cheese
board or trolley at the table.
• There should be a separate cheese knife for the service of each of the
cheeses on offer.
• Accompaniments should be placed on the table prior to the cheese
selection being offered to the customer.
• The cover is a side plate with a small/side knife and sweet fork.
Sweets
Accompaniments
• Customer may require a sugar sifter or depending on the nature of the
sweet selected, sauces such as custard or sauce Anglaise (rich custard)
may be offered.
• Alternatives might be Chantilly cream, single cream or whipped
double cream.
Service Of Sweets
• Sweet dishes are plater and some may also be silver served.
• They may also be portioned and served from a sweet trolley in the room.
• Sweet dishes may be prepared and served in the room from the guéridon
trolley, for example crêpes suzette, peach flambé and banana flambé.
• With portioned items such as gâteaux, flans or pies, then the cut face, or
point of the cut item, is placed facing the customer.
• The serving of sauces such as custard and whipped cream can be from sauce
boats (ladled or spooned not poured) or there may be individual portion
jugs. Alternatively, a sauceboat may be left on an underplate on the table for
the customers to help themselves.
• If sauces are served then it is usual not to serve these over the item but
around it – unless the customer specifically requests it.
• Most sweets the cover is a sweet spoon and fork. For sweets presented in a
coupe are often eaten with a teaspoon.
Savouries
Savouries continue..
• Accompaniments:
• Salt and pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Peppermill
• Worcestershire sauce (usually only with meat savouries)
• Service of savouries
• usually served plated although occasionally they may be silver served.
• The cover is a hot fish plate and a small/side knife and sweet fork.
• Should the savoury take the form of an individual savoury soufflé then it
would be eaten from the dish in which it is cooked using either a teaspoon or a
sweet spoon and fork.
Desserts (Fresh Fruit And Nuts)
• More popular items are dessert apples, pears, bananas, oranges,
tangerines, black and white grapes, pineapple and assorted nuts such
as Brazils.
• Cover
• fruit plate
• fruit knife and fork – traditionally interlocked on the fruit plate
• spare napkin
• one finger bowl, on a side plate at the top right-hand corner of the cover,
containing lukewarm water and a slice of lemon which may be used for rinsing
fingers
• one finger bowl, on a side plate and containing cold water for rinsing the
grapes. It will be placed at the top left-hand corner of the cover
• nut crackers and grape scissors, to be placed on the fruit basket
• spare side plate for shells and peel.
Desserts (Fresh Fruit And Nuts) continue..
• Accompaniments
• caster sugar holder on a side plate
• salt for nuts
• Service of fresh fruits and nuts
• May be served plated or presented in a fruit bowl for the customer to make
their choice.
• May also be presented in a fruit basket from the guéridon at the customers’s
table.
• Upon the customer making their selection the fresh fruit might then be
prepared, portioned, and plates or flambéed and served from the guéridon.
• The cover is a fruit plate/sweet plate with a fruit knife and fork or small/side
knife and fork.