Applications for Fruits and Fruit Dishes

Appears in
Professional Garde Manger: A Comprehensive Guide to Cold Food Preparation
Professional Garde Manger

By Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett

Published 2010

  • About
The garde manger department utilizes fruits in many ways. Often, garde manger fruit preparations bridge the gap between sweet and savory foods. For example, a poached pear may be used as a dessert component or served as an accompaniment to a cold roast or charcuterie item. When preparing fruits for use in savory applications, the challenge is to bring out the basic flavor of the fruit without making it overly sweet.
Garde manger fruit preparations can be divided into six categories:

  1. Fruit platters

    When served at breakfast or brunch, thoughtfully arranged platters of perfectly cut fresh fruit add a welcome note of freshness and color to a meal typically heavy on proteins and starches. Giving guests several seasonal fresh fruit options with their morning meal is a courtesy they will remember.

  2. Fruit salads

    Fruit salads, covered in Chapter 5, are equally appropriate as morning fare, lunch entrées, or appetizers in casual meals.

  3. Fruit accompaniments

    Both fresh fruits and cooked fruit preparations are used to accent plates and platters. Fresh fruit frequently complements cheese trays. A few slices of tart, ripe plum or a wedge of pear make appropriate garnishes for charcuterie items. Hams are frequently paired with fruit: Prosciutto is typically served with melon or figs, while cold baked hams are often accompanied by pickled peaches or baked pineapple rings. Fruit compotes and preserves accent sandwiches and cold meats.

  4. Fruit décor

    The bright colors and interesting shapes of fresh fruits make them particularly appropriate for decorative use. For this purpose, small fruits such as berries, kumquats, and clusters of grapes may be left whole.

    However, for décor work, fruit is most often fabricated by carving it into representative or abstract shapes. Simple fruit décor, such as the Apple Bird, is covered in Chapter 17.

  5. Fruit baskets

    Fruit baskets consist of whole, small, unfabricated fruits that can be eaten out of hand and do not require constant refrigeration. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and bananas are the most common fruits included. Garde manger chefs in retail stores are responsible for assembling fruit baskets for sale as gifts. In hotels, fruit baskets may be offered as guest amenities. In some cases, the pastry department may be called on to provide cookies or other sweets for inclusion in a deluxe fruit basket.

  6. Fruit displays

    Because of their attractive appearance, fruits are frequently grouped into attractive containers and used as a centerpiece or display item, much in the same manner as cut flowers. Fruits may be stacked free-form in their containers or held in place with florist wire. Whether a fruit display is featured on a buffet table or as a freestanding display, it must be monitored carefully for freshness. While not intended for consumption, fruit for displays should nonetheless be washed in produce sanitizing solution, as some guests inevitably help themselves.