Class offers lessons on the gift of preparing good meals
Written by Aya Khalil | | news@toledofreepress.comSometimes the best gift is the gift of a good meal.
Chef Gretchen Fayerweather is finishing a class at Owens Community College that teaches just that. The class is called “Garge Manger,” which is French and means “Keep of the Cold Food.”
Students are taught how to prepare appetizers, salads, soups, tureens and sauces. They also are learning about garnishing and buffet presentations.
“It’s an art form … vegetable and fruit carving,” Fayerweather said, noting that students have carved swans and football helmets.
“They’ve garnished upscale pumpkins … not your average jack-o-lantern,” she said.
Fayerweather has tips on how to liven up a holiday party in a money-saving, original way. Garnishing melons and pumpkins are popular during the holidays because they can be used as displays and they’re also edible, she said.
Fayerweather also gives tips on how to decorate your table without spending too much money.
“Use very natural decorations by using … pines, branches and fall-colored leaves, which you can take from outside,” she said.
“For parties, [use] decorations and garnishes that blend and complement food items.”
Another tip is filling glass vases with cranberries, apples or oranges.
“It’s a simple, but elegant way of decorating a buffet,” she said.
Fayerweather suggests staying with a theme throughout your party and not overloading platters.
“Put out just enough [food] to make it appealing,” she said. “Replenishing and replacing versus putting everything out at once.
“If you’re going to do Italian food, make sure from the first course to the last there is that Italian key component,” she said.
Invited over for the holidays, but don’t know what to bring for the host? Fayerweather suggests skipping the average tray of brownies and opting for something a little more original.
“Taking a simple, but a nicely decorated cheese platter to a party shows off quite a bit versus some of the comfort food that you take every year to a holiday party,” she said
Cutting up three different types of cheese and adding grapes, strawberries or figs make a nice holiday appetizer gift, she said.
“It’s definitely a little more upscale. It’s got a little dazzle and sparkle to it.”
