The Buffet Blog: All You Can Read

The word buffet can conjure up negative images of cafeteria-style food – homogenous

and sometimes unidentifiable brown foods that may have started out crispy, but have

long since softened from self-steaming. Buffet has also become synonymous with the

term ‘all you can eat’.

Let’s set the record straight – there’s a BIG difference between an all-you-can-eat

smorgasbord and a buffet.

The term buffet originally referred to the sideboard furniture where the food was served

from, but eventually became applied to the serving format. The word buffet became

popular in the English-speaking world in the second half of the 20th century after the

Swedes had popularized the smorgasbord in New York.

Simply put, a buffet is a meal where guests serve themselves. Buffets can range from

very simple sandwich platters to elaborate, multi-tiered seafood displays and ‘a al

minute’ dishes provided by chefs (i.e.: an omelet station).

A buffet meal can be a class act; the way it is created, displayed and managed.

A buffet is typically a set amount of food created for a set amount of guests; the kitchen

knows ahead of time the number of guests attending and plans accordingly. When a

buffet of this nature is created, the menu is (or should try to be) complementary,

meaning the dishes make sense when served with each other.

For example, when I’m creating a buffet menu, I think about the comparative flavours

and try to match them. I won’t put a caprese salad on the menu and then feature a

masala-style Indian chicken – those flavours don’t make sense to me when combined

on your plate (unless of course you’re doing a roaming hors d’oeuvres menu, but that is

another blog altogether J). I like to think about each item on your plate and how I’d like

the flavours to marry and complement, not clash or overwhelm. A buffet that features

lemongrass-Thai basil mussels, prime rib, mashed potatoes and lasagna doesn’t make

sense to me because I imagine all those items ON YOUR PLATE – how can you enjoy

any one of those items when they are all merging into each other in a great big mess of

flavours and textures?

When we layout a buffet, our objective is to give a sense of abundance and bounty, we

want it to look appealing. From varying the height of different dishes, to draping the

tables in different fabric to featuring wood, stone and glass as our serving vessels, the

objective is to make the table beautiful and appealing.

Buffet cooking is quite different from a la minute cooking; the items featured on the

menu must be compatible with volume cooking and in most cases, holding. When a

group of 200 has scheduled a meal for 6 p.m. but the speeches go long and dinner has

to hold until 6:45 p.m. the menu items must be able to accommodate this and still taste

delicious and look delicious. Rarely do we feature chicken breast on a buffet menu,

simply because the risk for that particular item to dry out is high. We tend to feature

chicken thighs because they are actually better with longer cooking and there is little

chance of them drying out. We also brine all of our meat, ensuring not only flavour, but

also additional moisture.

The single biggest challenge of a buffet is estimating the amount each person will take.

Some people will take a triple portion of potatoes, some people will take none. We tend

to calculate our amounts and then add 20-30 portions for the unexpected.

Conversely, an all-you-can eat states the aim: supply as much food as wanted for a set

price. It is assumed that guests will hit that food line several times. Often, the objective

is to provide many different options, from pasta to sushi to deep fried spring rolls. This

is very, very different from what most catering companies are trying to provide.

I love to switch our service styles around. I love building plates to order and I love

building sumptuous family-style platters. But buffets present a particular challenge that I

really enjoy – and that is exceeding people’s expectations of what a buffet is.

Kathy Jerritt

Research by Lee Everson