Hors d’oeuvres are in fashion again

With the culture of snacking and nibbling and an increasingly popular smaller dishes which have been imposed on us by Culinary 2008, hors d'euvres are back in fashion.

Hors d'oeuvre, antipasto, entrée, as the name suggests, are consumed prior to the main dish as an appetizer, and more frequently the hors d'oeuvres of the new generation are imposed on us as the main dish, in a somewhat stronger quantity edition. We serve them when inviting friends, organizing parties, during exhibition openings, shows, birthday celebrations, they are with us during happy hour and in general, wherever people want to eat good, stylish food - there are hors d' oeuvres.

Just like snacks their advantage lies in being handy, they are often food that can be consumed anytime, anywhere. They are prepared with imagination and they do not require strict preparation rules. However, there are still some generally accepted rules that one should be familiar with. The aberration is allowed only in a situation when we have already mastered the skills of preparation, when we are very familiar with the food stuff and their interaction with each other in combinations and when having guests over, who like experiments.

Depending on the season of the year we will serve hors d' oeuvres warm or cold. The warm hors d'oeuvres are in most cases followed by warm dishes, while cold ones are followed, naturally, by cold ones. If a hors d'oeuvre are followed by a main dish, the dishes should not be similar, which is the most frequent mistake when trying to harmonize all the dishes on the menu. The flavours should be balanced: spicy-mild, bitter-salty, hot-sweet, etc.

We must not forget that hors d' oeuvres predict the tone of the main dish. It is desirable to move from milder flavours to more intense. Rustic hors d'oeuvres are followed by a rustic main dish, minimalistic snacks are followed by a simple dish and similar ones. When the menus are put together and flavours harmonized, there is only one thing left to do - visually enrich our snack, bites, salads, canapes, mousses, sauces, pastas, pâtés and other hors d' oeuvres. Add some colour and flavours to them and give them a new life with ornamental slices of vegetables, fresh herbs, dried fruits and slices of fresh fruits, etc.

We have honoured hors d' oeuvres. Whether they will win our heart in their conquest around the world, is purely up to us. However, undoubtedly, hors d' oeuvres deserve to be given a chance.