BREAD BUFFET

BREAD BUFFET 




WHAT IS A BREAD?
      Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Bread is made in various forms, flavors, sizes and served with any meal of the day. It is eaten as a snack, and used as an ingredient in other culinary preparations, such as sandwiches.Bread is the staple food of the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and in European-derived cultures such as those in the Americas, Australia, and Southern Africa. 

Main Ingredients Used in Bread Making
Flour-Binding agent, Absorbing agent, Gluten formation, Nutritional value, affects flavor.
Sugar- to provide food for yeast which in turn produces carbon dioxide. Sweetness provider, affects symmetry,  Impacts crust color, Nutritional value.
Yeast-  Yeast is the leavening agent in the dough. It releases Co2 as a result of breakdown of sugar.
Salt-  It imparts taste to the bread. Brings our flavor & Controls yeast activity.
Fat- Nutritional value, affects flavor, Shortening agent & tenderizer, improves eating qulaity.
Liquids- Water, or some other liquid is used to form the flour into a paste or dough. The weight of liquid required varies between recipes, but a ratio of 3 parts liquid to 5 parts flour is common for yeast breads. Instead of water, recipes may use liquids such as milk or other dairy products, fruit juice, or eggs. These contribute additional sweeteners, fats, or leavening components, as well as moisture.

Bread Buffet

A BUFFET  is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, cruise lines and many social events and mostly a European concept. Buffet restaurants normally offer all-you-can-eat food for a set price.The buffet is a given a name based on the cuisine, occasion, theme or by the course of a meal. Like a salad buffet has a display of  a variety salads on the same lines A BREAD BUFFET is a display of various breads in different forms & sizes set as per the standards & requirement.
A BUFFET PRESENTATION: is all about selling food through presentation, so it is important that the food displayed looks palatable and enhancing structures of food or inedible sculptures are present.A good design serves a function. The function of a buffet is to serve the guest. Therefore, a properly devised buffet design places foods logically. Guests should be able to identify what they are eating and reach the food easily with appropriate service tools.


GUIDELINES FOR BUFFET PRESENTATION

·         Selling food through presentation
·         Food displayed should look appealing and palatable
·         Elevating the buffet using edible or inedible structures & sculptures
·         It has to meet the objective of serving the guest.
·         Food placed on the buffet should be logically planned & laid.
·         Guests should be able to identify what they are eating and reach the food easily with appropriate service tools.
·         Food displayed should have variety in terms colour, texture, ingredient combination, taste, size & so on.
·         Food on the buffet should maintain the right temperature & hygiene values have to be considered.

ROLE OF BREADS IN A BUFFET

Bread in a European buffet display is either acts as an accompaniment to the other course of the meal or can be consumed directly as a course like breads displayed in a Breakfast buffet.
Most of the breads have a common crust color of golden brown which adds a rustic look to the buffet which in turn elevates the other food color combinations in the buffet.
The breads can either be displayed for consumption or as an eye appeal like a Bread showpiece.
Various displays like swans, huts, bamboos, castles, etc, can be made from bread called dead dough.
 They enhance the taste of other course of meal when they consumed along with them.
The combination of such edible and inedible breads when displayed in a buffet are called buffet breads.
nedible breads when displayed in a buffet are called buffet breads.

Types of Bread Buffet

·  A hotel, cruise line or any food manufacturing unit which has a bakery that functions in multiple areas of the organization displays different types of Bread buffets as per the need.
·         Bread buffet can be laid in various forms:
·         Breakfast Buffet
·         Pastry shop Buffet
·         Coffee shop Buffet
·          Buffet for the occasion (Banquet function, Festival, Seasonal, etc..)
·         Gala buffet

Breakfast Buffet
A breakfast buffet has a separate display of breads as they are the main components of a European style or continental style breakfast.They mainly include highly nutritious breads made with rich ingredients like milk, egg, fat, nuts, high fibers and dry fruits.The main motto is to serve a healthy and heavy breakfast because breakfast is the most important meal of the day providing maximum energy for all day’s work.Because of such reasons, it is a vast buffet with numerous variations in breads, their textures, colors and fancy shapes. 
Coffee Shop Buffets
Coffee shops are basically all-day dining restaurants where buffets are laid out for mainly lunch and dinner. Such buffets include breads where they are served as accompaniments for the continental section.Some of these breads are not freshly baked as they are used as garnishes or bases for some of the European dishes.These breads are not very overpowering keeping in mind that they do not dominate the taste of other dishes.They are mainly seen to be served as burger buns, bruschetta, pita, accompaniments for soups like bread rolls, grissini, loaves & other international breads. 

COFFEE SHOP BREAD BUFFET SETUP

Pastry Shop Breads

     A pastry shop/bakery sells freshly baked breads  made with highest quality of ingredients.Because  of this reason they are expensive and mainly bought by in- house guests of the hotel.Even the packaging of the breads are done in fancy wrapping papers and decorative boxes.These breads are also decorated with the most eye catching garnishes, colours and textures to attract guests.Pastry shop displays breads like Baguette, Sour dough bread, Country style breads, lavash, grissini and various artisan breads to make it visually appealing.


Bread Buffet for the Occasion

      Banquet Bread Buffet – Lavish Banquet parties like Weddings, Receptions, Birthday celebrations, Anniversaries, etc.. Which has a European banquet menu where the food is displayed course wise, on the same lines the breads are also displayed to accompany the soup & main course. Usually it comprises of 3 to 4 types of bread unless & until the guest specifies any special list. Festive Bread Buffets - On famous festivals like Christmas, Easter, Harvesting season, theme based buffets are often laid out, showcasing the tradition and culture of the festival or occasion through food.Breads being the staple diet of many, are thus seen on such buffets. Famous festive breads like Hot cross buns, Stollen, Panettone, Kuglehopf, etc.. Are some of the Festive breads.

HOT CROSS BUNS are a traditional part of easter breads. Other breads are lemon kolaches, meringue pies etc,.
Butterhorns, winter squash rolls, nut breads are breads served on thanksgiving.
Harvest sheaf bread is a particular bread made upon the beginning of the harvest season.


Gala Buffet

Gala Buffets  are grand & huge buffets that include wide range of food from around the world.Gala Buffets are widely observed on almost every cruise ship.Gala Buffets include a combination of fresh breads and mature breads, low fat and high fat breads, aromatic breads and mellow breads, etc.A gala buffet holds a wide variety of loafs, soft roll breads, hard roll breads, quick breads and many more. They range in terms of taste, colour, textures, presentations and much more giving the guest every kind of option possible.To increase the eye appeal, many artisan breads are also displayed. Big edible sculptures of bread may also be spotted as centerpieces of buffets.

FAMOUS BUFFET BREADS AROUND THE WORLD
    The following is the list of most common breads usually found in the bread buffet & that are famous all over the world.Breakfast – Brioche, Croissants, Danish pastry, Bagels, Chelsea bun, Banana bread, other high fiber breads, etc..Lunch & Dinner – Soft rolls, Hard rolls, Multigrain bread, Assorted loaves, Fancy rolls, Bread sticks, Focaccia, Braided breads, etc.Festive & Classical Breads – Ciabatta, Panettone, Stollen, Harvest Festival Sheaf, Lavash, etc. 


Edible Bread Sculptures
Bread is not always made for consumption. They are often made to shape dough into different shapes and baked, these shapes are then assembled to make a model or a sculpture. These inedible bread sculptures increase the visual appeal of a buffet presentation.Dead dough, also known as bakers clay, is basically a dough without yeast, or any leavening agent. Dead dough is also known as weaver’s dough. A dead dough sculpture is an inedible bread sculptures which is used to beautify buffet counters. These are also used as center-pieces for wedding buffets, hotel buffets, etc.
 Example of Dead Dough
 

Salt Dough
Salt dough is a modelling material made from a mixture of flour, salt and water. It can be used to make ornaments and sculptures, and can be dried in the oven or microwave. It can be sealed using varnish or polyurethane, and can be painted with acrylic paint, or coloured using food colouring, natural colouring, or paint mixed in with the flour or water. It is commonly used to make simple sculptures such as apples, leaves, or mushrooms, or more complex shapes such as trees, birds and animals. It is often used to make christmas decorations or birthday gifts, souvenirs, or in spring rituals in Eastern Europe, and sometimes for weddings and winter rituals. 
Key Points in displaying a bread buffet
A buffet presentation requires a vision or a design before implementing it. A chef may be good at production but to present it in a way where it appeals a guest is a skill not everyone possesses.While laying a buffet, similar looking breads should not be placed next to each other Breads with the same taste should not be kept together. Some breads will have a hard crust, some will be soft while some look flaky, a symphony of such textures is important.But most importantly it is difficult to make it look vibrant because of the lack of bright colours in bread. So creating something appetizing from that is a challenge. For this, frills and props can be used. Also, bases on which the breads are placed could be of a contributing factor.Dead dough sculptures or salt dough sculptures should be made in respect with the them of the buffet. Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it can be put on a buffet. It might look disconnect and an irrelevant component in a buffet.

Other Props Used for Bread buffet
To make display of breads catch customer’s eye or to make it look appetizing, various props are used.  They are as follows:
Wooden boards
Acrylic boards
Bread baskets
Glass vase
Wooden stands
Stainless steel wheels
Glass show cases
Limitations of Bread Buffets
  There are pros and cons to every aspect. Bread buffets have the disadvantage of looking monochromaticAll the breads basically have the same colour and it fails to catch the eye of the guest Also, breads are best served when freshly baked. So it leads to a lot of wastage if buffets go unconsumed.  Lastly, breads always leave crumbs even if it is touched just a bit, thus it gives a messy look to the buffet reducing the visual appeal

Conclusion
     All the breads basically have the same colour and it fails to catch the eye of the guest Also, breads are best served when freshly baked. So it leads to a lot of wastage if buffets go unconsumed.  Lastly, breads always leave crumbs even if it is touched just a bit, thus it gives a messy look to the buffet reducing the visual appeal




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