Miscellaneous

Oysters

Description and characteristics

The upper shell is flattened and the lower one, with which the oyster clings to the rock, is domed. They live in colonies on rocks or fixed hard objects at a depth varying form 10m to 40m. They feed on plankton, which is taken in with the water filtered by the branchiae and then rejected. The oyster is hermaphrodite but its power of reproduction is very great (one oyster alone can produce a million eggs) although most oysters die, being prey to other marine species.

Until the nineteenth century, oysters were an every day food, now they are considered a luxury. They are also expensive due to the indiscriminate gathering of the last century, which now makes them a rarity. The greatest number of oysters comes from artificial culture beds. They need water containing from 2% to 3% of salt, and their development takes from 3 to 6 years.

Amongst the best-known kinds are: Whistable and Colchester of Great Britain. Galway Bay of Ireland, Marennes, Belons, Portugais and Fine de Claire of France. Imperal of Holland. Ostend of Belgium. Large Limfjords of Denmark.

The oyster is called in French Huitre, in German Auster, in Italian Ostrica, in Spanish Ostra, and in Dutch Oester.

There are two main groups of oysters: flat and cupped.

The flat oyster is only eaten when there is an "R" in the month, because it breeds in summer, so harvesting is illegal for conservation reasons. Oysters are graded according to size 0 being the largest and the higher the number the smaller the oyster.

In the UK, cupped oysters do not breed as the waters are to cold so can be eaten there all year around.

Delicious adaptable oysters

Traditionally oysters are not eaten "au natural" with just a touch of lemon, Tabasco or Worcestershire Sauce, black pepper. Some Americans like cocktail sauce, which is a combination of horseradish and ketchup.

For easy hot starters taking only seconds to prepare, try them grilled with garlic butter and a sprinkle of fresh breadcrumbs, or just roll them in a rasher of thin bacon, skewer with a cocktail stick and grill for 2-3 minutes each side for mouthwatering "Angels on horseback".

Deep-fried, bread oysters are another easy and delicious way to eat this versatile shellfish. Lightly dust the oyster meats in seasoned flour, dip in beaten eggs, roll in breadcrumbs and deep fry until crisp and golden.

Caviar

You don't really need a special occasion for caviar. It is a special occasion in itself. Caviar is traditionally eaten as a hors d' oeuvre, with blinis and sour cream, lemon or toast. Vodka is the usual accompanying drink or champagne.

Muscadet or Chablis premier cru is the ideal wine to accompany caviar. Most of the world's caviar comes from the Caspian Sea situated between Southeast of the former Soviet Union and the north of Iran. The yield is approximately 500 tons of caviar per year with much smaller quantities coming from countries such as Romania.

The somewhat outmodes fish whose roe gives us so much culinary pleasure is of the species Acipenser. The Sturgeon is one of the few surviving bony fishes, which have largely retained their prehistoric appearance.

Due to their unique skeletal construction with more or less distinct longitualinal bony plates on the outside, they have no annoying bones in the flesh.

The Sturgeons all share the extended snout shape with four feelers on the underside, used to probe the bottom of the sea in search of food.

Worldwide there are at least 20 different sturgeon species. Five of them live in the Caspian Sea and only three supply caviar. These three give us 90% of the world's production.

The three main types of caviar available from three members of the Surgeon family are: Beluga, Oscietra/Asetra and Sevruga.

Beluga

This fish can live for over 100 years and is physically the largest sturgeon and the only predator in the family. It is so rare that the annual Beluga catch accounts for less than 2%. The beluga is remarkably strong, vigorous, large mouthed and perpetually nomadic, stubbornly following its prey - shoals of whitefish. It can measure up to four meters in length and may weigh over 1000kg. The normal size specimen ranges from 40 to 300kg and yields about 15% of its weight in caviar.

Beluga caviar, light to dark grey, is highly esteemed due to its large granules (coarse roe) and delicate skin; the lighter it is the more you'll want.

Asetra

The medium sized family member; omnivorous like its brothers, a sea bed prober with an extendable snout under a medium-point nose, equipped to indiscriminately vacuum up plants and small forms of sea life. It becomes two meters long and tips the scales at 200kg, the average asetra is 1-2 meters long and weighs between 20kg and 80kg.

Asetra caviar, cark brown-grey to golden, is stunning. It is the only variety with a unique nut flavour, which makes it a rare speciality.

Sevruga

This species is trim and small and features a pointed snout with an upward tilt. Here the diamond-shaped erosketed plates are most distinct. Its maximum length is 1,5 meters. The sevruga rarely weighs more than 25kg.

Sevruga caviar is dark grey, find grained and very popular due to its distinguished flavour.

Nutrition

Apart from its gastronomic appeal, caviar no doubt offers other qualities. While some praise its effects as an aphrodisiac, caviar definitely has nutritional values. Sevruga for example is composed of 51,5% of water, 28% of protein, 16% of fat, 1,5% of sugar, 3% of vitamins/mineral salts and lots of calories.

It is fatal to put caviar in a deep freezer - it can be reduced to a somewhat expensive soup!

In general, once the can has been opened, caviar should be consumed ideally within one week. The lightness, dainty, and intensity of its fragrance are indicative of its freshness. Old caviar looks dull and smells strongly. Exposure to air causes rapid deterioration.

There are many ways to enjoy caviar with or without egg, onion, and lemon. The best way to enjoy caviar is - "The simpler the better". This means with or on buttered, unsalted toast and not too cool because you want to develop its full bouquet.

The catch

Sturgeon fishing is practised by tradition in the Caspian Sea. Specially trained fishermen set out each day to check the fixed trap net, sometimes kilometres in lengths. On average only 10% of a days catch will be sturgeon. They are usually brought to one of the fishing stations within a few hours, usually still alive, and then processed immediately.

Apart from caviar, the gourmet also dries and pickles the meat of the sturgeon. Fishing season is in spring and autumn. Sturgeon is a sea fish, which seek fresh water for spawning. They are caught mainly in sections of rivers, which flow into the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Hence, caviar is usually Russian, Persian, or Romanian in origin.

Immediately after they are landed, the catch of sturgeon is measured. Each fish is weighed individually and registered - the number makes each can of caviar permanently identifiable. Then the catch is washed several times.

Whatever touches the caviar - hand, work clothing, implements, etc. is kept sterile. After washing, the sturgeon are moved to the preparation room and opened on a marble slab. The caviar is removed and transferred to a special vessel, weighed and brought to the laboratory for final processing.

There the roe is strained through a coarse - mesh sieve; during this process, ovary residues are detached; then the roe is sampled, appraised, and finally sorted for the various preparation modes and grade sections.

The last operation prior to packaging is to salt the roe for preservation purposes. The exact sequence of the preservation method depends on the grade as well as on consumer preferences and import regulations issued by countries to which caviar is exported. The preservatives used are either pure cooking salt or a mixture of cooking salt and borax in specific proportions. The blending ratios are carefully monitored because this is one of the most delicate phases in caviar production and only the optimum amount is just right. If an insufficient amount of salt is added to dries up and becomes sticky.

This is where the term "malosol or malassal" must be introduced. It means "little salt" and thus does not designate a specific variety of caviar. All caviar brands with only small amounts of salt added as a preservative bear this design action.

Pressed caviar is made from the damaged salted eggs of different sturgeon. It is jammy in texture, with a concentrated intense flavour and is cheaper than other caviar. Chinese canape caviar is similar but includes only beluga and is popular with chefs for cooking.

Canning and shipping

Caviar is still packed manually and cans look rather antiquated. But in this respect again, simplicity has proved to be the best approach.

Each can must be filled over the rim then with great care and the cover is positioned by hand, so that the caviar remains undamaged. Finally, a simple rubber ring is placed between the can and cover. This guarantees a certain degree of flexibility. The oil, which seeps out of the can in storage - and it must be able to seep out - indicates whether the contents of the can are still fresh; dryness is a sign of poor storage or simply advanced ageing.

Fresh caviar is filled into 1,8kg can with a guaranteed shelf life of one year. Three cans are stacked and placed in a linen beg. Four linen bags, wired and sealed, are placed in the typical wooden export crate

For tourists and domestic consumption cans of 100, 200, 300, 500 grams are available. Pressed caviar is packed in drums of 20kg to 50kg.

Cheese

Cheese is made from milk and is the natural way of preserving the nutrients in milk. It is made from pure fresh milk, cream, or milk and cream mixed together. Many varieties are made form ass’s, ewe’s or goat’s milk, The process of manufacture is carried out firstly by checking the milk for quality, then pasteurising and following this it is ripened and curdled by the addition of a "starter" (bacteria) and rennet. It is at this stage that the solids (curd) readily separate from the watery part (whey). The curds are packed into moulds to mature and become cheese. The degree of pressure determines the type of cheese. Cream chesses are subject only to a light pressure whilst hard cheeses are subject to a heavier pressure.

Clotted Cream

(55%) is produced by scalding cooking, and skimming milk or cram. The traditional farmhouse method of making clotted cream is to pour milk into shallow pans and leave undisturbed for 12 – 14 hours for the cream to rise. The pans are then heated or scaled to about 82 c and held at this temperature for about an hour. The surface cream develops a rich yellow wrinkled crust. The pans are then cooled slowly and the cream crust skimmed off. The heating of the cream crust skimmed off. The heating of the cream improves its keeping qualities by destroying bacteria, which may cause souring.

Clotted cream is produced commercially, mainly in Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset, by heating pans of 55 % cream in water jackets. Commercial clotted cream tends to be smoother than farmhouse cream but has the same distinctive scaled flavour. Clotted cream is traditionally served with scones, fruit and fruit pies.

Scone

A small round cake made of raised dough originating in Scotland; it is soft and light inside and has a brown crust. Scones are eaten for breakfast or for tea, usually served hot, split in half, and buttered. The used to be traditionally cooked on a griddle (or girdle), a thick flat iron with a handle, placed on top of the stove (or, originally, on the fire). Nowadays they are more often baked in the oven.

Water

By law, water authorities are required to provide a supply of clean, wholesome water - that is, water free from: visible suspended matter: odour and taste; all bacteria which are likely to cause disease; mineral matter injurious to health.

Water is obtained from the following sources: rainfall which is collected in the following ways: natural lakes; rivers; artificial reservoirs; underground lakes; wells; springs.

Water is collected in storage reservoirs and is then given several cleansing processes before being piped to the consumer.

1. As storage reservoirs are deep, much suspected matter settles to the bottom of the water
2. The water passes through two filters, one designed to remove all solid matter (leaves, twigs, etc.) and the second to remove fine suspended particles and bacteria.
3. Water is then impregnated with chlorine to remove and kill off all disease-bearing bacteria.
4. The water then rests in order to give the chlorine time to react fully.
5. Water is then run to a pumping station where it is forced out into the street mains.

Tea

The most universally consumed beverage made by infusing the dried leaves of an Asiatic evergreen shrub. There are two main varieties of tea plants, that of China and that of India.

To make tea, use water that is a lime-free as possible (purists avoid tap water, which makes the tea cloudy). The water should be free from iron, which would precipitate tannins in the cup, and should not be chlorinated. In the absence of spring water, connoisseurs choose a light mineral water, such as Evian or Volvic. Do not use water that has already been oiled once in order to save time.

Rinse out the teapot with oiling water just before putting in the tea. The general rule is one teaspoon of tea per person and one "for the pot". The better the tea, the smaller the quantity required, but you can never compensate for an insufficient quantity of tea by letting it infuse over a longer period.

Pour the water onto the tea just as it reaches boiling point, taking the pot to the kettle.

The infusion time is three to five minutes, depending on whether the tealeaves are whole or broken. After this time, the flavour does not improve, and the tannins spread and make the infusion more bitter and darker. (Because of this, tea balls or tea infuses are recommended.)

Just before serving, stir the tea in the teapot with a spoon; if the tealeaves are left in the pot, use a strainer when pouring.

A good-quality tea is generally drunk on its own, or sometimes with a dash of milk always cold). Tea lovers

avoid lemon, which denatures the flavour of tea, and they often do without sugar. Some, however, like tea sweetened with honey.

The dispense bar

The term 'dispense bar' is recognised to mean any bar situated within a food and beverage service area which only dispenses wine or other alcoholic drinks to be served to a guest consuming a meal. However, it should be noted that in many establishments, because of the planning and layout, wine and other alcoholic drinks for consumption with a meal are something dispensed from bars situated outside the food and beverage service area itself. In other words from one of the public bars. All drinks dispensed must be checked for and controlled in some way and this will be dealt with in the section on bar and cellar control. All alcoholic drinks are served by that member of the restaurant team known as the sommelier of the wine butler, unless it is the custom for the food service waiter to sere his own guests with the drinks they require.

Equipment

In order to carry out efficiently the service of all forms of drinks requested the bar should have available all the necessary equipment for making cocktails, decanting wine, serving wine correctly, making fruit cups and so on. The equipment should include:

1 Assorted glasses
2 Measures - 4/5/6 out
3 Ice buckets and stands
4 Cocktail shakers
5 Boston shaker
6 Hawthorn strainer
7 Bar mixing spoon
8 Small ice buckets and tongs
9 Wine baskets
10 Soda syphons
11 Water jugs
12 Coloured sugars
13 Assorted bitters, peach, orange, angostura
14 Cutting boards and knife
15 Optics
16 Assorted fruit; mint, cocktail, cherries, olives
17 Bottle opener
18 Cork extractor
19 Ice crushing machine
20 Ice pick
21 Bar glass
22 Ice making machine
23 Lemon squeezing machine
24 Drinking straws
25 Swizzle sticks
26 Cocktail sticks
27 Strainer and funnel
28 Carafes
29 Coasters
30 Cooling trays
31 Refrigerator
32 Small sink unit, or bar glass washing machine
33 Service salvers
34 Wine and cocktail lists
35 Wine knife and cigar cutter
36 A plentiful supply of glass cloths, serviettes and service cloths

The bar

There are certain essentials necessary in the planing of every bar, and it is a well to bear these in mind now. They are factors which should be given prime consideration when one has to plan a bar or set up a bar for a particular function. They are as follows:

Area - The bar staff must be given sufficient area or space in which to work and move about. There should be a minimum of 1 metre from the back of the bar counter to the storage shelves and display cabinets at the rear of the bar.

Layout - Very careful consideration must be given, in the initial planning, to the layout. Everything should be easily to hand so that the bar staff does not have to move about more than necessary to give a quick and efficient service.

Plumbing and power - It is essential to have hot and cold running water for glass washing. Power is necessary to provide the effective working of cooling trays, refrigerators and ice making machines.

Storage - Adequate storage must be provided in the form of shelves, cupboards and racks, for all the stock required and equipment listed.

Safety and hygiene - Great care must be observed in that the material used in the make-up of the bar are hygienic and safe. Flooring must be non-slip. The bar top would be of a material suited to the general decor, hard wearing, easily wiped down, with no sharp edges. The bar top should be of average working height - approximately one metre and a width of 0.6 metres.

Site of the bar - A major factor is the siting of the bar. The position should be chosen so that the bar has the greatest possible number of sales

• Amaretto - Almond and apricot liquer
• Apéritif - Alcoholic drink taken before meals to sharpen the appetite
• Armagnac - Rich French Brandy
• Bacardi - Popular brand of light - bodied rum
• Bailey's Irish Cream - Chocolate flavoured whiskey and cream liqueur
• Benedictine D.O.M. - Sweet aromatic liqueur, herb-flavoured and brandy based
• Brandy - Spirit distilled from any fermented fruit juice, commonly Understood to mean grape brandy if no other fruit is indicated on the label
• Calvados - Fine apple brandy from Normandy
• Campari - Red Italian aperitif, very dry
• Cherry Brandy - Applies to both cherry liqueurs and maraschino, also other cherry and spirit combination
• Cocktails - Basic products mixed in order to create a particular drink, either alcoholic or non alcoholic.
• Cointreau - A triple sec; sweet, colourless, orange-flavoured liqueur
• Cordial - In America, a liqueur; elsewhere a non-alcoholic syrup flavoured with almonds or lime or orange etc.
• Crème de Cassis - Blackcurrant - flavoured liqueur
• Crème de Framboise - French raspberry - flavoured and coloured liqueur
• Crème de Menthe - Peppermint - flavoured liqueur, white, red or green
• Curacao - An orange - flavoured liqueur, orange, blue,green or white
• Drambuie - Flavoured with scotch whiskey and heather honey, a liqueur said to be made to a recipe from Bonnie Prince Charlie
• Dubonnet - A vermouth-style French aperitif
• Eau de vie - "Water of life" or brandy
• Fernet Branca - The best known Italian bitters
• Gin - Clear spirit, flavoured with juniper berries. Varieties includes Jenever, Sloe Gin, London Dry
• Gomme syrup - Sugar syrup, heated but not boiled
• Grand Marnier - French cognac-based orange flavoured liqueur
• Grappa - A spirit distilled from the husk and pips of the grapes after winemaking juices have been extracted
• Grenadine - A sweet syrup, flavoured pomegranate juice
• Kahlua - Coffee-flavoured liqueur from Mexico
• Kirsch - Colourless cherry brandy, dry in Germany, fruitier in France
• Kümmel - Colourless herbal liqueur, flavoured with caraway, cumin fennel and orris
• Pernod - French absinthe substitute, flavoured with aniseed or liquorice
• Pimms - No 1 is a popular gin-based cup; other bases include whisky, brandy, rum, rye whisky and vodka
• Pastis - Popular aniseed aperitif
• Rum - Spirit distilled from sugar-cane juices or molasses; light bodied; white, dark and high proof rum are a few varieties
• Sambuca - A dry Italian anis liqueur, also with coffee available (negra)
• Sherry - A fortified wine, originally from Jerez in Southern Spain, available dry, medium or sweet and of various ages
• Southern Comfort - American brandy and bourbon based liqueur, flavoured with peach, oranges and herbs
• Tequila - Mexican spirit, distilled from the juice of a type of aloe, traditionally drunk with a lick of salt and s squirt of lemon juice
• Tia Maria - Jamaican rum-based liqueur, flavoured with coffee
• Triple Sec - Colourless orange flavoured liqueur; a refined Curacao
• Vermouth - A wine based aperitif, flavoured with herbs, roots and flowers; sweet, dry or rosso
• Vodka - A colourless odourless spirit
• Whiskey - American Whisky, mostly blendend
• Whisky - Spirit distilled from gain, then aged and sometimes blended; different styles are available from different countries

Under-Age Drinking

Under the Licensing Act 1964 (UK) it is an offence to sell intoxicating liquor to anyone under the age of 18 years either to be consumed on, or taken off, the premises. It is equally an offence to sell to anyone who is attempting to buy intoxicating liquor on behalf of a person under 18 years of age for consumption on the premises. If you are not sure about any aspect of these requirements, do not take chances - ask your Manager for help, advice and, if appropriate, training.