COLD BUFFET’S

SANDWICHES AND CANAPÉS

USE OF LEFTOVERS

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Cold Buffet’s
• Cold Buffet’s can be
described as display of cold
items in a buffet such as;
Meat & Fish Platters, Salads,
Fruits, etc.
• These are usually eaten
before the entrée, as an
appetizer

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Cold Buffet’s
• Cold Buffet’s usually have a
separate counter, usually laying
on a bed of Ice, which is
uniquely and creatively
decorated and presented.
• Majorly found in weddings,
business functions, festivities,
and special occasions.

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Cold Buffet’s
• The concept of Cold Buffet’s
was developed in the
American and the European
Countries.
• Cold Buffet’s are generally
of four types; Finger Buffet,
Fork Buffet, and Modern
Buffet.

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 Types of Cold Buffet’s; Finger Buffet
• Like the name, these buffet’s are
eaten with fingers and no cutlery
is provided for these.
• They are usually small tid-bits,
and eaten standing. They are very
popular in cocktails parties and
formal functions as an appetizer.
• Some of the examples are;
Nuggets, Canapes, Sliders, Fries,
Rolls, Roulades, Filled Eggs etc.

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 Types of Cold Buffet’s; Fork Buffet
• Fork Buffet items are less than the finger
buffet items, these buffet’s are usually
manned with serving staff to assist in
serving or in-case of carving the meat.
• A Fork Buffet can contain both cold and
hot food.
• Certain cold food’s from the Fork Buffet
are; Simple Salads, Compound Salads,
etc. Certain hot food’s from the Fork
Buffet are; Meat and Fish roast, Grilled
items, Tandoori Items, etc.

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 Types of Cold Buffet’s; Modern Buffet
• Modern Buffet’s offer seating
facilities to guest, as well as a fork
and knife with a large plate on their
table.
• Modern Buffet’s are also called as
American Buffet.
• Examples are; Cold Boiled Meats,
Cold Fish Preparations, Cold Roast
Meats, Cold Shellfish, etc.

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 Assembling a Cold Buffet
• Cold Buffet’s are generally
assembled in another counter away
from the hot food, they are usually
located in between or at the end of
the buffet spread.
• Cold buffet’s are assembled either
on a Round Table, Square Table,
or a Oblong Buffet Table.

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Assembling a Cold Buffet
• The size, contents, and the type
of table varies from restaurant to
restaurant.
• As in there is no fixed number of
dishes to be mandatorily served
in a Cold Buffet. In catering
business, the choice of choosing
the dishes in the Cold Buffet is
with the customer.
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Assembling a Cold Buffet
• The items in the cold buffet
should be adaptable, that is a
large group of guests must be
comfortable with the dish
presented.
• Special point to be noted is to
place dishes in small quantities,
so as to reduce wastage and
easier self-service.
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Assembling a Cold Buffet
• Start with placing individual
items such as fresh raw
vegetables on serving utensils.
Followed by Dressings,
Garnishes and Sauces.
• Then comes the main dishes of
a Cold Buffet, these can be
placed on a layer of Ice.
• A Salad Bar is the best
example of a Cold Buffet.
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Assembling a Cold Buffet

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 Assembling a Cold Buffet
• The items in the cold buffet
should be attractive in order to
attract the guests.
• Appearance of the food item sells
the dish, so prime importance
should be on the visual
appearance.

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Assembling a Cold Buffet
• Cold Buffet dishes should be
versatile in terms of colour,
texture, and cooking methods.
• Dishes should be presented on
heights, as it gives an aesthetic
appearance, a single long line of
dishes would not attract the guest.

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Sandwiches and Canapés
• Sandwiches are foods that can
be consumed either Hot or Cold,
same is the case of Canapés.
• Sandwiches and Canapés are
very commonly found in
Buffet’s under the Cold Buffet
Section.
• These dishes come under the
Finger Buffet category

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 Sandwiches
Examples of certain cold Sandwiches are;

• Chicken Walldorf Sandwich

• Salami

• Mozzarella

• Roasted Pepper Sandwich

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 Sandwiches
• Shrimp Salad Sandwich

• Muffuletta Sandwich

• Smoked Salmon Croissant Sandwich

• Parmesan Tuna Sandwich

• Caprese Sandwich with Tomato and

Peppers

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 Canapés
Examples of certain cold Canapés are

• Seasonal Vegetable & Mozzarella Frittata

Topped With Caramelized Onion

• Spiced Beetroot & Goats Cheese Tart

• Topped With Toasted Walnuts & Fresh Thyme

• Spicy Pumpkin

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 Canapés
• Pine Nut

• Marinated Chevre Tartlets  

• Poached Chicken, Parsley

• Mayo Sandwich Squares

• Pepper Crusted Grass-fed Beef With

Crispy Bread Wafer Topped With
Watercress & Horseradish Cream 

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 Use of Leftovers
• One of the major drawbacks of
a buffet style meal in any
restaurant is the wastage of
food at the end of the day due
to insufficient covers sold.
• If the Restaurant is doing good
business in-terms of sale of
buffet’s, then there is no
problem of wastage.
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Use of Leftovers
• Certain restaurants tie up
with local orphanages and
NGO’s to distribute the
leftover food for the needy
and the hungry.
• Depending on the food, they
are stored or refrigerated for
later use. But this depends
on the shelf life of the food.
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Use of Leftovers
• Leftover Seafood and Chicken can be
converted to soups or pies.
• Roasted Meats can be converted to
cold meat platters or even sandwich
fillings
• Leftover vegetables from the cold
section are added to soups or even
become part of stocks and vegetable
preparations
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Use of Leftovers
• In-case of Lunch Buffet leftovers,
the cold buffet dishes are
immediately refrigerated
(excluding the stale dishes) and
served for Dinner preparation or
Dinner Buffet.
• Dressings, Sauces and Garnishes
are usually refrigerated.
• Sometimes leftovers become a part
of the plate of the staff members.
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 Use of Leftovers
• Cold Buffet items are usually
less prone to bacterial diseases
than hot buffet items, so some
of the dishes are refrigerated.
• Sometimes, the only option left
with restaurants is to throw the
food away, in the dilemma of
whether the food is stale or not

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 Use Of Leftover
• Most leftovers are reinvented to
new dishes by the talented group
of chef’s in a restaurant.
• With proper planning and
estimating, a lot of restaurants
are overcoming this problem,
but the food business being
unpredictable, takes a toll on
them.
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