LESSON 7

PREPARING
APPETIZERS
They call them antipasto in Italian, hors
d’oeuvres in French, and pampagana in
Tagalog. These are appetizers- the food
served at the beginning of formal
dinners or meals. Everyone can have
their pampagana before taking full
meals.
APPETIZERS
 What are Appetizers?
APPETIZERS are an assortment of delicacies,
served in small or bite-sized portions.
These consist of a variety of foods such as nuts, cheese,
canapés, hors d’oeuvres, fancy cakes and sandwiches, stuffed
eggs, crunchy vegetables with dips, grilled fillets, shrimps,
squids, oysters, mussels, cocktail hotdogs, sausages, meat,
livers, hams, bacon, and chicken.

Appetizer can fill in lightly the hungry stomachs

of guests as they wait and gather while the
main courses of the meal are being prepared.
 Nutritional Value of Appetizers
Because appetizers are taken lightly, they can
provide nutrients that can either supplement
or complement the nutrients provided in a
major meal.
Different appetizers contain a mixture of
protein (shrimps, fishes, sausages, eggs, meat,
hams, bacon, etc) vitamins & minerals (fruits
and vegetables), carbohydrates (bread, cakes,
pastries, nuts), and fats (cream, cheese, mayo
dips, etc.)
CLASSIFICATION
OF APPETIZERS
 1. FRUIT
APPETIZERS
These are light and refreshing fruits in season-
fresh or preserved, sliced, diced, or scooped; in
ice cream or syrup; frozen, chilled, or thawed;
on toothpicks, in glass bowls, in cocktail dishes,
and on fruit cups.
 2. CANAPÉS
These are small pieces of bread, toast, or
crackers spread or topped with a highly
seasoned food mixture made of any of the
Marinated Shrimp
following: anchovies, crab meat, shrimps,
Canapé
chickens, meat, eggs, chicken livers, hams,
bacon, sausages, luncheon meat, and cold
cuts or combination of these.

Bacon and Tomato

Cream Cheese Canapé
 2. CANAPÉS
These also include vegetables such as
mushrooms, parsley, olives, bell peppers or
pimiento, and onions used as a garnish to
enhance the flavor, texture, and color of the
canapés
 2. CANAPÉS
We can also add mayonnaise and other sauces
like tomato sauce, condiment or chili sauce, and
mustard; dairy products like butter, cheese, and
milk; and spices like garlic powder, paprika, and
salt.
 3. GRILLED OR OVER-THE-
COAL APPETIZERS
These are commonly served in outdoor functions
wherein grilling food takes place. Marshmallows,
meat, chickens, sausages, bacon, livers,
hamburgers, shrimps, fish fillets, squids, oysters,
tahong, and even fruits and veg. are skewered on
fine barbecue stick.
 4. PARTY BREAD AND
PASTRIES
Mostly common in a children’s party such as rolls,
muffins, puffs, empanada. These come with attractive
colors, various shapes, and with different fillings such
as peanut butter, jelly, jam, cheese, butter, ham,
bacon, and eggs with mayonnaise.
5. TASTY TIDBITS
These include assorted cheeses,
nuts, chips, pickled, fresh, or dried
preserved fruits and vegetables.
 6. VEGETABLE
HORS D’OEUVRES
These are salty, tart, or crisp food that use
vegetable slices as the base. They differ
slightly with most canapés, which make
use of bread, toast or crackers as the base,
but their fillings and toppings are almost
similar. This kind of appetizer includes
celery stalks, eggplants, turnips, and
lettuce.
 7. BEVERAGES
These are seasonal or specially
prepared drinks, which include punch, a
beverage that generally contains a
mixture of fruit juice, and some other
beverage, often alcoholic. They can be
alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Punch
spiced with distilled liquor is appropriate
for adult guests. Fruit juices, milk punch,
or chocolate beverages are appropriate
for children.
Preparing and Serving Appetizers
The following are some guidelines in preparing
appetizers for a party or similar celebrations:

1. Prepare dishes that you are already familiar with.

2. Consider the age, gender, occupation,
nationality, or religion of the guests and the
occasion.
Preparing and Serving Appetizers
3. Make sure that the expenses are within your
food budget. The quantity and quality of the food
you may serve will depend on how much money is
allotted. Do not overspend.

4. Keep the season in mind. For instance, summer

parties need cool and refreshing appetizers such
as fresh fruits, ice-cold beverages, and sandwiches
with light fillings and pastries.
Preparing and Serving Appetizers

5. Prepare food that is easy to serve.

6. Plan ahead. Make a complete list of the items

that you need and be sure to purchase them in one
trip. Always check and recheck to see if everything
is available when needed.
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers
7. Do not overfeed or underfeed your guests. For
appetizers, have only 1 to 3 light servings so that
the guests are not full when the main course is
served. However, if it is an open-ended party that
may last for several hours, a variety of appetizers
like canapés, hors d’oeuvres, and beverages can
be served.
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers

8. Make your own multicolored and multiflavored

ice cubes by adding food coloring, peppermint,
orange, lemon, lime, or pandan flavors to the water
in ice trays before freezing to perk up the taste and
appearance of your punch.
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers
9. Vary the floats in your punch bowls using
chopped apples, cherries, sliced oranges, diced
multicolored gelatin. Flowers like roses, gardenias,
and lilies will also serve as attractive decors.

10. Use multicolored pieces of party bread sliced

in any shape you like as a base for canapés.
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers
11. Create variations in your mayonnaise. Green
mayonnaise can be made by adding spinach
puree; red mayonnaise by adding paprika, tomato,
or cayenne pepper; nippy mayonnaise by adding
horseradish, condiments, sauce, white or chili
pepper; and cheese mayonnaise by adding
shredded cheese. These variations, also called dips,
are good for crunchy vegetable.
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers

PAPRIKA CAYENNE
SPINACH PUREE

CHEESE
MAYONNAISE

HORSERADISH
MAYONNAISE
 Preparing and Serving Appetizers

12. Try mayonnaise dips with crunchy vegetables

such as celery, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, turnip,
radish, tomato, mushroom, and the like.
Preparing and Serving Appetizers
 Health and Safety Practices in
Preparing Appetizers

Safety practices should be strictly observed in

preparing appetizers to ensure the health of the
customers or family members who partake of the
food.
 Health and Safety Practices in
Preparing Appetizers
1. Wear appropriate and clean working clothes.
2. Wear a mask, especially when sick and
coughing. Open wounds or cuts should be treated
properly, disinfected, and covered with sterilize
gauze. Sick employees, on the other hand, should
be advised not to report to work.
 Health and Safety Practices in
Preparing Appetizers
3. Wear clean gloves in handling food and other
ingredients to avoid contamination.
4. Keep working areas and premises clean, free
from clutter, dirt or dust, and focal wastes. Working
surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected
properly.
 Health and Safety Practices in
Preparing Appetizers

5. Kitchen tools, utensils, and equipment should be

thoroughly washed, cleaned, and dried before
being used during food preparation process.
6. Store appetizers in clean and safe storage area
with prescribed temperature to maintain its quality.
 Ways of Presenting Appetizers
1. Place and arrange appetizers individually in
multicolored paper cups, stainless steel, glass,
ceramic, porcelain platters and trays or canapé
trays.
 Ways of Presenting Appetizers
2. Appetizers can be served whole or portion-
controlled by cutting them into bite-sized portions
such as savory cakes, cupcakes, muffins, bread,
pastries and cold cuts like sausages, hotdogs,
hams, bacon, and the like.
 Ways of Presenting Appetizers

3. Cover the whole pumpkin or squash and bottle

gourd or upo with foil. Stick the wrapped
vegetable, hotdog flowerets, marshmallows, and
sliced pickles held with cocktail toothpicks into the
foil.
 Ways of Presenting Appetizers
4. You can also arrange appetizers in rotating trays
like Lazy Susan, platforms, or multilayered fruit
trays. Appetizers skewered in toothpicks can be
served warm in chafing dish.
 Storing Appetizers
• Newly prepared appetizers and left over
appetizers need to be stored and kept properly
to maintain its freshness and edibility and must
be served at the proper temperature.
Hot appetizers should be served hot, and cold
appetizers must be stored in the refrigerator or
chiller prior to serving and after serving,
especially when some appetizers are left
untouched.
 Storing Appetizers
• Appetizers placed carefully in trays and covered with
foil, or in plastic containers with lids, or can be covered
with plastic wrapper. Covering them when in trays or
containers prevent the appetizers from drying up when
exposed to cold temperature, which can affect their
natural color, texture, and flavor.
Store dips, mayonnaise, and other dressings separately
from the appetizers to prevent appetizers from being wet
and soggy, which might affect its freshness and flavor.