Golden globe menu & how to keep up with food safety at large events

Yesterday the world’s most famous TV and film stars gathered together at the 73^rd Annual Golden Globe awards.

For the 42^nd year running, the Beverley Hilton opened their doors to host the prestigious event, with Executive Chef Troy N. Thompson and Executive Pastry Chef Thomas Henzi designing the 3 course dinner for nearly 1,300 A-List guests.

Armed with a team of 40 chefs, 110 culinary staff members, 50 bartenders and 250 servers, the event did not disappoint, with a delicious menu designed to pair with the signature cocktail of the night. The Moet Ruby Red was designed by mixologist Karen Grill, which the press release described as “a modern take on a French 75 cocktail, and personal homage to The Wizard of Oz”.

Thompson said: “We’re happy to be able to showcase the talents of our chefs and culinary team members, who look forward to presenting a show-stopping menu for the guests of this prestigious star-studded event each year.”

Without further ado, here is a look at the delicious dishes:

Starter: California Market Salad

The vegetarian starter involved a mix of Asian flavours, including baby bok choy, charred Japanese eggplant and heirloom cherry tomatoes.

Main Course: Filet of Beef with Marinara Crust and Slow-Roasted Black Garlic Steelhead Trout (gluten free!)

For the vegetarian attendees, a main of salt-baked heirloom sweet potatoes with creamed corn glaze, and fricassee of winter vegetables. This was also offered in smaller quantities as a side dish.

Desert: Flourless Grand Marnier Carmella; Lemon Mousseline Croquatine; California Almond Cake; and Strawberry, Blueberry, Kiwi, and Mango Coulis Carmella Filling

A fantastic way to finish off a fantastic meal.

Food Safety

With an event of this scale, ensuring the highest standards of food safety is key to a successful meal. Here are some tips for keeping large scale events run at your premises safe:

• Preparation:
  • Ensure your HACCP documentation covers the event and that the CCPs (critical control points) for each dish have been established
  • Ensure staff who will cater the function are adequately trained o food hygiene.
  • Make sure you have enough fridge and freezer space to cope with storing the larger volumes of food – consider hiring jack stands/additional refrigeration.
  • Do not prepare food too far in advance. Although prepping is vital to reduce the workload on the night of the event, making food too far in advance reduces its quality and increases the chance of harmful bacteria reproducing.
  • Where food is precooked/seared in advance use a blast chiller to cool the food
  • Ensure all staff are briefed on the event before the start

• Temperature control during the event:
  • Avoid taking the food out of refrigeration more than 30 minutes before the event
  • Ensure any precooked food is properly reheated, stir sauces well
  • Use a probe to check the core temperature of reheated foods if appropriate
  • Keep hot food above 63^o
  • Take dishes out to guests as quickly as possible, to ensure the food is enjoyed at its best

• Hygiene:
  • Check to ensure no food handlers have had food poisoning symptoms 48 hours prior the event.
  • Use disposable gloves for plating up the starter/dessert plates.
  • Ensure regular handwashing by all staff, by providing sufficient hand washing facilities which are adequately stocked with bactericidal soap and a method to dry hands.

Food Alert specialise in ensuring our clients reach the highest compliance of food safety and health & safety, with training, safety advice and guidance. For more information contact Food Alert at enquiries@foodalert.com or call us at 020 7244 1900.

The information contained in this article has been created for marketing purposes and is not official guidance and should not be used as a substitute for official food safety, health & safety nor fire safety advice.

Food Alert take no responsibility if the information in the article is used to form part of a safety management system or used to form part of any legal or regulatory compliance for your business. For official guidance and to engage with Food Alert services please do call our team on 020 7244 1900 or email enquiries@foodalert.com