Seen at JWU: This little piggie

I had gone by Johnson & Wales Charlotte recently to have lunch with culinary dean Mark Allison when we walked through a display of work by the garde manger class.

For those who don't speak Escoffier brigade, garde manger is cold food preparation, including all those fancy noshes you see on passed hors d'ouevre trays. (You say it "gar' mahn-ZHAY," but don't ask me why the d and the r are silent. I just do as I'm told.)

The platters were coated in clear gelatin and carefully arranged with pate slices, force meat fillings, mousse swirls and crackers topped with deliciousness. After displaying it all, the students were set loose to eat it. And while lunch in the dining room was lovely as always, I would rather have been out with the kids, grazing from the platters.

I admired all the platters as expected of a guest (an experience that makes me feel like Princess Margaret inspecting the troops -- "And did one use a pastry tip? Oh, how veddy clever").

But my favorite touch with this carefully applied garnish. My guess is that it was paprika. The platter, of course, featured all pork products. Livermush should grow up to look that nice.