So Many Pavlovas and Sandwiches

Today began out as a nice, quiet, enjoyable day for me. First thing I was put to work making the pavlovas for tonight’s wedding – all 240 of them! I didn’t mind doing them though, the usual pastry chef didn’t want to do them, but I suppose over the years she has done many more pavlovas than me and grown sick of them. The meringue bases were already done, so I just needed to pipe the swirls of cream on top and add the fresh fruit. Most of the fresh fruit had already been cut up – but I had to prepare the strawberries, blueberries, and kiwifruit – tricky to slice thinly enough because they were so ripe and we didn’t have a lot of them. So I was set up in the old cookery school kitchen, which now serves as more of a storage area, with ten trays of twenty-four pavlovas all lined up, and I began an assembly line decorating them. The fruit has to be put on in a certain order – slice of cantaloupe, pineapple slice, mango slice to the right, plum slice to the right, slice of kiwi at an angle, strawberry half on top and two blueberries on the front. It must be done in this order. I find it most efficient to work one tray at a time and do all the cantaloupe, then all the pineapple, etc. Although I always want to be working quickly, these pavlovas need to be done with a delicate touch and everything needs to be placed on meticulously. I was alone in this room for the morning, and it took me a couple of hours to complete the pavlovas, but it was quiet and peaceful and I enjoyed the work. Pastry is where my heart really lies. I could do these delicate, tedious tasks all day. There is no immediate pressure, but later on the plates of desserts are stunning!

After I finished the pavlovas, I moved on to making sandwiches for the evening buffet. There were no afternoon canapés for today’s wedding, but rather a larger evening buffet. I had to make 150 sandwiches of assorted fillings. Good thing I am used to making sandwiches in the bar and don’t mind making sandwiches either. I worked in the upstairs kitchen and chatted with the breakfast chef while I worked, until he left, then I was alone again. I had to cut all the sandwiches and artistically arrange them on a bunch of plates, then make sure they were well wrapped. 

It is surprising how long it takes to make 240 pavlovas and 150 sandwiches, and how fast this makes the day go by. Good thing dinner was set later tonight – 7:00p.m. The wedding service was slightly different today, as the numbers were so large, so we were working the entire time – dressing starters, pouring and garnishing soup, plating different mains, setting out dessert plates, etc. Overall, the service went very smoothly, however as always with large numbers, everyone is more stressed and on edge, so the servers and managers were a little cranky. 

rows and rows of pavlovas

Today's menu was as follows:
Canapés: Scones with preserves and cream
Starter: Salad of Asparagus and Smoked Chicken, pickled girolles, hazelnut dressing, garden herbs
Bread: Wheat bread, raisin rolls, sesame seeded rolls, white rolls, caraway rolls, red pepper rolls
Soup:  Garden Pea with Mint Crème Fraiche
Sorbet: Orchard Apple and Pear
Main Course Option #1 – Meat: Sirloin Steak cooked medium, Crushed Potatoes with Garlic and Spinach, Carrot and Coriander Purée, Rich Red Wine Jus
Main Course Option #2 – Fish: Grilled Salmon, Salad of Fennel marinated in Lemon, Baby Spinach, Vierge Dressing
Side Dishes: Roast Baby Potatoes, and Roast carrots, onions, parsnip, and turnip.
Dessert: Pavlova with Fresh Fruit, Strawberry Purée, and Chantilly Cream
Petits Fours Assortment: madeleines, cranberry white fudge, fruit jellies, flaked white chocolate truffles, Belgian dark chocolate truffles. 
Evening Buffet – Chip Cones, Chicken Goujons, Biscuit Cake, Chocolate Cake;
Sandwich Assortment: Egg Salad with onion and lettuce, Cheese with tomato and lettuce, Turkey with cranberry chutney and lettuce, ham with tomato and mayo, roast beef with onion marmalade, tuna with vegetables, on white and brown bread.