Escoffier On Line

I am certain that gumbos, etouffes, and the like containing shrimp and crawfish, etc. cannot be held at proper temp without over cooking the seafood. How do you suggest preparing these wonderful concoctions in professional kitchen?

Hi,

Really depends the kind of volume you are doing,
and the nature of service.

For big volume batch it in amounts that you will sell out in about 20 minutes.

If you are only selling a couple of portions in an hour keep the base soup or stew in the steam table and have the seafood proportioned in cups in the cooler on ice.

Season the seafood then a quick sear in an appropriate preheated pot or pan add hot soup or stew over, bring up to heat, plate garnish and out.

Proportioning the seafood really helps all patrons getting a good portion of the protein and you to know and control your food costs.

Heck if you are peeling the shrimp yourself you could even put the shells in cheese cloth and use that in your soup for flavor.

Cheers,

G

Thanks! I have not worked in a commercial kitchen, so "batch it in amounts that you will sell out in about 20 minutes" is difficult for me to understand. Could you explain that for me? Thanks again!

Thats just jargon for only preparing what you anticiapte you will need for a set time period..