CIPD Awards

I was in Manchester last night at the CIPD People Management Awards 2009.This was my first awards do and part of the night included a meal. The menu was:

Roast butternut soup with curry crème fraîche
***
Chicken Ballontine (sic) with spinach mousseline, chantenay carrots and fondant potato with a pea velouté
***
Raspberry and Belgian white chocolate cheesecake with a raspberry sorbet

On the face of it, it sounds pretty good. Let me give you a tour of the meal:

Roast butternut soup with curry crème fraîche

I'm not sure that the orangeness was due to butternut squash, I guess it must have been, but it sure didn't taste of butternut squash. It was a very thick pureé with almost no flavour. Seasoning anyone?

Chicken Ballontine (sic) with spinach mousseline, chantenay carrots and fondant potato with a pea velouté

So, a dry tasteless chicken filled with a green tasteless mush, accompanied by a soft but flavourless potato and a green flavourless sauce. The carrots were good though. I'm sure a dash of seasoning would have helped.

Raspberry and Belgian white chocolate cheesecake with a raspberry sorbet

The pudding is always a delightful way to end a meal, except in this case. A white chocolate cheesecake that didn't really taste of white chocolate, just sweet cheese. The biscuit base was far from crunchy. Perhaps I am being a little harsh it was definitely better than either of the preceding courses.

Seriously though, a physalis (aka cape gooseberry)? Does any one ever actually eat these ridiculous fruits or are the UK's entire supply reserved for decorating desserts at mass catering events?

So, it would seem that the key to catering on a large scale is to go bland. Or maybe salt and pepper just haven't reached Manchester yet...

P.S. That's a joke!