F&B

Gueridon flambé: A part of history?

Sattyen Bhoyar

Sattyen Bhoyar

Henery Charpenter, the man who introduced the gueridon service must be proud of his contribution to the world of hospitality. And why not? The one-time gueridon flambé service was the pride of hotels and gave many an opportunity to food and beverage service personnel to exhibit their skills. Moreover, guests were used to watching their dishes cooked in front of them. Not only that, the aroma was used to stimulate the appetite of the other guests.

However, with time the service slowly died down. It became unpopular, so much so that it finds mention only in the curriculum for academicians and a few kitchens in some parts of the world, which is a matter of concern. Hoteliers put forward the following reasons for the unpopularity of gueridon flambé:

A) More space required
A) Safety concerns
B) Specially skilled staff
C) Innovation in recipes
D) The cost factor

It is the need of the hour to make efforts to make it popular among guests and to give the gueridon flambé service back its glory and pride. Just like the chef keeps on experimenting and discovering new and traditional recipes, in the same fashion the F&B professional should come up with plans to get over the limitations of the gueridon flambé service. The points given below may be useful to achieve the said objective:

• Modify the gueridon trolley: The main reason given by the hotelier is that the gueridon trolleys occupy more space due to which they are bound to lose more cover. To overcome this, we need to understand that it will be wise on our part to modify the trolley and make it a single burner. This will reduce the width and occupy less space. The frame structure should be made of aluminum which will be light and it should have a glass cover so that guests can see their order being prepared.
• Safety and skilled staff: With modern-day technology, safety can be enhanced, especially since most five-star hotels have automatic water sprinklers. Moreover, proper training of service staff can reduce the cost of safety and will help boost sales. The trained waiter can double up as a good entertainer to make the guests' visit memorable.
• Innovation in recipes
  Guests who know about the gueridon flambé service say that the dishes offered through this service are limited and they are bored with the same old crepe suzette, banana flambé, steak, pineapple, etc. It is our responsibility to experiment with various cuisines which can go with spirits used in flambé. One should also experiment with regional cuisine and popular dishes. For example, chicken tandoori flambé and shallow fried fish flambé can become popular among guests.
• The cost factor: About four to five decades ago, the service was expensive and said to be apt for celebrities and royal family. But the booming economy and the growing spending power of the common man has led to an increase in popularity of gueridon flambé.

By giving thought to the above points, F&B service professionals and hoteliers can lead F&B to a new era of the gueridon flambé and save it from becoming a part of history.

The writer is lecturer for F&B Service at Tuli College of Hotel Management, Nagpur