82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Dacambar 1,1984
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
HERSHEY There are few
times throughout the year when
food takes on more prominent
place in seasonal entertainment
than during the Christmas
holidays.
But, do you “serve” food to your
holiday guests? Or do you
“present” it?
Bill Trautman is a professional
who practices creative art of foods
presentation. Assistant general
manager of food and beverages at
the Hershey Convention Center,
Trautman oversees all meal
service responsibilities for con
vention events well as the Center’s
restaurants and lounges.
There are only 35 certified food
and beverage executives in the
country, and Trautman was one of
the first to complete the year-long
study course, which finishes with a
four-hour proctored test.
Food has always been a vital
part of Bill Trautman’s life. Raised
in Lebanon County, he became
acquainted early with his grand
father’s country butchering
business.
“I grew up with country-butcher
foods, and learned a love of that
type food as a boy; plus, my
grandmother was a wonderful
cook,” says the food executive.
His mother was employed in the
The “Bird of Paradise”
apple is created by making a
series of V-shaped cuts into
the top and sides of the fruit.
Cut edges are dipped in
lemon juice to keep from
browning, then replaced at
staggered intervals,
sweeping backward, to form
the look of wings and a tail. A
head and neck piece is
carved from a section of
apple removed from the
bottom to allow the bird to
stand on a flat surface.
Cloves stud the head for
eyes.
Over lunch in one of the Convention Center’s antique-decorated restaurants,
Trautman confers with Hershey's food and beverage director Janies Schall.
Food executive shows how to present attractive holiday foods
food industry all her life, working
with the Verls Salads firm of
Fredericksburg. It was there, at
age 14, that Trautman landed his
food-service job in the kitchens of
this country salad and catering
establishment.
Jobs at other food service
businesses followed. Having
started as a dishwasher, then
progressing to grill work, and on
up the ladder of food-service jobs,
Trautman has truly learned his
profession from the ground up.
Prior to joing the Hershey Con
vention Center’s staff 14 years ago,
he was bn the staff of the Hershey
Country Club.
Trautman’s philosophy has
always been to focus food service
specialities on locally available
fresh items, and to be creative with
it. An eight-week course of study,
about a year ago at the Culinary
Institute of America further
reinforced his emphasis on local
foods.
Considered by many experts as
the top food school in the world, the
Hyde Park, New York, Culinary
Institute is actively promoting
“American regional cookery,”
highlighting the meats, poultry,
fish and fresh vegetables and fruits
popular to the various
geographical areas of the country.
To Trautman’s surprise, the first
recipe he was given to work with at
the Institute was a Pennsylvania
Dutch regional favorite—chicken
com soup.
But presentation, or the
decorating of foods to please the
eye as well as the palate, is a
special love of ’Trautman’s. With
just a simple apple, orange,
piheapple or pear, his professional
creativity turns out a picture
perfect presentation worthy of
cookbook-cover status.
Take plain canned pears, fpr
instance. Many farm women have
several quarts of these sitting on a
basement shelf.
Don’t just plop those pale pear
halves in an everyday plastic
dessert dish or saucer. Instead,
add a bit of creme de menthe
flavoring, available in the
supermarket gourmet section, to
the syrup that flavors the pear
slices. If mint flavoring doesn’t
appeal to your tastes, green food
coloring can lend the same effect.
Then, place the pear halves in
stemmed glassware dessert
dishes, dribble over a few
spoonfuls of the pretty green
syrup, and garnish with a stem
med maraschino cherry. You can’t
get much more holiday-looking - or
simpler-than that.
Fresh pears are plentiful, too,
and whole, poached ones also
make a Trautman favorite. Peel
around the sides, but leave a small
“cap” of peel at the top around the
stem. Core from the bottom, so
Hershey’s food executive Bill Trautman skewers fresh, uncapped strawberries onto a
pineapple for a finger-food buffet focal point.
that when the preparation is
finished, the pear from the outside
still appears whole, peeled, but
stem attached.
Poach is a light syrup. For an
attractive red coloring, add cin
namon candy hearts to dissolve in
the syrup as it simmers with the
pears, or a dash of amaretto
flavoring, also found in market
gourmet sections. Serve the pear,
set upright, in a stemmed glass
dessert dish, accented with the
ruby-colored syrup.
Pineapples have traditionally
been symbols of hospitality and
remain popular around the holiday
season. For party nibblers, a
pineapple can become part of the
serving equipment, as well as an
interesting buffet focal point.
Trautman selects an at
tractively-shaped, fresh, ripe
pineapple, than studs it at in
tervals all around with sturdy,
round toothpicks. Onto each
toothpick goes a fresh, uncapped
strawberry, which can then be
removed for eating as a finger
food, perhaps with a favorite dip.
Other fruit, such as pineapple
chunks, may be used as well.
Pineapple chunks also work well
for party nibbling when served
threaded on a toothpick, along with
a chunk of boned, cooked ham. For
an entree item, larger skewers
allow for alternating several
chunks of ham and pineapple.
Apples remain one of the most
popular and readily available local
fruits, and their cheerful colors are
pleasing additions to holiday
menues.
Trautman has devised a number
Simple foods take on a festive look with just a few creative
touches: clockwise from lower left, canned pears in minty
green syrup; fresh strawberries skewered on pineapple;
"Bird of Paradise" apple; a fresh, poached pear becomes
party fare. Holly sprigs - or pyracantha with its bright berries -
lend the perfect seasonal touch of greenery to foods and party
tables.
of interesting and creative ways to
incorporate apples into his
presentations, including using the
fruit as a condiment serving
container.
He simply cuts off the top of an
apple, then hollows out the center
of the bottom part, saving the
usable pulp for other recipes. The
remaining cavity can be filled with
a condiment such as mustard, or a
dip for other foods, with the apple
top serving as the cover until
V&tnesiead
needed. A green pepper, or even a
cucumber, can be used in the same
manner, and add eye-appealing
color contrast.
Even a simple baked apple can
become guest fare. Trautman likes
to core and completely peel a
whole apple for each serving, then
put a blend of cinnamon, sugar,
nutmeg and bit of butter in the
apple. Apples are set in a baking
pan, with a little water in the
bottom, along with a bit of brandy
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