With the colder months once again upon us, your customers are sure to be clamouring for those “winter warmers” – hearty fare served hot to keep the cold at bay. Foodservice Rep Consultant Chef Adam Moore tells us what’s trending in soups, stews, casseroles and more, and Catering HQ’s Steve Sidd shares how his team put together their winter menu which is selling across 20 registered club venues.

Chef Adam Moore — Foodservice REp consultant chef **adam moore**

“Hearty winter food is all about depth of flavour,” Adam Moore points out, which as regular readers will be aware is a subject close to his heart – with his recent Essence of Flavour columns in Foodservice Rep examining various ways to create this on the menu. “What’s trending right now in winter meals are soups like cold roasted pumpkin with burnt orange butter – the pumpkin is roasted on a barbecue grill which imparts a delicious smokiness, and the burnt orange and butter is a perfect pairing. What you end up with is an elevation of flavour.

Elevating your soups to a different realm

“Soul Origin is currently doing a delicious range of soups which exemplify what I’m talking about, liked spice carrot topped with sweet sultanas, balsamic dressing and truffle. Another ideal choice in this regard is hot honey vodka tomato soup with stracciatella – hot honey is very on-trend, you’ll find it on everything from pizzas to roasted vegetables, wraps and rolls and mains.”

Adam also cites the example of miso corn potage with crispy chicken skin which he describes as “a terrific comfort food, which is what the winter menu is all about.” Kimchi is another warming ingredient which is rising in popularity with diners, and Adam suggests kimchi potato soup with bacon jam as a go-to winter menu item. “It’s relatively easy to come up with recipes like this – you can use readymade powders or liquid soups, and just by adding your kimchi and bacon jam you’ve elevated the soup to a different realm.”

“It’s comfort food and it’s not just about warming but filling the customer”

— Chef Adam Moore

Other choices include smoked mushroom soup with black garlic velouté, and Adam has also seen a charred cauliflower soup with brown butter dukkha. “It’s all about warming ingredients, hearty spices – laksa is another terrific choice, for example a laksa bisque with butter poached prawns. Asian fusion is always popular, so what could be better than fusing a laksa with a bisque? Then with the addition of the butter poached prawns you’ve created a dish that’s virtually a full meal.”

He makes the point that soups today tend to be far more substantial than in the past – “it’s comfort food and it’s not just about warming but filling the customer. We’re seeing far more inclusions, more textural contrast – soups are no longer primarily regarded as lighter entrées, instead they’re becoming hero meals in their own right. This is also down to the current economic climate, with customers turning to cheaper options on the menu – but at the same time, they want something filling. Soups are a perfect choice because their liquid content makes them relatively cost-effective to produce, but with judicious use of inclusions you can nevertheless ensure they’re flavoursome and satisfying.”

Asian influences trending in casseroles

Casseroles are another popular winter choice which provide plenty of opportunity for the creative chef.

“Often you can take a classic dish like moussaka or paella and find a contemporary approach which freshens it up”

“You can make a beautiful burnt onion and red wine beef cheek casserole – rather than using beef cheeks as centre of plate, why not make something a little more luxurious? Another option is lamb neck with pearl barley and rosemary – in both cases the meat is sticky and unctuous, which is just what you want in a casserole. Asian influences are also trending strongly in casseroles right now – like Korean gochujang with beef short rib in a hot pot with shitake mushrooms. Gochujang is a spicy fermented paste made from capsicum and red chilli and it has a beautiful fermented flavour, which makes it ideal for braising meats.”

Adding a distinctive twist

Classic Greek comfort food moussaka is also trending on winter menus – “I’m seeing a lot of these right now,” Adam reports, “for example a smoked eggplant and lamb moussaka, where you have the richness of the lamb complemented by the distinctive texture of the eggplant, similar to a lasagne but done in the authentic Greek style. Seafood rice casseroles are another popular choice this year; rather than a standard paella, chefs are using more liquid and ingredients like fresh prawns and mussels.

“Often you can take a classic dish like moussaka or paella and find a contemporary approach which freshens it up and adds a distinctive twist. Recently I’ve seen buffalo chicken macaroni cheese – which was done very differently to the traditional recipe, using three cheeses, smoked chicken and a drizzle of ranch dressing on top. Poultry is a great choice for winter and don’t overlook duck – I recently saw a duck cassoulet with black garlic and smoked white beans which again was inspired by classic French cooking but the chef had taken it to a new level, finishing it with orange parsley gremolata. You’re really getting into unctuous territory with a recipe like that – black garlic is so rich to start with, and the gremolata finishes the dish off beautifully. I’ve even seen what would otherwise have been pasta bakes but without the pasta – for example a slow roasted pumpkin bake with wattleseed and burnt butter and sweet potato macadamia.”

Focus on depth of flavour

He adds this focus on depth of flavour also extends to entrees, citing examples like whipped feta with fermented grapes, pistachio and honey charred cabbage. “It’s coming across a few categories – even things like sticky lamb ribs with Davidson plum glaze; that’s an entrée which takes the casserole concept to the next level. Another example is crispy pork collar with sticky tamarind caramel served on lettuce cups filled with herb salad - it’s an entrée but it’s definitely a winter warmer. Again it’s an Asian-French fusion approach and those styles work really well together.

Looking back to the classics

Catering hq managing director **steve sidd**

As managing director of Catering HQ which runs the food offerings in multiple registered clubs, Steve Sidd has his finger firmly on the pulse of what’s trending across this popular market. At the time this interview was conducted, his team had just completed planning out their winter menu which went live across 20 venues from June 1.

“We’ve just secured a further three venues,” Steve reports – “Camden Golf Club is going online first, followed by Nelson Bay Bowling Club and Club Jervis Bay on July 1. Obviously club management likes that we come in with a full catering solution, we change menus frequently and we provide all the marketing collateral so the clubs don’t have to chase us. In this market you have to be organised and looking forward – costs are going up and it’s important to change with the seasons to ensure you make your margins, along with responding to changes in product availability.

Hearty winter fare is the focus of Catering HQ’s latest menu – “we’ve added items like slow cooked beef brisket, a lamb shoulder, ragout pasta, pulled lamb rigatoni,” Steve says. “The focus is very much on slow cooked meats and heavier style dishes. We’re using lots of fresh spices like ginger and we have a bit of a fusion thing going – like kimchi slaw with pork belly. A lot of those Asian style dishes are proving very popular with the club market in the colder months.

Club Venue Winter Menu — **CASTLE HILL RSL** WINTER MENU selection FROM CATERING HQ

“We’ve also looked back to the classics and added dishes like seafood bisque because we want to include meals that are comforting and familiar. There’s a lot of cost of living pressures right now, with interest rates back on the rise and the uncertainty of the international situation, but people still want to be able to dine out and they’re looking for meals that they recognise and are comfortable with. We always have lunch specials on our menus too and we’ve added winter dishes to these like Malaysian Thai coconut prawn curry and warm lentil salad.”

“People don’t want overcomplicated food when they’re coming out to dine for a nice comfort experience”

— Catering HQ managing director Steve Sidd

Keep the presentation style simple

Steve says the key to the success of these meals is to keep the presentation style simple and direct. “We deliberately limit the number of steps to plate and serve each dish, we let the centre of plate speak for itself – the protein should be the standout, we want it to shine. For example with our lamb shoulder, we’ve slow cooked it, taken it off the bone, removed all the fat and moulded it into a medallion – it’s just beautiful and melts in your mouth.

“I think this presentation style appeals because people don’t want overcomplicated food when they’re coming out to dine for a nice comfort experience. They want to be out enjoying themselves and the food should provide them with peace of mind. I think some chefs go too far into complex tastes and flavour combos, whereas we have pared these recipes back to hearty meals which people can just enjoy for what they are.”

“It’s all about keeping it affordable and maintaining that value proposition with the customer”

The new winter menu consists of 44 items, plus five lunch specials which change monthly across June, July and August and four dinner specials across Monday to Thursday nights. “We’ve changed every dish except for our classics like fish and chips and chicken schnitzel which customers expect on the menu all year round,” Steve says. “I think changing with the seasons is very important – our clientele comes daily, weekly or fortnightly so you need to keep them interested, and people always look forward to seeing the new menus. The specials are there to drive foot traffic during the early part of the week, because they’re cost-effective for our customers – a $17 lunch special can be cheaper than making your own lunch at home. What we find is they will come earlier in the week for the specials, and they’ll see what else is on the menu and then often come back on the weekend with friends to experience those dishes too. It’s all about keeping it affordable and maintaining that value proposition with the customer.”

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Soups and Sauces - Menu Inspiration

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