Posted to News on 14th Jun 2012, 00:00
Mourning the demise of the humble vol au vent...
It's been pointed out to me - more an observation than a criticism, I like to think - that I tend to spend quite a lot of time banging on about UK manufacturing. So for a complete change this month, I think it's worth asking whatever happened to the vol au vent, once the king of the buffet table but now seemingly consigned to the culinary annuls of history. I gather that through the 50s and 60s it was impossible to visit a buffet table without finding all manner and varieties of vol au vents, in different shapes and sizes and with a delightful assortment of fillings. As a youngster, I distinctly remember family gatherings through the 70s where vol au vents took pride of place on the buffet table, and were frequently the centre points of the post-lunch discussion.
>But I began to wonder the other day when it was that I last saw a vol au vent gracing a buffet table. Certainly these days they are few and far between, and you have to ask why, particularly when it seems we, as a nation, are so good at producing them. The demise of the vol au vent through the 80s and 90s is shocking, but perhaps even more so is the fact that no one really seems to have noticed. Only when you mention it - and that's something I've done a lot over the last couple of weeks - do people really begin to appreciate what we've lost.
>I asked my children what they thought of vol au vents, and they had no idea what I was talking about - that's an eleven year old and an eight year old who have never even seen a vol au vent. And you can bet that there will be young people coming up through schools and universities who will one day be planning their first buffets for whom vol au vents won't even be an option under consideration.
>So where has it all gone wrong? I suspect there are two issues at work. The first is that a vol au vent is harder to prepare than other buffet options, requiring much more effort. Other buffet foods are quicker, easier and cheaper to prepare, but are ultimately less satisfying. The second factor is the flood of cheap, low quality, mass produced, pre-packaged vol au vents that, while they may look the part, tend to leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth. The inexperienced buffet host may not realise there is such a quality gulf between these and the home produced vol au vents, but really there is no substitute. The result is that, gradually, more and more people have been turned off vol au vents as a buffet option and subsequently the vol au vent's contribution to the buffet table has declined. Which is a shame because a successful, thriving buffet needs a healthy plate of vol au vents at its heart. As a matter of urgency, we must rebalance the buffet table in favour of the humble vol au vent, or risk losing it completely.
>There we go, then. If my count is correct, that's 500 words of incisive comment and analysis, and not a single reference to UK manufacturing.
Mark Simms, 14 June 2012
