An Overview of Food Preparation What everyone in hospitality should know

about the business of food and how professional kitchens work

Situations where kitchens are located

There is a huge diversity of establishments within the hospitality industry

Whilst many sell and serve food; the target market and style of food sold differs

Establishments involved in food production

Restaurants Cafes Taverns Hotels Motels Schools Roadhouses Hospitals Prisons Clubs casinos

Bistros Cafeterias Industrial canteens Transport (air, rail, sea) Colleges and universities Fast food outlets The armed services Function/convention centres Emergency and relief catering Outside or event catering Community services

Food production kitchens vary in size, output, staffing levels, hours of operation, levels of staff experience, available equipment and capacity of equipment.

Lets look closely at some examples:

Fine dining restaurants

A fine dining restaurant can be defined as having an international or classic menu

A classic menu is one that has a certain sense of style and presentation.

The kitchen brigade in fine dining restaurants operate on the traditional old European model.

Fine dining restaurants cont’d This style of restaurant may be located as part of

an international hotel or may stand alone. It should be noted that such restaurants , because of high operating costs , present a considerable economic risk.

A restaurant operating as part of an international hotel or resort is likely to be subsidised by the overall food and beverage operation, because the establishment may consider the restaurant to be prestigious to its target market.

Fine Dining Restaurants cont’d The pace of service is leisurely with usually only

one sitting within the designated dining period. A customer dining in this style of restaurant can

enjoy a sophisticated atmosphere and be served by experienced, highly skilled staff.

This type of food service usually commands the highest prices for food and service in order to cover costs of quality ingredients and very experienced staff in both the kitchen and dining room areas.

Layout of a fine dining kitchen The physical kitchen layout is usually well

planned with separate areas for members of the brigade who have preparation and cookery responsibility for certain dishes and/or areas of the establishment’s menu.

Food may be plated up: all items on the plate and then served to the guest or

Served on a gueridon trolley: each item meal on a separate tray on the trolley and the waiter silver serves ( using a fork and spoon) the food onto the guests plate.

Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove: The Fireplace Restaurant

Mise en place :A French term referring to having all the ingredients

necessary for a dish prepared and ready to combine up to the point of

cooking.

Chefs preparation bench

The finished product!!!!!

A la Carte / Bistro restaurant A la carte restaurants are usually less formal than

fine dining restaurants ( yet may still be stylish) They make up the largest category of restaurants. Most are moderately priced (but some are fairly

expensive) and offer a menu that is extensive, varied and interesting, often incorporating different cooking styles and nationalities. Some a la carte restaurants focus wholly on a cultural theme and specialise in one cuisine.

A la carte restaurants cont’d

The kitchen staff vary in skill level and organisational structure depending on the particular establishment.

Generally there is multi-skilling between staff members to a greater degree than a formal restaurant, with kitchen staff performing many more varied tasks and often providing meals for more than one sitting.

A la carte restaurant cont’d The food production team is usually smaller than

that within the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant. The layout is usually simpler and similarly there is

usually less equipment. The organisation is less formal and structured and

some food items may be purchased in a prepared state as the establishment’s labour force is limited.

The travel industry Food production is a major part of the travel

industry Airline food production takes place in well-

equipped and very clean kitchens near airport facilities

Airline food preparation is characterised by the use of high technology techniques using either cook-chill or cook-freeze

Travel Industry cont’d These systems maintain plated foods for set

periods of time at a hygienically safe level. Staff preparing foods would include a range of

kitchen hands and process workers along with dieticians and highly qualified chefs.

The chef’s fulfil a dual role of firstly providing limited special dietary/ethnic/religious dishes and first class meals and secondly having a managerial responsibilities such as food purchasing and staff rostering.

Railway Food Railway food may be pre-cooked similarly

to airline food or cooked whilst in transit by trained cooks and chefs in a specially prepared kitchen called a galley.

Most country area trains have pre-prepared simple meals that just need to be reheated by an attendant who doubles as a bar attendant and a food attendant.

Railway kitchens Interstate and long distance rail travel like

The Ghan provide a more sophisticated food production unit with trained cooks and chefs preparing foods in the galley while the train is in motion.

Some long distance trains provide different menus for first class, tourist class and economy passengers.

Hospitals and prisons Hospitals and prisons are another sector of

the food production operations that have a “captive audience”

In prisons the ‘customer’ or ‘guest’ has very little offered in the way of service and relies upon the financial and welfare policies of each state and territories.

Prison and Hospital Kitchens Food production staff vary from the very

experienced head chef (often termed the food service manager as this person must not only have food knowledge but be able to control a tight food and labour budget ) to food production staff such as trained and qualified chefs.

Most welfare establishments operate on a cyclical menu- that is , a set menu operating for breakfast , lunch and dinner and repeated every 28 days.

Outside Catering Outside or event catering requires food

production to be managed in a different location to the main or central kitchen.

Food production is usually for a specific event such as a wedding in a marquee or for a special event such as a carnival, race meeting or street festival, where food may also be provided in a marquee.

                    

Outside Catering cont’d Forms of outside catering include spit

roasting, barbeques, picnics and formal sit-down meals.

Food production staff need to be very well organised in order to orchestrate these functions as all food and equipment must be taken to the venue to be set up.

Outside catering cont’d The food production staff need to set up a

temporary on-site kitchen and hire portable large kitchen equipment.

This style of catering demands that staff also fully understand the on-site legalities, such as local health regulations, car parking restrictions, garbage disposal and utility functions such as gas/electiricity supply.

Outside catering cont’d These functions and events require great

detail in planning; as with shipping, running out of food or equipment has no solution.

Staff have to be versatile: such areas of catering require people who are not only multi-skilled in kitchen operations but are also able to perform duties such as setting up portable kitchen equipment or organising front of house staff.

So lets take a closer look at the types of kitchens and how they are organised….

The Kitchen When you first walk into a commercial kitchen ,

everything will seem a little strange!! The equipment and work areas are on a larger

scale to what you may be used to in a domestic kitchen.

The food is prepared and cooked in specific areas of the kitchen

Once you have worked in a commercial kitchen you will understand why equipment and benches are placed the way they are.

Kitchen layout

The layout of a commercial kitchen must be planned around an efficient and systematic flow of foods from receipt of goods to the service of meals

Details concerning water, fuel, drainage, lighting and ventilation are also important to any well-designed kitchen .

When a kitchen is built , it is designed to achieve maximum efficiency of time, labour and product.

To achieve this a number of factors are taken into account:

The type of menu The type of establishment The type and method of food service The number of meals to be served and the

length of service The size, shape and location of the food service

and the position of the kitchen in the establishment.

Food Flow

The usual flow of food through an establishment is :

1. Goods enter the store, where they are checked

2. They are stored in dry or cool storage or the freezer

3. Goods are passed onto different areas for preparation

4. The food is cooked

5. The food is either held or served straight away.

Receipt of goods

Checking and weighing foods

Dry store freezer or cold storeVegetables Meat Poultry Dairy FruitsFruits Fish VegetablesGroceries

Preparation

Cooking Service

Food preparation areas Equipment is usually positioned in those

preparation or cooking areas where it is used frequently.

In wet preparation areas for fruit and vegetables (usually located near the vegetable store) , equipment includes sinks, stainless steel benches, food mincer, potato drum peeler, chipper, slicer and shredder.

Cooking Areas Equipment in these areas is usually grouped

into island sites with benches between or on each side.

Equipment which cooks with water , such as atmospheric or pressure steamers, tilt pans and stockpots, is grouped together near floor drains, while equipment for short order cooking, like grills and frypans are positioned near ventilation to remove heat and fumes.

Service Areas

Equipment used to hold food hot or cold for service, such as a bain-marie, hot press or refrigerator is positioned near the dining room entrance. Beverage and toast making facilities are located near the service section for quick and easy access by waiters.

Refer to handout with diagrams of food flow patterns

Cleaning and washing areas

Pots and pans are washed in separate areas or in areas near their use, depending on the size of the kitchen. Dishes and glasses are washed in an area close to the serving section. Equipment located in this area includes the dishwasher, large sinks, stainless steel benches, food disposal unit, rubbish bins and cleaning equipment.