FOOD PRODUCTION NOTES

TOPIC NINE

MENU PLANNING.

-Is a list of food to be served at any one meal.

-A course is food served at any one time during meal.

 

Types of menus

                   1. A ’la carte

                   2. Table ‘dhote.

Table ‘dhote

it is defined by the following points

-the menu has a no.of fixed courses.

-there is limited choice within the course.

 

MENU PLANNING.

-a menu is a list of food to be served at any one meal.

-a course is food served at any one time during a meal.

Types of menu.-al’carte menu

                             -table dhote menu

 

 

Table dhote menu.

The definition is covered by the following points.

-the menu is limited choice within each course.

-the selling price is fixed.

-the dishes provided will be ready to serve. .

Al’carte menu.

May be translated as’ from the card ‘the type of menu may be defined by the following points.

-it gives a full list of all the dishes that may be prepared by establishment.

-each dish is priced separately

-a certain waiting time has to be allowed for many dishes.

-some dishes are cooked to order.

Importance of menu planning.

Menu should be planned in advance because

-it provides opportunity to take advantage of best values and buys.

-it allows time to cook up new ideas in magazines and newspapers.

-it gives a variety of menus.

-it reduces the number of shopping trips, saves time, energy and money.

-it ensures nutritional meals.

 

MENU PLANNING.

-The menu authorizes production and when it is sent to the kitchen it must state what to be produced when and what recipe is to be used.

-usually more than one person should participate in the planning of the menu.one of them should be experienced in food production and a good merchandiser (one who understands good quality when they see it) e.g. head cook, chef etc.

The following should be helpful in menu planning:

-list of popular menus.

-ideas from magazines.

-cook books.

-advertisements.

-competitors menu.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN MENU PLANNING.

·        The meal must be balanced.

·        The money available

·        The skills of the people.

·        The number of people being catered for.

·        The occupation.

·        Their age whether young teens or old

·        The type of meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

·        The type of service.

·        Expected profit in relation to cost of materials.

·        Food in season because of cost and availability.

·        Time available for preparation.

·        The weather, cold or hot food.

·        Type of menu being offered a la carte or table dhote because of variety.

·        The no. of production staff.

·        The space available for cooking and serving.

·        The type of equipment available.

·        Avoid repetition of ingredients e.g. potato soup and chips.

·        Produce a variety of colors.

·        Avoid repeating of terms.

·        Take religious customers into considerations.

·        The sex males eat more than women.

·        The health e.g. expectant mothers ,invalids,convalenscents

·        The foods in stock avoid ordering unnecessary.

·        Make use of left overs.

 

MENU COMPILATION

You need to know the following before you design a menu.

-type of menu a la carte or table dhote.

-number of courses .how many needed?

-stationery available.

-special requirements i.e. children and adult menus are different.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING A MENU, MENU COMPILATION.

·        Menu format or arrangement varies in different institutions

·        A hospitals format may be printed on slips of paper so that patients can select items within specified dietary regimes. The master menu consists of all types of menus i.e. soft light pediatric, diabetic, ulcers fat or salt free etc.

·        A cafeteria may need to list items on aboard near the point of service.

·        A child’s menu may be in a comic form or a book.

·        A menu may be a place mat or sales slip.

 

Menu layout for writing a menu.

·        List foods in order in which they are to be eaten or served i.e. systematically.

·        In symmetric form i.e. equal all margins articles e.g. ‘a’ ‘the’ or prepositions or descriptive materials.

·        Plan the spacing and arrangement of items so that they are symmetrical

·        Allow spacing between courses.

·        Give the main course of meal items the most prominent placement usually the left side, accompaniments are written in small print and should follow or be placed immediately below.

·        Do not list condiments i.e. butter cream salad dressings unless they are special or meant to remind those in production or service that they are to be served.

·        Use accurate descriptions and develop keywords to identify items.

·        Unless customers know the meaning of words or purchases do not use them.

·        Do not arrange items in order of price.

·        The manager may find glossary in catering text books helpful in establishing menus terms. He should also consult a wide range of reverences on means writing.

 

MEAL PRODUCTION PLANNING

·        Planning is the meaning out of all the activities involved the meal production .the manager should sort out answers to the following.

What menu…menu.

What quantity…food order.

At what cost...costing

What and how to buy and from whom...food order.

Who does what, when and how...order of work.

 

WHAT QUANTITIES? FOOD ORDER.

There are four stages in controlling food which together reduce over production or possibly waste, also loss from inefficient purchasing and loss from excessive portion sizes.

The operation of four stages in a food control system should aid management in controlling cost efficiency and maximizing the profitability of the institution. They are

 

A.volume forecasting from past events and known season e.g. Christmas.

b. standard recipe as discussed above.

C.standard yield.

D.standard portions depend on who is being catered for.

 

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN PLANNING FOR MEAL PRODUCTION.

·        Time available to prepare the meal.

·        The money available.

·        The meal must be cooked.

·        The labor skills and knowledge available.

·        The type of meal, breakfast lunch or dinner.

·        The capacity and efficiency of the equipment available i.e. cookers ovens steamers, grills, mixers, chippers etc.

·        Use fresh foods as much as possible because tinned food has already lost its nutritional value.

·        Consider the sex men eat more than women because of their high rate of metabolism.

·        Do not make food of the same colour texture or flavoring.

·        Consider no.of courses to be prepared

·        Consider the type of services e.g. lunch or special occasions.

·        Consider the type of fuel used .use pressure cooker where applicable.

MAKING A FOOD ORDER.

After compiling a menu or menus deciding on the recipes to use and even costing the whole menu you need now order your food stuff.to do this you need to compile food order this answers the question what to buy and from who.

Food order consists of the different persons we buy our food from namely green grocer, dry grocer, butcher, dairy products.

·        From the recipes or ingredients in the costing add up all the similar food e.g. sugar, carrots, salt, fat etc. from all the dishes in the menu.

·        List the ingredients under the appropriate columns headings with the total amount to be ordered eg under dry grocer list 3.8kg sugar, under butcher 5kg topside etc.

·        Go through the costing or recipes carefully so as not to miss anything.

·        After you have the complete list you can go ahead and order the food using the method used by the institutions e.g. lpo or departmental requisition or just order to an outside farm on contract etc.

 

 ORDER OF WORK.

Now that we have the menu food order and have done the costing all the relevant recipes we need to plan how we shall produce the meal. This answers the last question: who does what, when and how.

It involves planning in three parts.

-pre-production.

-actual production.

-post production.

 

Pre-production.

This involves

-acquisition of ingredients i.e. buying the food or delivery through food orders.

-collection, measuring and weighing of food stuff.

-collecting and assembling of equipment and tools.

Actual production.

This involves:

-Preparation of foods from dicing, shredding, mixing etc. of foods using the correct methods while retaining as many nutrients as possible handle foods to be eaten as little as possible.

-actual cooking of foods e.g. roasting,, stewing, baking, frying etc. Using correct methods while retaining most nutrients i.e. cook at the correct time and right temperature .foods that take long to cook and that do not need re-heating e.g. cold food salads are made first while those taking shorter time and if reheated will lose nutrients are cooked last e.g. sweet sauces and vegetables.

-presentation of food in their correct dishes, dry foods in flat dishes stews in deep dishes and vegetables in shallow dishes etc. Foods should be served in garnished appropriately with the correct accompaniments e.g. sauces gravies salad dressing.

-serve hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

-wash as you work do not let equipment pile up in the sink until the last minute.

-wipe any spills on the floor and wash hands as necessary.

-always arrange the working surface neatly arrange and label foods as per recipe pull close to you the ingredients that you are preparing to save time.

Post production.

This involves

-cleaning of all the utensils and placing them in their respective places.

-Storing all the left-over’s correctly or uncooked.

-cleaning all the surfaces i.e. floor table tops cookers etc. emptying the dust bins etc.

- Production evaluation finds out where you went wrong and look for ways to rectify the problem or improve. There is always room for improvement.

WRITING THE ORDER OF WORK.

·        This consists of all the above tasks when they are done and how long.

·        You should decide what to start with write a brief method on how to produce it. Do not re-copy the recipe and estimate how much time you will spend doing each task.

·        Divide the time within the tasks appropriately do not give little time to big tasks and a lot of time to little tasks.

·        Avoid rushing towards the end i.e. food service time.

·        Plan the time allocated to prepare the meal from pre-production tasks to post production tasks.

·        Do not state why you will but explain briefly the method of the task performed.

·        Foods that take long to cook or salads that are served chilled or molded desserts mousses or jellies should be made first.

·        Foods that take short time to cook and reheated will lose nutrients e.g. vegetables, starches, sauces etc. should be made later on towards service time