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 wellequipped 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 sitdown 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

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The usual flow of food through an establishment
is :
Goods enter the store, where they are checked
They are stored in dry or cool storage or the
freezer
Goods are passed onto different areas for
preparation
The food is cooked
The food is either held or served straight away.
Receipt of goods
Checking and weighing foods
Dry store
freezer or cold store
Vegetables
Fruits
Groceries
Meat Poultry Dairy Fruits
Fish Vegetables
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 bainmarie, 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.