VOLUME
FEEDING
Catering
establishments could be producing food in volumes, but then it could vary
depending on the size of the establishment and the nature of business. When we
say volume cooking, we think of professional set-up with modern and specialized
equipment and professionals cooking large quantities of food following best
practices and safety standards. The organization required for a bulk cooking
is, however, more complex in nature than that for a small commercial
establishment. Quantity food production requires attention to planning,
forecasting the quantity of food to be cooked, merchandising and selling the
product and developing strategies for selling the finished product.
Food is one of the basic necessities for
survival and hence must be provided to discerning customers as well as
employees of the establishment. The hospitality industry is not restricted to
only commercial establishments but also caters to non-commercial
establishments.
Growth in
the industrial sector led to business houses setting up large factories and industries.
This meant providing food to people working in those organizations and thus
gave rise to industrial catering. Hospitality services of food are provided to
factories, departmental stores, sport centers, clubs, schools, universities
armed forces (mess) and even prisons.
The
growth of travel and tourism industry has led to air, sea and railway catering.
Special dietary requirements of hospitalized patients gave rise to hospital
catering. Today, specialty food is not restricted to just five-star hotels and
stand-alone restaurants, but one can also enjoy cuisine from all over the world
under one roof in shopping malls.
INSTITUTIONAL
ESTABLISHMENTS
Institutional establishments offer food services not
necessarily to make profits but because it is a necessity. In many places, it
is a legal binding on the organization to provide meal services and this
depends on many factors including the following:
·
If there are no facilities (where employees can
eat their meals) within the reach.
·
Even if there are facilities, do they offer a
reasonable choice of food and are these affordable by all levels of employees?
·
Do the times and hours of operation allow
employees to eat outside their work premise and are these facilities open
during those times?
Educational institutes include schools, colleges,
universities, professional education institutions, hostels, etc. these can be
broadly categorized into two types: academic institutes and professional
institutes.
·
The main consumers here are students. The food is
made and supplied by cafeterias at very nominal rates.
·
The cafeteria could have its own fully equipped
kitchen and thus prepare food or it may even outsource food.
·
The kitchen would have very basic equipment
depending upon the region and the type of cuisine it intends to serve.
·
The main focus is on health, hygiene and
nutrition. Since children need right kind of nutrients, seasonal vegetables are
included in the meals. Some schools monitor closely when serving students in
dining hall as the focus is also on developing good eating habits and
etiquettes among children.
·
The main consumers here are adults and hence it is
important to offer some variety to them. Kitchens of these institutes are referred
to as ‘mess’, which may be run by a committee called mess committee or it could
also be run with professional help from an outside agency.
·
Cyclic menus help to solve the issues of
monotonous food.
·
The kitchen set-up can be basic to modern depending
on the type and volume of meals that the institution cooks on a daily basis.
INDUSTRIAL
CATERING
Industrial catering refers more to shops and factories where
food is made to primarily serve the needs of the employees. The food is served
in dining halls, often referred to as cafeterias of employee dining halls. In
many companies, members of the senior management eat in the same dining halls
along with other employees. However, in some companies, the members of senior
management have food in a separate area sometimes referred to as EDR or
executive dining room.
The number of meals served may range anywhere from 30 to 2,000
or more, and this depends on the size of the organization, that is, the number
of employees. Industrial catering is a crucial and a sensitive one too because
it caters to a large group of people with multicultural and different religious
beliefs. In India, we also have specialized celebrations done on major
festivals in cafeterias and the food cooked on such occasions reflects the specialties
from that festive season.
Most organizations prefer to prepare food in-house, but if
that is not possible, then food could be produced from an external agency,
which would come every day and lay out the buffet for the employees. The
cafeterias have tea/coffee facilities, with some also having snack and beverage
vending machines.
HOSPITAL
CATERING
Hospital catering developed when it was realized that
hospitalized patients need food with specific dietary requirement in order to
get well soon. The size of the operation depends on the size of the hospital
and also the number of employees working there, as the food is prepared both
for patients as well as nursing and hospital staff.
·
People who are admitted in hospitals for health
reasons.
·
Employees working in the hospitals.
·
The product is patient specific; each patient has
a unique dietary requirement that is to be strictly followed in order to make
him/her recover from sickness.
·
Very strict process with focus on health hygiene
and safety.
·
The idea to provide the basic amenities at
subsidized rates or something at own cost.
OFF-PREMISE
CATERING
Off-premise catering is mobile and is done at different
locations or premises. Marriages, large conventions and big events (such as
award functions, music festivals, etc.) have given rise to this type of
catering. Earlier most of such events used to take place in five-star hotels as
they had large banquet halls that would accommodate a gathering of up to 3,000
people, but with rising costs and limitations for decorations and religious
ceremonies, off-premise locations (where one could have a freehand for décor
and ambience) were sought after. Many caterers made use of this opportunity and
this gave rise to outdoor catering or off-premise catering.
This catering can be done by hotels and restaurants or
specialized caterers who do only off-premises catering. Many open lawns and
gardens have been converted into locations suitable for organizing such events,
including weddings. Indian weddings are very lavish, with a huge display of
food and stalls offering a wide range of cuisines. Hence an outdoor location is
most sought after nowadays.
Catering for an outdoor function is a very complex job, as it
requires detailed planning and everything has to be set up for the function.
The equipment are laid out in the most ergonomical manner so that there is a
smooth flow of work with no chaos. One must remember that an off-premise
catering would cook food for a large number of people and if there is shortage
of food, then there is no backup as in hotel operation, where ample resources
are available to meet contingencies.
MOBILE CATERING: RAILWAY, AIRLINES AND MARINE
RAILWAY
CATERING
In earlier
times when commuting on trains, one would pack home-cooked food even if the journey
was to last for two nights or more. Now with the busy schedules and the
awareness of health, hygiene and safety, demand for catering on the trains is
on a rise. In the Indian segment, trains such as Rajdhani and Shatabdi serve
all the meals that are inclusive in the journey fare.
Railway
catering services are managed by the Indian Railways through
(a) Its catering department and
(B) Contracted catering operators/companies
with a catering background
So that travelers could be more
professionally served during long journeys.
Rail
catering may for the purpose of study be divided into
ü Terminus catering for food and beverage
Terminus
Catering covers
1.
Refreshment rooms
2.
Stalls
ü In-transit catering for food and beverage.
In-transit
catering covers
·
Mobile
catering services in Pantry Cars
·
Dining
cars
·
Authorized
vendors.
Terminus catering
Most
important stations have vegetarian and non-vegetarian refreshment rooms and
light refreshment stalls. The detailed menu and tariff is displayed in the refreshment
rooms and at the stalls.
Refreshment Rooms: These include station refreshment rooms (or restaurants) and
stationery stalls. Trains whose journeys do not have facility of meal
provision, make planned stops for reasonably long times at stations with
refreshment rooms to enable passengers to consume food and drink. Refreshment
rooms are provided at all termini and junctions and serve meals and snacks that
are vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The size of the refreshment rooms depend on
the amount of traffic and while some of these rooms at smaller stations are
operated at a loss as a service to the traveling public, those at terminus
stations and junctions on the other hand more than compensate on account of
their huge turnover. The prices of food and beverage are extremely reasonable
and affordable keeping in mind the socio-economic status of the average Indian
traveler. For the transfer of stores between stations schedules are carefully
worked out and loaded on certain trains at set times for the convenience of
suppliers.
The
opening and closing times of these refreshment rooms must be coordinated with
train timings and service and may be called upon to remain open outside their
normal hours owing to delays and unforeseen circumstances. To maintain standards
of food and staff should be trained and skilled and frequent inspections are
necessary. They should be prominently located, comfortable and have a bright
pleasing atmosphere.
Hygiene
standards and their maintenance are of great importance
Stalls: Another point of F & B
sale in addition to refreshment rooms there are the stationery stalls located
on the platforms especially at junction stations stocking a wide variety of
food items (mainly snacks) and non-alcoholic beverages for sale to passengers
for immediate or later consumption on the journey. Paper plates, aluminum foil,
containers, plastic and Styrofoam cups may be used for dispensing these food
and beverage. Not only are they hygienic but are easily disposed off and help
in rapid service. Further the vendor need not wait until the passenger has
finished consuming the food/ beverage as the containers are disposable. At busy
stations where competition is intense, the station restaurant and stalls
operation and sales may be supplemented with the help of authorized (badged)
attendants who merchandise food and beverage wares in loud tones, parading the
platform for the length of the train just outside the windows and even within
the compartments of the stationery train, making them more accessible to the
passengers.
In-transit catering
Indian
Railways provides pantry car facilities on long-distance trains and on selected
important short-distance trains.
At
times, food (meals) is lifted from various stations along the route. Igatpuri
(on the Mumbai-Delhi route) was one such station. These operations were
outsourced to catering contractors and often the quality was very questionable.
Trains like the Rajdhani/August Kranti have base kitchen where meals are
prepared and loaded into the pantry car. It is then portioned for service.
Small orders, omlettes etc are prepared in the pantry car.
Mobile Catering Services: This refers to the service
of meals to passengers from a pantry car during the journey. Pantry Cars are
compartments normally hooked onto the middle of a train and its personnel may
undertake the above tasks of meal preparation and service. The operations are
supervised and controlled by an on board pantry car manager. Service of these
meals on board the trains relieves the passenger from the problem of carrying
his own food and thereby enables to travel lighter. The food is usually Indian
cuisine. Most often the cost of food is not included in the price of the
ticket- although on train journeys such as on the Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi
Express they are so included and the quality is above average(and includes a
bottle of mineral water) offering value for money to the passenger for the
price of the ticket paid. The mobile catering service operations may be run by
the catering department itself or may be on contract.
Passengers are asked by an
attendant whether they wish to order the meal and if so whether a vegetarian or
non-vegetarian meal is required. The coach and seat number is noted and payment
is taken in cash at the time of order itself or later when the attendant comes
to collect the soiled plates.
In the case of department catering
the meals are usually cooked at a base kitchen. The number of meals required
and their mix are phoned in to the base kitchen from a previous station. When
the train arrives at the said station the meals are picked up and loaded into
the pantry car from where they are distributed to the passengers who have
ordered.
When the catering service on a train
is committed to a catering contractor the cooking of the entire meal is done in
the pantry car itself and subsequently packed and distributed to passengers who
have ordered.
Dining or Buffet Cars: Are not found on regular
trains today. But super luxury trains such as the Palace-on-Wheels and Deccan
Odyssey have dining cars that are the equivalent of fine dining restaurants on
wheels and offer an a la carte menu. Passengers make their way to the dining
car where they order and consume the meal. Dining cars obviously have an
attached kitchen with a full complement of equipment that can produce all items
offered on the menu.
Authorized Vendors: On short distance trains
it is common to find several authorized railway employees vending an assortment
of food and beverage items while the train is moving for the benefit of
passengers who are hungry and thirsty, thus catering to their requirement
between stops as well.
AIRLINE
CATERING
Airline catering is the most sophisticated and extensive food
production catering establishment in the hospitality sector. The flight
caterings operate near to the airports and can cater to as many as 30,000 meals
a day and it can go up considerably depending on the scale of operations.
Airline catering is a very sophisticated and well-planned operation. Its focus
is on health, hygiene and safety as the food prepared at one time would be
consumed by the passengers after many days and so it is important to ensure
that the food is not contaminated right through the production until service.
The most commonly used technique in airline catering. This technique is called
‘cook-chill’ or ‘cook-freeze’.
Cook-chill: The technique is to cook the food, chill or freeze
it at a rapid rate and then store it safely until required. The food when
cooked in large volumes should be chilled as fast as possible because
microorganisms grow at a rapid rate between the temperature range of 5oC
and 63oC. This temperature zone is also known as danger zone. If a
food item is left outside to cool, it is prone to bacteria attack. Thus, the time
that the food is exposed to the danger zone should be minimized and hence large
equipment known as blast chillers or blast freezers are used. These equipment
help to chill or freeze large quantity of food in short period of time. The ten
stages of this technique are given below in detail. The process of cook freeze
is similarly to that of a cook-chill, with the only difference being that the
food is frozen.
|
Steps
|
Description
|
|
1) Selection of Raw
materials
|
It is
important to select good quality raw material. A substandard quality material
will yield a substandard product and will impact the final product. It is
also important to check the handling and distribution methods at the
suppliers end.
|
|
2) Storage of raw material
|
Once you
have purchased the prime quality product, it becomes essential to store the
product until further processing under required temperature and
humidity-controlled environment as specific by food safety laws. Installation
of vegetable washers and egg pasteurizers help in cleaning vegetables and
eggs for proper storage.
|
|
3) Preparation
|
The food
preparation is an area where the basic mis
en place, such as cutting, chopping, cleaning, etc., is done for the
final product. This area needs to be separate from the cooking area to avoid
any food contamination. Even in food preparation area, separate areas are provided
for processing fish, meat, vegetables and fruit. Separate colour-coded knives
and chopping boards and even separate colour-coded storage equipment are used
for each of the groups of commodity to avoid any cross-contamination.
|
|
4) Cooking
|
The food
is then cooked according to the standard recipe. It is essential that the
core temperature of the food reaches 75oC and this temperature
should be held for at least 2-3 minutes to destroy all the pathogenic
bacteria. The internal temperatures of the food are checked by thermometer
probes. It is important to wipe the probes with sanitized thermometer wipes
before inserting the same into any other food product. This is also done to
prevent any contamination.
|
|
5) Portioning
|
Once the
food has been cooked, it is important to chill the food as soon as possible. As
per the food safety standards, usually the food must be chilled within 30 minutes.
The portioning of the food should be done at this stage; however, handling of
the food should be as little as possible and gloves and sanitized portioning
equipment should be used. Meals can also be portioned after chilling, but if
the process is cook-freeze, then it is advisable to portion before freezing.
|
|
6) Rapid chilling
|
Blast
chillers or blast freezers are used for this purpose. These equipment chill
hot foods within 2-4 hours. This range of time depends on the type of food
and the destiny and exposed surface of the food. Blast chilling not only
reduces the risk of contact time of food with danger zone, but it also helps
to retain the colour, taste and nutrition of the food. Blast chillers are
equipped with thermometer probes to guide on the internal temperature of a
food commodity. Large joints of meat should be portioned up before chilling.
|
|
7) Storage of chilled or
frozen food
|
After the
food is blast chilled/frozen, it needs to be stored immediately in
refrigerated equipment with temperatures below 4oC. Modern
refrigeration equipment have alarm sensors, which sound off in case the
temperature range is going higher than recommended levels.
|
|
8) Distribution
|
This is
one of the most important aspects of the cook-chill process, as the food now
can be distributed to various aircraft or places where it will be consumed.
After taking so much care at your end, it is important that the food is
delivered and served at the right temperature and is kept safe until it is
served to the guest. Lapse at any of these steps will prove futile for this
process. Food must be transferred to the
required place in chilled state and refrigerated vehicles are deployed for
this purpose. Temperatures are recovered at every stage to ensure that there
are no lapses.
|
|
9) Reheating
|
The cooked
and cold food needs to be consumed within 30 minutes of taking out from the
cold storage. Hot food needs to be heated at the place of consumption. Even
while reheating the food, it is important that the core temperature of the
food reaches 75oC and is held at least 2 minutes before serving.
|
|
10)
Service
|
The food
needs to be served with clean and sanitized cutlery. The service team should
not touch the food with bare hands. Highest level of personal hygiene is to
be maintained at all times.
|
MARINE
CATERING
In the olden times, when there was no airline service,
shipping was the most preferred mode to travel. Since ship journeys meant long
periods of sea travel, cooking was done on the ships. With the recent
developments of water tourism, people travel on ships merely for luxury and
enjoyment.
Many luxury cruise liners can accommodate up to 3,000 people
on board. There are fixed tours - some lasting as short as two nights’ and some
lasting up to thirty days. A wide range of food and service is offered to the
guests. Many of the cruise liners operate on concepts similar to hotels. There
could be many restaurants and bars on a single ship to cater to the needs of
the passengers. Some of the ships have lavish dinner and lunch buffet spreads
with a focus on meals ranging from adults to kids. Apart from the food and
beverage, there could be many other facilities provided on-board to ensure that
the passengers have a good time with their families. Many countries with a
coastline are trying to promote the cruise liner industry in a big way.
The kitchens of the cruise liners are similar to those of
hotels; the only difference is that the number of guests eating in a ship is
already known and hence the process of cook-chill is widely used. It is
important to strictly follow the laws of health, hygiene and safety because if
someone falls sick and needs hospitalization, one has to wait for the nearest
port to arrive. Health inspectors are employed to constantly check the food and
safety in the cruise liners. Some cruise liners operate 24-hour restaurants and
some also offer room service. Cruise liners at times also depend on CPUs, which
act as loading points at various port when the ship docks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------REFERENCE
BOOK: PARVINDER BALI –QUANTITY FOOD
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS AND INDIAN CUISINE
