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Chapter 1

The Food Service Industry

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Chapter Objectives

1. Name and describe four major developments that have significantly changed the modern food service industry in the twentieth century.

2. Identify seven major stations in a classical kitchen.

3. Explain how the size and type of an operation influence the organization of the modern kitchen.

4. Identify and describe three skill levels of food production personnel.

5. Identify eight behavioral characteristics that food service workers should develop and maintain to achieve the highest standards of professionalism.

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It is an exciting time to be starting a career in food service. Interest in food and cuisine is soaring.

The industry has many openings for talented creative people.

New restaurants opening, new interest in dining, and a vast availability of foods are making for a challenging and rewarding future.

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The chef of today is respected as an artist and craftsperson.

Thousands of skilled food service people are needed every year.

The truth behind all the celebrity chefs and the glamorous side of the industry is that it takes many years of hard work and being able to handle pressure to be successful.

High levels of job satisfaction, financial gain, and immediate feedback on your work are part of the fascination with the industry. Long work hours are also.

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The first known modern restaurant was opened in 1765 by a Parisian tavern keeper, Monsieur Boulanger.

Boulanger sold soups, which he called restaurants, derived from the French word restaurer (to restore or fortify).

Since the 16th century, restorative described rich and highly flavored soups or stews capable of restoring lost strength.

Boulanger served a variety of foods prepared on premises to customers whose primary interest was dining.

The 18th Century - Boulanger’s Restaurant

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The French Revolution

Before the French Revolution (1873), great chefs worked for nobility, and food service was controlled by guilds.

The revolutionary government abolished the guilds, which left many chef without work.

Many of these chefs opened restaurants, which allowed the public access to skills and creativity of sophisticated chefs.

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Chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833)

A great chef of the time whose career spanned 30 years and was the chefs to kings, heads of state and wealthy persons

He developed Grand Cuisine, characterized by meals with dozens of courses of elaborately and intricately prepared, presented, garnished, and sauced foods.

His books contain the first real systematic account of cooking principles, recipes, and menu making.

He was one of the primary reasons cooking of the Middle Ages was brought into the modern era.

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Chef Georges-Auguste Escoffier(1847-1935)

Escoffier brought French Cuisine into the twentieth century and is considered to be the father of twentieth-century cooking.

Escoffier rejected the “general confusion” of the old menus in which quantity seemed to be the main emphasis.

He called for order and diversity and a careful selection of one or two items per course.

His dishes had to be harmoniously, and delight the taste with their delicacy and simplicity.

Escoffier’s recipes and books are still quality references for chefs of today

Escoffier’s second major accomplishment was reorganizing the kitchen, creating a streamlined workplace. He called this system “the brigade system” and is still used today around the world.

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Development of New Equipment

Today, we often take for granted electric ranges and ovens and electric refrigerators, which did not exist until fairly recently.

The easily controlled heat of modern cooking equipment and the use of motorized cutters and mixers have greatly simplified work.

Development of food preservation and storage techniques, such as freeze-drying, vacuum-packing, and irradiation, have become valuable preservation techniques and allow certain foods to be prepared ahead of time and in large quantities.

Modern refrigeration and rapid transportation have made a world of foods available fresh and in the peak condition all years long.

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Some large multiunit chains prepare foods in central commissaries for distribution to their individual stores. They cook, cool, or freeze the foods at the peak of their quality and flavor.

Techniques of food production are changing rapidly. It is now possible to do some preparation and processing away from the food service operation rather than in it.

Convenience foods will continue to be a increasing share of the market.

Although this might look like a threat to the chef of today, it will allow the drudgery aspects of food production to be taken away from the chef, so they can spend more time using there skill and creativity.

Research and technology continue to produce new advancements in tools of the kitchen.

Development of New Equipment (cont’d)

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Sanitation and Nutritional Awareness

The development of sciences of microbiology and nutrition had a considerable impact on food service. In Escoffier’s day, little was known about sanitation and nutrition.

Today customers are very knowledgeable about nutrition and sanitation which makes this a very important aspect of a cook’s training. This will allow chefs to produce healthful and well-balanced meals.

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Modern Cooking Styles

Two opposing forces can be seen at work throughout the history of cooking. One: eliminate complexity and

ornamentation, and emphasize plain, natural tastes and fresh ingredients.

Two: highlight the creativity of the chef with the focus on fancier, more complicated presentations and procedures.

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In the 1960s and 1970s, chefs developed nouvelle cusine (“new cooking”) which focused on simple and natural flavors, resulting in lighter sauces and seasonings and shorter cooking times.

Today there is a mixture of traditional preparation techniques, nouvelle cuisine, and foods that use regional ingredients.

Combinations that draw on traditions brought by immigrants and the ingredients indigenous to a bountiful land make for stellar cuisine.

Modern Cooking Styles (cont’d)

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The rapid growth of the food service industry provides great promise for cooks and chefs in the future.

Imaginative chefs will continue to create new dishes and develop new techniques.

The application of new world and old world techniques will produce high quality foods for all the dining public.

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Organization of the Modern Kitchen

The way the kitchen is organized depends on many factors. The menu Type of establishment

Hotel Institutional kitchens Catering and banquet services Quick service, carry-out, and full-service

restaurants. The size of the operation The physical facilities, including equipment

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The chef is the person in charge of the kitchen. In large establishments he might be called the executive chef.

The sous chef is normally second in command and controls production and staff supervision.

The station chefs are in charge of specific areas of production:

The saucier – sauces, stews, stocks, hot hors d’oeuvres, and sauté. The poissoner– fish dishes The rôtisseur– roasted and braised meats and their gravies and

broiled meats. The grillardin– broiled items, and maybe deep–fried meats and fish. The garde manger – cold foods, including salads, dressings, pâté,

cold hors d’oeuvres, and buffet items. The pâtissier– pastries and desserts. The tournant– relief cook. The expediter or aboteur – takes orders from waiters and passes

them on to cooks.

The Classical Brigade

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Modern Kitchen Organization

The organization is based on the size of the operation.

The Classical Brigade system would be replaced by grouping two jobs or more jobs, such as a second cook also doing the sauce, fish, soup and vegetable cooks job.

An operation may have a chef, two cooks and two assistants to handle the more simplistic routine tasks.

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Skill Levels

Skills can be grouped into three categories Supervisory Skilled and technical Entry level

Starting at the entry level has been the traditional method of advancing ones food service career.

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Standards of Professionalism

These are the qualities that a professional must have: A positive attitude on the job Staying power - requiring physical and mental

stamina Ability to work with people Eagerness to learn A full range of skills Experience Dedication to quality Understanding of the basics

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Professionalism

Great cookery requires Taste and creativity Appreciation for mastery of technique Understanding of principles Exercising sound judgment Commitment to excellence

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Copyright ©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.