Chapter 3 Workstations in the Professional Kitchen 57
serve them in guests’ rooms. The food is
prepared in one of the hotel’s restaurants. In
some cases, the hotel has a separate kitchen
for room service. No matter where the food
is prepared, good communication and timing
between the kitchen and room-service staffs
are essential to please room-service diners.
Purchasing
Many large operations have staff whose
job is to purchase, receive, and store the food
and supplies used by foodservice. The chef
works closely with the purchasing staff to
ensure the right products and correct quan-
tities are being purchased. The staff issues
food and supplies out of the storeroom to the
cooks as needed.
Labor Saving Trends
The size of the kitchen staff needed to
create fine cuisine in the 1900s is not in the
budget of a modern kitchen. If the same
number of staff were needed today, only the
wealthy would be able to afford fine cuisine.
Labor is one of the largest costs in the food-
service industry. The trend in foodservice
is to reduce labor costs. Chefs have been
successful using technology and prepared
foods to control labor costs. This trend will
undoubtedly continue.
Technology
Advances in the technology of food-
service equipment have made great labor
savings in the commercial kitchen possible.
Food processors and grinders allow one cook
to do the chopping and puréeing that used
to take many cooks to do by hand. Vegetable
cutting machines eliminate many hours of
knife work. Roll-in rack ovens allow one cook
to load and remove hundreds of portions
from the oven quickly and easily.
Some kitchens prepare entrées for the
entire week and vacuum-pack them in
special plastic bags. During service, one cook
can reheat and plate meals that used to take
several cooks to prepare.
Prepared Foods
Many prepared food products designed
to decrease labor in the kitchen are available
to chefs today. Though these products cost
more than the basic ingredients needed to
make the item, less labor is used. Labor can
be one of the largest costs for a foodservice
operation. The labor savings means lower
cost. The labor savings is usually greater than
the increased product cost. Prepared foods
also contribute to product consistency. Some
common labor-saving items in commercial
kitchens include the following:
Portion-controlled meats and fish
Precut vegetables
Prepared sauces and soups
Powdered soup base and sauce mixes
Frozen precooked meats and vegetables
Ready-made breads and pastries
Cooking Under
Vacuum
Vacuum packing has been used in
commercial food production since the 1960s.
Now sophisticated restaurant kitchens are
using this method also known as sous vide
(soo VEED). Sous vide is a technique that
combines fresh ingredients in vacuum-packed
pouches. These pouches are then cooked for
long periods of time at low temperatures. The
pouches are then cooled and stored for future
use. The vacuum packing seals in juices and the
extremely slow cooking tenderizes the product.
Sous vide is growing in popularity with chefs.
It gives them freedom to prepare food to their
specifi cations in advance and leave someone
else in charge at service time. The end result is
also very pleasing to diners as well. Due to the
long, slow-cooking technique, special health
and sanitary guidelines are often required.
Culinary Trends Culinary Trends