OFF PREMISES CATERING AND CYCLIC MENU

OFF PREMISES CATERING AND CYCLIC MENU

Off premises catering has always been a specialized business. It is the service of meals in offices, clubs, canteens and also in individual homes. In this reference, premises mean the area where food is planned and prepared. Its growth has been tremendous and there is a vast improvement of the equipment used. It covers everything from take home meals to the most elaborate meals at weddings.

QUALITY OF A GOOD PARTY CATERER

The success of any catering service depends upon the person behind the venture. He must have good contact with the people who will be most likely to make use of his services. He must be able to perform these services satisfactorily and must employ suitable, efficient and capable staff. Most important he must be able to serve tasty, eye appealing food deliver it to its destination on time at right temperature.

COMPLEXITIES OF PARTY CATERING

Party catering like other skilled technical jobs is highly specialised job. While profit is an interesting part of the catering industry, the multitude of activities throwing a challenge to the caterer, is the difficult side of the coin. If careful consideration is given to certain small details and the people concerned take active participation. It will increase turnover, improve profits and generally enhance the reputation of the caterer. There are no get standard procedures and formula for a successful caterer. Procedures and techniques vary from job to job to place and according to the requirement of the occasion. The facilities available and the cost factor also plays an important role.

PLANNING OF THE MENU

The arrangement of a suitable menu, perfect from all points of view necessary for any successful party catering. The caterer must be an individualist full of novel ideas and must be able to pressure them profitable for the company and attractively for the client.

 
Nothing could be more disappointing and irritating to the guest as being served a dish smaller in portion size than he was told at the time of booking the party. This could be avoided if the price of an item is given along with its portion size. Every party, whether for 20 or for 2000 must be a speciality and different from anything that has gone before. Clients seldom come to the caterer and ask him to arrange a party like the one they have had before, usually suggestions are wanted to make the party different, something that is unique and will be talked about. The following points will help in thoughtful planning of the menu.

1.    Planning well in advance will ensure minimum amount of repetition of the dishes.

2.    Planning a menu for a definite cycle of time has been found to be different.

3.   Variation must be produced by serving different vegetables and meats having a colour contrast.

4.    Seasonal availability is very important as parties are booked in advance.

5.    Nutritional balance must be ensured.

6.    It must fir within the budget of the customer and to his satisfaction.

7.    Equipment and personal must be adequate for the party.

8.    The menu must adhere to the established standards of service and must ensure quality and variety of the food.

9.    It helps to procure stores in advance.

10. The occasion for which the catering is done is an important factor and so the pattern of food will change accordingly.

To be successful, the menu must reflect the eating habits and expectations of the restaurant market. The tastes of customers are complex and varied and change from day to day and time to time.

EQUIPMENT

These may include an assortment of good china, for special occasions such as weddings and anniversaries, good hollow ware and flatware, attractive glass and silverware, serving dishes of all kinds and sizes, good quality linen and all kinds and types of buffet service equipment. These are the items that the guest see and by which they judge and catering establishment. For storage and transportation of these equipment, it is important to have special boxes where the equipment will fit. There are many kinds and types of kitchen equipment, such as insulated carriers for soup, coffee and other beverages. There are containers to carry ice cubes, portable hot cases to keep food warm and also portable griddles. Caterers could also hire out tables, chairs and other accessories on a contract basis.

PARAMETERS OF MENU PLANNING

In volume catering units, the main factors influencing the planning of menus are as follows:

1.    Cost: - This is one of the main considerations in menu planning. The cost of the menu should be within the budgeted allowance of any unit to be economically viable, whether it is run on a profit or non profit basis.

2.    Ease of preparation: - Since mass catering units provide for large numbers, case of preparation of any dish must be considered. Elaborate preparation is time consuming and may result in delays in service of prepared foods leading to bad customer relations and appearance of inefficiency.

3.    Incorporation of leftovers: - Menus for mass catering should be planned in such a way that any leftovers from one meal can be incorporated in the next meal so as to avoid abnormal wastage, reduce food cost.

4.    Cyclic menus: - Menus should be planned in sets for a fortnight or for a month. This is then repeated all over again for ease in operations. Menus can be changed after such periods and seasonal foods can be incorporated. This will help provide variety economically.

Cyclic Menu

In hotels, hospitals and other institutions, menus are planned in advance for periods of time varying from five days to one month. These are then cycled or repeated. Such menus are termed as ‘cyclic’ menus and are usually combination type menus providing choices within a set framework.

Menus are generally used cyclically in establishments with captive consumers, whose numbers do not vary appreciably and where tight budget limits prevail. Also the special requirements of these customers are known over a period of time and can be incorporated into the menu as required.

With short-term menu cycles menu fatigue happens and the customers tend to look forward to meal only on a favorite menu day. To overcome this, a number of methods are adopted.

a.    Planning is done for an odd number of days, so that the same menu does not fall on the same day of the week, or same date of a month. For example, plans may be made for 5, 10 or 20 days to prevent people associating a particular menu with a particular day of the week.

b.    A general menu structure may be set, but dishes changed to introduce variety. For example, a menu may say ‘seasonal vegetable or ‘curried meat’ so that the Customer does not really know what he is getting. It could be peas on one day, cauliflower on another, and meat curry followed by curried mince or meat balls, and so on.

c.     Variations can also be introduced through different methods of cooking the same  food. This also provides flexibility to the planner, who can with confidence mix and match foods and flavours according to Stocks, availability, budget and special occasions, etc.

Example of a cyclic menu.

MEAL	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	Porridge, Bread (Butler, Jam) Milk/ Tea/Coffee	Idli& Chutney Milk/tea Coffee Fruit	Egg to order Bread, Butler Milk/Tea/ Coffee	Uppama (with peas and nuts), Fruit, Milk/Tea/ Coffee	Egg on toast Milk/Tea/ Coffee, Fruits	Porridge Cheese on Toast, Milk/Tea/ Coffee	Paratha (Stuffed) Curd, Tea/ Coffee
LUNCH	Egg Curry, cheese Tomato, Rajmah, Rice, chappati Salad, Papad and Pickle	Kofta Curry Seasonal Vegetable, Urad dal, Rice, chappati and Salad,	Allo Matar, Lobia, Raita Jeera Rice, chappati, pickle and Salad,	Curry Seasonal bhindi Masala, Boiled Rice, chappati and Salad	Chicken Curry Paneer kofta, Curd Peas Pulao, chappati and Salad	Seasonal vegetable, Mix Dal, Boiled Rice, chappati and Salad	Vegetable Biryani, Raita, Salad, Pickle and Papad
Tea	Sandwich and Tea	Biscuit and Tea	Samosa and Tea	Fruit cake and Tea	Veg Cutlet and Tea	Vegetable Pakoda and Tea	Veg Patties and Tea
Dinner	Arhar Dal, Seasonal vegetable, Boiled Rice, chappati and Salad	Channa Dal, Bhindi Masala, Boiled Rice, curd, chappati and Salad	Dal Malka, Lauki Kofta, Boiled Rice, chappati, Salad and Fruit Custard	Kadhi Pkora, Aloo Jeera, Boiled Rice, chappati and Salad	Paneer Masala, Rajmah, Rice, chappati Salad, Papad and Pickle	Moong Dal, Seasonal vegetable, Boiled Rice, chappati and Salad	Chicken do payaza, Malai Kofta, Nutri Pulao, chappati and Rice Kheer

NOTE:

1.  All curries, Biryanis, Pulaos, Pizzas, Cutlets etc., may include choices between vegetarian and non-vegetarian preparations.

2.    It is customary to serve non-vegetarian dishes at least twice a week.

3.    Sweet is generally served at dinner time at the end of the day.

4.    Fruit is served at least once a day.

5.    Salad, Pickle and Padad is served as often as possible.

6.    Anyone who wishes to have milk at tea time can order it specially.

7.    Sunday breakfast is usually a heavier meal than on the other days, as people have more time to eat, and generally take breakfast later than usual.

Advantages of Cyclic Menu

a.    Once a basic menu pattern is established, the planner has more time for creative thinking in terms of adjustments that become necessary in case of holidays, special circumstances, staff shortage, delays in deliveries, and so on.

b.    The staff and work in kitchens and service areas get better organized because future production plans are known.

c.     Recipes get standardized with repeated preparation, making food service more cost effective for management and customers.

d.    Work can be equally distributed throughout the day so that tensions are reduced for kitchen staff irrespective of peaks and troughs in catering operations.

e.    Available equipment and skills can be optimally utilized if menus are thoughtfully planned in advance.

f.    Administrative work involved in ordering and stocking food is reduced, because a single order can be placed indicating timings for deliveries over a season.

Thus, a well-planned cyclic menu can be a very effective tool of management in a food service department. It should, however, have a degree of flexibility built into it, which can be made use of to introduce seasonal variations, special requirements (for the handicapped, aged, or sick), and to control waste).

CONSTRUCTION OF MENUS

A menu needs to be constructed in a systematic manner. A list of the steps that can be followed is given below.

1.    Decide on the menu pattern considered suitable in terms of its being set, selective, or a combination of both.

2.    Decide on the degree of flexibility to be incorporated.

3.    Write down the main dish and plan side dishes around it. The items selected should help to enhance the colour, texture, flavour and taste of the meal.

4.    Menus should be checked vertically and horizontally in case of cyclic or weekly noncyclic menus, to ensure that the same food item or dish not appear consecutively on two or more days. It must not have the same item used twice in the same meal, nor on the same day. For example, avoid using mutton for lunch and dinner on the same day or using potato for lunch as well as tea snacks.

5.    While constructing menus for a week, a good principle to follow is to list the main dishes for all the days first to avoid repetitions and then follow the various steps to construct the rest of/the menu.