Project 1

Work with your assessor to develop a menu or list of dishes (minimum of five)on the basis of foods that are available in your restaurant or in a simulated kitchenthat you will cook and serve.

You must demonstrate your skills in an actual work kitchen or in a simulated kitchen that caters for customers and has staff-customer ratios appropriate to a commercial operation.

Selected dishes must be prepared, cooked, portioned, adjusted (if necessary) and served. Follow the appropriate recipes and cookery instructions of the enterprise, select recipes from this manual or use alternative recipes agreed between candidate and assessor. Recipes might apply to finger foods, entres, main courses, buffet or fast food items. They should include a range of different meat dishes, requiring different wet and dry cookery methods, from a range of cultural derivations and include offal or fancy meat dishes. The number and type of dishes should be negotiated with the assessor.

Each dish must be properly presented for service with suitable accompaniments, sauces/ dips and garnishesprepared and cooked within specific time frames, as per the requirements for a commercial food establishment.

The standard of the meals and their presentation must align with industry, enterprise and customer expectations.

Portions must be of acceptable size according to standard recipes, calculated to contribute to profit and minimise waste.

Hygienic handling, preparation and cookery procedures must be demonstrated throughout and appropriate stock rotation procedures must be followed.

Correct equipment must be used and correct storage procedures for meats and for meat dishes must be demonstrated.

Be prepared to answer verbal questions and to explain and discuss, with your assessor, each of these points:

• the culinary terms used when preparing and cooking a range of meat dishes
• ingredients
• the ingredients commonly used in the production of different meat dishes
• what the terms classical and contemporary mean with regard to meat dishes and cookery methods; meat classificationsthe different cuts of meat and the styles of cooking that are suited to the different cuts
• the different characteristics of meat products and meat dishes
• methods of determining freshness and quality
• methods for selecting the best supplier for quality and price according to enterprise requirements
• purchase and storage techniques that will minimise waste
• procedures that might be used to age fresh meat correctly
• procedures that should be followed when freezing meats, thawing meats
• the reasons for applying correct portion control and procedures and for using standard recipes
• waste management processes and procedures
• It will be necessary to demonstrate that you can produce, to a consistent standard and on more than one occasion, using a range of cookery methods, dishes using:
• beef
• game
• fancy meats
• lamb
• offal
• pork
• veal
• meat preparation techniques, including:
  • ageing
  • barding
  • boning
  • cutting
  • larding
  • marinating
  • mincing
  • portioning
  • rolling
  • tenderising
  • trimming
  • trussing and tying
  • skewering
  • stuffing
• cookery methods, including:
  • roasting
  • grilling
  • frying
  • braising
  • stewing
• During the assessment assessors might ask questions about:
• the different equipment and techniques
• why meat is considered to be a valuable and nutritious part of our diet
• the historical and cultural derivations of various dishes