Essay on Hurdle Kitchen Operations

Submitted By weimingli
Words: 842
Pages: 4

Hurdle 1
The video that is shown in the resource has three scientific processes present when making flan. The three scientific processes are caramelisation, coagulation and emulsion.
Caramelisation is the process of liquefying and browning of sugar which will result in the end product to have nutty flavour profile and appear brown in colour. This process is used extensively in cooking and different kind of sugar reacts at a different temperature but typically all above 100 degree celcius. Caramelisation is used to produce many foods such as candies, molasses, brown sugar and caramel sauce. In the video, while making the caramel layer on the custard, corn syrup and sugar is added together and heated to form a caramel sauce.
Coagulation is the process of food hardening when it is cooked. This occurs in the proteins that are found in eggs. When food is heated, the fibres in the egg shrink and push the water out and the binding occurs. As such when the custard mixture is baked, the protein rises and holds the mixture into a solid shape. One of the more famous food that using this technique is poach eggs where raw eggs are cooked at a temperature of about 80 degree celcius.
Emulsion is the combination of oil and liquid. There are two kinds of emulsion, temporary and permanent. Temporary emulsion only come together for a short time while permanent emulsion is a stable emulsion that does not separate at all when the liquid are mixed. In the video when the custard mixture is mixing, the butter and the milk is whisked together to form an emulsion. An example of a temporary emulsion would be balsamic vinaigrette and a permanent emulsion would be hollandaise sauce.

Hurdle 2
One of the important functions of food and beverage management is forecasting. Forecasting is about predicting how the business will fare in the future. By doing so, the manager or the owner of the restaurant must not only predict how many patrons will be at the outlet at any given period of the day, what would be the more popular menu items but also the economic conditions of the country. By doing so, the management will be able to use the data to better management the other aspect of the business such as the pricing on the menu, amount of ingredients to purchase, number of staffs needed and the rate of production from the kitchen
First possible outcome of poor forecasting is failing to plan for adequate manpower and food supplies. This could not only result in loss of potential businesses but inadequate manpower could also potentially result in poor customer service creating a bad lasting impression on customer. With the aid of technology, a bad impression on one customer could create a domino effect as they are now able to post bad reviews on your restaurant allowing people to read them. Second possible outcome of poor forecasting may result in food and labour wastage. This could translate into financial losses. The lack of ability to forecast of management may have allocated too much food, as it is important to keep the food fresh we might to throw these food supplies away. This is also applicable to labour, a management failure to forecast might result in too much