Food And Beverage Management 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1 Human Food and Nutrition

• Introduction
• Quality of ingredients
• Range of ingredients
• Cooking methods used
• Eating
• Major food groups
• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• Proteins
• Grains
• Vegetables
• Vitamins and minerals
• Food allergies
• Terminology
• Weight and energy conversions
• Resources
• Networking - for restaurant managers, food industry employees

2 Cooking

• Nutritive value in cooking and processing
• Cooking different types of foods
• Meat
• Fish
• Milk
• Plant foods
• Effect of cooking methods on nutrients
• Baking
• Blanching
• Braising
• Grilling
• Poaching and boiling
• Pressure cooking
• Roasting
• Sautéing
• Steaming
• Preparing vegetables
• Benefits of cooking
• Preserving nutrient value in food
• Managing different nutrients -heat sensitivities, etc.
• Canning and pasteurisation
• Homogenisation and pasteurisation of milk
• Freezing
• Dehydration

3 Kitchen and Food Management

• Effect of cooking on nutrition
• Managing food contamination
• Contaminants during food processing
• Pathological contamination
• Preventing food poisoning
• Food laws and labelling
• Labelling
• Dating
• Special purpose foods
• Ethics of food additives
• Allergies, sensitivities and poisoning
• Common food allergies
• Kitchen design
• Equipment design
• Criteria for selecting equipment
• Equipment inventory
• Managing a freezer
• Preparation areas
• Vegetable preparation
• Salad preparation
• Meat preparation
• Fish preparation
• Pastry preparation
• Cooking area
• Central range
• Convection ovens
• Microwave oven
• Cleaning area
• Waste disposal
• Food service equipment
• Food service management
• Traditional kitchen staff roles -types of chefs, divisions of larder, pantry, tournants etc
• Menu and production planning
• Types of production - A la Carte, Table d'Hote, Call-Order, etc
• Activities in cook-freeze operation

4 Planning A Menu

• Needs of special groups
• School children
• Adolescents
• Expecting mothers
• Nursing mothers
• The elderly
• Immigrants
• Vegetarians
• Menu planning
• Assessing diets
• Assessing your own dietary intake
• A typical diet at a residential school
• Plate waste
• Assessing plate waste
• Diet formulation
• Food additives
• Preservatives
• Additives for enhancing appearance and colour
• Flavouring agents
• Sweetening agents
• Emulsifying agents and stabilisers
• Anti caking agents
• The menu
• Planning
• Types of menus
• Menu composition
• Beverages
• Wine and alcohol lists
• Non alcoholic drinks

5 Alcoholic Beverages

• Wine
• Common white grape varieties
• Common red grape varieties
• Wine processing
• Fortified wines -sherry, port, marsala, maidera, vermouth.
• Beer
• Types of beer
• Beer tasting and characteristics
• Spirits - Brandy, Whisky, Gin, Rum, Vodka
• Liqueurs
• Liqueur coffees

6 Tea, Coffee and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

• Water
• Providing water
• Soft drinks
• Fruit juices
• Non alcoholic cocktails
• Coffees
• The coffee blend
• Grinding coffee
• Making coffee
• Problems with coffee
• Non alcoholic coffee substitutes
• Teas
• Specialty teas
• Green tea
• Common herb teas

7 Scope & Nature Of Catering Services

• Vending machines
• Popular catering
• Hospital catering
• Airline catering
• Function catering

8 Personnel Management

• Reservations and bookings
• Reservation systems
• Direct or indirect reservations
• Contracts
• Cancellation procedure
• Refund policy
• Basic waiting tequniques
• Holding a Service Spoon and Fork
• Carrying Plates
• Using a Service Salver
• Using a Service Plate
• Carrying Glasses
• Carrying Trays
• Using a Waiter’s Friend
• Interpersonal skills
• Addressing customers
• Dealing with complaints
• Staff recruitment
• Advertising a position
• Interviewing
• Training staff
• Different ways of learning the job
• Self esteem and motivation
• Assessing training needs

9 Management Of Catering Services

• Restaurant marketing
• Feasibility research
• Competitive analysis
• Market analysis
• Financial analysis
• Advertising and PR
• Food purchasing
• Purchasing methods
• Tendering

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Excerpt from the Course

CONTAMINATION OF FOOD

The main concern in handling, storing and preparing foods is possible contamination, which can adversely affect the healthfulness, taste and appearance of food, or worse yet, cause harm to the consumer. Kitchen processes and procedures are a key factor in avoiding food contamination, and must be carefully managed and monitored to ensure that all staff in a restaurant or other food facility follow correct procedure at all times.

Food can be contaminated in many different ways, some of which are discussed below.

Contamination from Cooking

Materials in some cooking utensils can find their way into foods:

• Aluminium - If acidic foods are used with aluminium cookware (eg. saucepans), increased quantities of aluminium will contaminate food. If such foods are cooked in aluminium over long periods, or left sit in the container after cooking, the problem is increased. There is no conclusive evidence linking aluminium with health risks, but suspicions exist.

• Copper – Similar problems to aluminium: cooking acidic foods will increase copper contamination, and copper can cause destruction of vitamin C in foods. Excessive copper in the body is a toxin.

The safest types of cookware include earthenware, glass, enamel and stainless steel.

Materials from fuels (eg. ash from a wood fire) may also find their way into foods. There have been reported cases of poisoning when people have used treated pine off cuts to cook a barbeque. The treatment used on pine to prevent it from rotting, when burnt, releases toxic chemicals. These may be inhaled, or may find their way into food. If using wood for a barbeque, make sure it is untreated.

Contaminants from Food Processing

Various materials used in processing foods can contaminate the foods, though the likelihood of a problem is low. These contaminants may include:

• Cleaning materials

• Lubricants

• Packaging materials

• Chemical residues (eg. glues, solvents etc)

• Other substances (eg. hair, insects, rodent excreta) that enter the food through unsanitary or careless practices probably pose the most obvious threat.

Pathological Contamination

Most foods will become contaminated with pathogens (ie. microorganisms) after a period of time. This time period may be very short (eg. hours) for some foods, under normal room conditions. For other foods, spoilage may take weeks, months, or even years to occur.

Microorganisms

Microorganisms including bacteria, moulds and yeasts may cause putrefaction, decay, fermentation or moulding of food. Small quantities of such microorganisms are common in the environment, and will almost inevitably be found on the surfaces of most foods. Under favourable environmental conditions, these organisms can grow and multiply at an alarming rate, feeding off the foodstuffs. If the surface of a food is damaged or broken, microorganisms are more readily able to penetrate the inside of the food, and can develop even faster.

Enzymes

Decomposition of food can also be hastened through the action of enzymes. Various enzymes occur in fresh foods that are part of the nature, controlling natural mechanisms such as the ripening of fruit. These enzymes will continue to affect the biochemistry of the food beyond peak condition, and in so doing they can contribute to deterioration. For example, fruit and vegetables that are not quite ripe may be acidic.

Enzymes in the plant material will progressively assist changes of acid to sugar, hence bringing about a ripening. Eventually it will pass a stage where it is in optimum condition, and tissues will begin to deteriorate.

Mechanical Deterioration

Physical or mechanical damage to food can cause deterioration. Damaged parts of food will then be more susceptible to attack by microorganisms (or other problems). Damage may come from bruising, cutting, tearing, puncturing, insects, birds or other pests, etc.

Ripening of Fruit

As a fruit ripens, it undergoes a variety of different changes, and susceptibility to attack by microorganisms will increase as it progresses through these changes. These changes may include:

• Abscission

• Softening

• Changes in carbohydrate (ie. increase in sugar content)

• Organic acid changes (decrease)

• Change in colour

• Seed maturing

• Change in respiration rate

• Change in ethylene production

• Change in tissue permeability

• Change in protein content

• Production of volatile oils

• Development of wax on skin.

Consideration needs to be given to these different changes when considering storage and preservation of fruits.

Low Temperature Damage

Storing fresh foods (eg. fruit and vegetables) at low temperatures will slow deterioration by reducing the rate of respiration and metabolism, to a greater or lesser extent. Low temperature doesn't slow all metabolic processes though. Some metabolic processes (ie. cold labile enzyme systems) will stop completely if the temperature becomes too cold. Given that some reactions may still occur and others stop, an imbalance can develop where certain chemicals accumulate through some reactions producing them, but they are not disposed of because the elimination metabolism is stopped. The net result can be an accumulation of certain chemicals to toxic levels resulting in cells collapsing, and areas of tissue where this occurs becomes brown.

Chilling Injury

C an occur in tissues exposed to temperatures below 15oC in some tropical plants. The critical temperature will be lower for other types of tissue. (Note: This is different to freezing injury where ice crystals are formed inside tissues at temperatures below zero). When plant tissue is damaged by chilling, various metabolic chemicals can be released from inside cells (eg. amino acids, sugars, salts etc). Floating freely in tissues, unprotected by the cell walls, these chemicals become a food for microorganisms, particularly fungi. For this reason, fruit may often be more susceptible to rot after cold storage than before (particularly the more susceptible tropical fruits).

Preventing Food Poisoning

Some microorganisms that contaminate food CAN cause illness. Some illnesses are more serious than others. To avoid such illness, food must be handled properly, and every effort made to minimise food contamination. Precautions to take include:

• Cooking at high temperatures to destroy microorganisms

• Storage at low temperatures to minimise microorganism growth.

• Using fresh food, to reduce the time for microorganisms to develop

• Practicing good hygiene to minimise the range and number of microorganisms which might come in contact with food.

Most microorganisms will grow and multiply between 15 and 63 degrees Celsius. The greatest growth for most is around 37 degrees Celsius. Any susceptible foods should not be kept at these temperatures for any period. Preferably, avoid these temperatures altogether during storage and preparation. At lower temperatures, the growth of microorganisms is slowed or even stopped, but the microorganisms may not be destroyed. At higher temperatures, harmful microorganisms are destroyed.

Caution: Frozen foods (eg. meat), may not reach a sufficiently high enough temperature in the centre when they are cooked, even if the outside is cooked at a temperature over 63. To ensure any microorganisms inside meat are killed during cooking, meat should be completely thawed before cooking. This thawing is best done slowly at a low temperature (eg. over 1-2 days in the bottom of a refrigerator).

Hygiene to Practice

• Always wash hands before preparing food

• Never smoke when preparing food

• Never comb hair near food

• Cover wounds, cuts, pimples (eg. with a fresh band aid)

• Don't touch pets when preparing food

• Control insects and other pests in food preparation areas

• Wash all benches and utensils with hot water.

• Don't eat or lick food in preparation, and then bring unwashed fingers or utensils back in contact with food.

• Don't use the same knives, benches etc for preparing different foods without first properly washing them (eg. Avoid cutting vegetables with a knife used on meat a few seconds before).

• Separate storage places for raw and cooked foods.

• Handle cooked food to the minimum (ie. use spoons or tongs, not hands, after cooking).

• Don't keep food warm; keep it either hot or cold!

• Discard any food that is suspicious - If in doubt, throw it out.