GCSE Catering

Task 1

(20% of final GCSE grade.)

GCSE Catering

This piece of work is very important as it will be used as part of your coursework and will contribute to your finalGCSE grade in Catering.

Task 1 will be marked as follows:

• Planning the task (10 marks)

• Carrying out the task (20 marks)

• Evaluating the task (10 marks)

Choose one of followingtasks. This will be the task you use for the first piece of coursework. (20% of final GCSE grade.)

Discuss your choice with your teacher and complete the homework for it.

This piece of research must: (These are exam board requirements.)

Be presented using ICT
Be typed in Arial font size 11
Be not more than 3 pages in length.
Include suitable graphics
List of websites/ books used or cateringestablishments visited.

Deadline Friday 13th July 2012

Research Section

Task 1 Fruit and Vegetables

Chefs use a wide range of fruit and vegetables to add colour,flavour and texture to their menus. Using fruit and vegetables produce and serve four interesting dishes that would be popular with customers.

Homework Task Conduct research into each of the categories of vegetables. {Root, leaf, flower,tubers etc}

You could include information on:

Types of vegetables
Culinary use
Storage methods
Storage life
Nutritional value
Healthy eating guidelines
Functions in food products
Examples of dishes that contain fruit and vegetables.

Task 2 Dairy Products

There is a wide variety of dairy products available for chefs to use. Using dairy products produce and serve two sweet and two savoury dishes that could be included on a menu.

Homework Task Conduct research into each of the dairy products. [Milk, Cheese, Yogurt, Cream, Butter, Ice cream}

You could include information on:

What is meant by ‘dairy products’?
Types and characteristics
Culinary use
Storage methods
Storage life
Nutritional value
Healthy eating guidelines
Functions in food products
Examples of dishes that contain each dairy product.

You could make a chart like the one below.

Example :

Milk
Nutritional Value / Storage Methods and Storage Life. / Culinary Use
Whole Milk / Protein, Vitamin D, Calcium /

Fridge
5 Days.

/ Baking, desserts, quiches, custards, milk shakes, white sauces and custards
Semi Skimmed Milk /

Fridge
5 Days.

Planning Section

Choose four dishes to make

Two must be sweet,
Two must be savoury

The dishes you choose must :

Use dairy products.
Include a variety of colours, textures and flavours,
Show a variety cooking methods [e.g. boiling, baking, frying, grilling etc ]
Show a variety of skills :

• ‘rubbing-in’ e.g. pastry- making, crumble, biscuits, scones

• ‘creaming’ e.g. fairy cakes, pineapple upside down pudding, piped biscuits

• ‘whisking’ e.g. gateau, Swiss roll, roulade

• ‘sauce making’ e.g. béchamel, custard

• ‘yeast mixtures’ e.g. pizza, bread rolls

• dishes using high risk foods like meat, chicken and fish e.g. chicken chasseur,

lasagne, fish pie.

Higher Level Skills: [ Grades A* - B/C]

• Pastry making – short crust, pate sucre, choux.

• Roux based sauces

• Meringues and pavlovas

• Meat and fish cookery (using high risk foods)

• Decorated cakes and gateaux

• Rich yeast doughs

• Complex accompaniments and garnishes

Medium Skills: [ Grades C/D ]

• Puff pastry items that need shaping but use ready-made pastry.

• Vegetable and fruit dishes requiring even sizes

e.g. fruit salad, stir fry which show competent knife skills

• Cheesecakes and similar desserts.

• Simple sauces e.g. red wine sauce.

• Simple cakes, biscuits, cookies and scones.

• Basic bread doughs.

Basic Skills: [ Grades E-G]

• Crumbles.

• Sandwiches.

• Pizza with ready-made base.

• Jacket potatoes.

• Simple salads.

• Assembling products e.g. using prepared sauces, bought meringue nests, etc.

Reasons for choice

These could include some or all of the following:

Dishes show a variety of colours (state the colours of each dish -remember to

avoid all cream, brown or green)

Dishes show a variety of textures (chewy, soft, crunchy, crisp, etc.)
Cost- state if the dishes are economical, if you are using food in season, if you

are using a wide or basic range of commodities. Refer to your research

Time taken to prepare and cook. All dishes should ‘fit’ into the given time

(consider setting time as well as cooking or cooling time)

Sale-ability. Customers in a restaurant would purchase the dish.
Easy to portion control and serve. State how you will portion all dishes i.e. use
of spoons, ladles, etc
Dishes will look attractive (explain garnish/decoration which will help the dishes
‘stand out’)
Dishes show a range of skills.
Dishes show a variety of cooking methods (baking, frying, grilling, boiling),
Dishes should be suitable for given groups (when preparing meals for children,
vegetarians or old people)
Nutritive value- this is especially important when preparing meals for children or
people with special dietary needs e.g. vegetarians, vegans, etc
Healthy eating- where possible include dishes that are low in fat, sugar and salt
and high in fibre i.e. include wholemeal products, cereals, fresh fruit and
vegetables to reflect current thinking and nutritional guidelines
All your dishes should be suitable for producing in bulk – this reflects hospitality
and catering; not cooking at home for a family
Can be refrigerated/frozen for use another time. Can be kept hot (above 63°C)
or reheated safely
N.B. Reheated food should not be served to high-risk groups.

Make reference to personal hygiene and critical control points:

How will you prepare yourself and where will you take extra hygiene/safety precautions?

For example when preparing chicken - keep refrigerated, handle as little as possible, cook thoroughly, wash equipment and hands thoroughly to prevent cross contamination.

Writing a Time Plan

When you have decided on your menu or choice of dishes the writing of the time plan is the next difficult concept.

The following method is a successful way of working out a time plan. Although it takes a lot of time to start with it ensures no stages are missed out.

Go through each dish and list the stages in making each one from mise en place through to serving. Number each stage as shown.

Tip: This is often easier to do in columns – the longer the column the more stages in preparing the dish so it reminds you to start the dish early in the practical session.

You then need to ‘dovetail’ (fit together) each stage of each dish into a final time plan.

Start with the dishes that need:

the longest cooking time e.g. casseroles or pies
the longest cooling time e.g. cakes that need to be decorated
the longest setting time e.g. cheesecakes and mousses

Finish with the final garnish and serving.

Make sure you START and FINISH at the correct times.

Allow at least 10 minutes for final garnish and decoration before serving.

Shopping List/Food Order

The shopping list for your assessment must be written accurately in order to gain full

marks.

You must identify food correctly i.e. caster sugar, plain flour, block margarine
and give the total amounts needed.
Remember to include all garnishes and decorations on your shopping list.
Use all metric quantities.

Using the following headings may help you identify the different commodities more

easily:

Butcher/Fishmonger
Grocer
Green Grocer Dairy - Under Green Grocer, group foods into vegetables, fruit and fresh herbs.

Equipment List

List the equipment you need to carry out you assessment under 3 headings:

Preparation: List all the equipment needed to make and cook your dishes including

bowls, knives, piping bags, baking trays etc.

Special equipment: List any special equipment needed

e.g. microwave, toaster, hand held mixer, food processor, and fryer.

Serving dishes: List all the serving dishes, flats, plates, vegetable dishes, salad

bowls, etc. you need. Include paper doyleys and dish papers.

You should not have to use more than 1 or 2 items of the same type i.e. mixing

bowls. You will lose marks and have too much washing up!

Evaluation(10 marks)

Suitability of dishes chosen: What dishes did you make? Why were they suitable for

the task?

Did you include a variety of cooking skills e.g. sauce making, pastry making, bread

making, rubbing in, creaming, whisking? State what skills you used for each dish.

Did you include a variety of cooking methods i.e. boiling, baking, toasting, frying,

poaching, microwaving? State what methods of cooking you used for each dish.

Comment on your time management during the task.
Customer acceptability: make comments about the appearance, flavour and texture of each dish (you must taste your food), correct number of portions, portion size, use of the correct sized dishes for amounts of food, attractive garnish or decoration, whether food was hot, cold or set as needed and the effect of the ‘whole’ table.
Would your food be acceptable for paying customers?
Suggest any improvements you would make if given the same task again.
If you would choose a different dish(es), say what you would choose and why.
If you could improve the “making” say how and why.
If you would improve the presentation or change the order of work suggest how and why.

Calculate and comment on cost per portion and portion size.

Instructions for using the costing spreadsheet

Click on tab at bottom ‘Product’. This is where you will list all of the ingredients for each dish you make. The example given is for a lemon meringue pie. Delete this.

Find the ingredients in your dish by clicking on the tabs at the bottom left. {Dairy, Meat, Veg etc]. Click on each ingredient and copy and paste onto ‘Product’ page.
When you have listed all of the ingredients, click on the tab which says ‘Costs’. Complete the ‘Weight of Food Pack’ and ‘Cost of Food Pack‘ columns.

You can use the spreadsheet called ‘Price List of Commodities ‘ on Public/ Food/ WJEC Catering to help you with this.