DEFINITION & INTRODUCTION OF LARDER KITCHEN

The word larder came from the word LARD meaning pork (pig) fat. The name was given to the place in kitchen used as the cold storage for perishable items like meat, fish, poultry, eggs and milk. It is a department set aside for the storage of both raw and cooked and where food stuffs such as meat fish poultry and game are prepared and made ready for cooking.

In this department all cold food items found on the menu such as Hors d’oeuvre cold fish or meat dishes, cold sauces, salad dressings are prepared and dressed. One particular special duty of this department is the preparation and presentation of all types of cold buffet, which are nowadays a feature of so many functions.

This department is also known as “Gar de Manger” meaning “station of eatery”

For these various functions to be carried out it is essential that :

1.            The larder kitchen should be separated from the main kitchen and located in a cool place. At the same time, it must be close to the kitchen to avoid undue running about between two departments which are closely interrelated.

2.            It should be light, airy and well established and sufficiently spacious to allow the staff to carry out their duties in a clean and efficient manner.  It must also be able to store prepared foods and buffets in a cool and hygienic manner.

3.            It should be equipped with the necessary facilities fitting, machinery and tools. In accordance with the volume and/or quality of the work of the catering establishment in which it is situated.

PLANNING THE GARDE MANGER

Layout: The Garde Manger department is unique in its operation. On a daily basis the Garde Manger department may handle its own butchery, its own bakery, its own sauce making ,its own frying , smoking of fish and cold meats , all the decorating including tallow and ice sculpture , Plus a complete line on charcuterie products such as galantines and pates.

The Garde Manger department can relate to a food service facility in two ways:

-          on a pick up Basis.

-          on a distribution basis.

When a Garde Manger department Executes food order on an ala Carte basis, this is known as Pickup .This system operates in an unpredictable fashion ,Since the number and timing of orders is not known in advance. Work load is set depending upon the dishes listed on the menu.

When the Garde Manger department Executes food orders in advance for a known quantity, to be delivered at a certain time (Parties, banquets) this is known as the distribution basis.

Layout of the larder kitchen

BREAKDOWN OF WORK

In the larder kitchen, the work is broken down into various fields such as Hors d'oeuvre, Salads, Butchery, Poultry, Cold Buffet etc, and in effect, in large busy establishments each of these functions or duties are carried out by one or more men, who specialize in the work of that particular sub-department.

These various duties are allocated by the Chef Grade Manager, who is in overall charge of the department, to commis or assistant chefs, and they are known as Commis Grade-Manager, whatever duties they are assigned to. Naturally, the busier the establishment, the more Larder work it entails, therefore more is required to man the department. The smaller the volume of trade the fewer commis required, and so on. In many establishments the Chef Grade-Manager is single handed and carries out all the various functions himself.

The focus of this kitchen is more on quality rather than quantity.

EQUIPMENTS FOUND IN THE LARDER

Heavy:

·                     Refrigeration equipment including refrigerators, walk-ins, reach-in, pull outs, deep freezers, bottle                   coolers, ice machines, coolers and chillers.

·                     Food Processors with attachments for grinding, pureeing, kneading, mixing, Buffalo choppers, bone               saws

·                     Gas range, boilers, heaters (if required)

·                     Weighing scales - Electronic and manual

·                     Steel tables, cupboards, storage racks and sinks

Light:

Mixers, juicers, Butchers block, Storage bins and shelves, Slicers, Blow torch, Pots, pans, stockpots, larder tools such as serving spoons and ladles, sieves , Colanders , Conical strainers and Chinois, heat Presses , Pie moulds, whisks, egg slices, steel basins and graters

Miscellaneous:

Frying and flat spoons - Assorted knives (Butchers Boning knives ,butcher’s steak or cutting knives , Butchers saw (Tenon), Butchers saw(Bow), Butcher’s choppers and cleavers, Butchers chopping Knives, Cook’s 30 cms (12 inches) Knives, Cook’s 20-24 cm (a/7 inches) knives, Cook’s 6-8 cm (4 inches) knives, Cook’s 14-20cm(7 inches) filleting Knives Tranchelard Knives, Palette Knives) - Butchers saw ( Butchers chopper - Filleting knives and palette knives - Piping bags and assorted nozzles – Peelers - fancy cutters - mandolin slicer - Wooden spoons and mushrooms (wooden mushrooms are used for pressing food stuffs through sieves) - Cutlet bat and steak hammers (for flattening cuts of meat) - Larding and trussing needles and pins(for larding and trussing joints of meat and poultry) - Lemon zesters & decorators (for scraping and channeling lemon peel) - decorating knives and vegetable scoops (for shaping vegetables & potatoes) – Skewers - butchers hooks (for hanging joints) - Brining syringe (for pumping brine solution into joints) – brinometer (for measuring density of brine solution) - assorted thermometers - Assorted trays for storage of food.

DUTIES  OF GARDEMANGER CHEF

1. Checking the quality and quantity of all food received in the department.

2. Ensuring that all food stuff is stored at the right temperature and that they can easily be      

    Checked     
3.That the food is protected from contamination by vermin.        
4. That portion control is ensured.  
5. That stock is regularly turned over.        
6. That food is not over stocked.    
7. A simple daily stock sheet to be maintained by each sub department. 
8. Every possible effort is made to ensure the highest standard of hygiene.        
9. Pilferage (theft or burglary) is discouraged and controlled.

10.He is responsible to the Executive chef for the smooth running and operation of his department.

11. He is also responsible for co ordination between his staff and has to make sure that they have understood the work required from them and the production schedule, either daily or weekly.

12. Training is another important function he has to carry out. The work of the larder is of a highly skilled nature and involves a lot of expensive ingredients, procedures and equipment It is therefore imperative that the staff is well trained.

13.The larder Chef is also responsible for staff scheduling and duty rotas.

14.He is also required to co ordinate with the other departments like the kitchen and the bakery. A lot of pre preparation is done in the larder for the other departments and satellite kitchens. Their requirements must be made available well in advance.

15.He also has to maintain registers to record the receipts and dispatch of the foodstuff.

16.He is also responsible for maintaining hygiene and sanitation standards in the department. A lot of the foodstuff being processed here is in the raw sate and susceptible to contamination and possible food poisoning.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF GARDEMANGER CHEF

1)    Butchery (including the fish)

      2)    Marinated Products

             a.    Salads

             b.    Pickled Products – Vegetables, Fruit, Fish and Meats

             c.    Brines / Cures – Smoked Products.

      3)    Cold Soups and Sauces

      4)    Appetizers and Hors d’oeuvres

      5)    Forcemeat products

Pâté, Galantine, Terrine, Sausage, Quenelle, etc.

      6)    Gelatin Products

Aspic, Mousse, Aspic jelly coating, Colle, Chaudfroid, etc.

      7)    Cold Fish and Meat – Roasted, Poached

      8)    Pièce Montée (Centrepiece)

Ice-carving, Tallow/Butter Sculpture, Salt Dough, Vegetable & Fruit Carving

      9)    Specialty items – Cheeses, Caviar, Foie gras, etc.

    10) Food Garnishes

    11) Overseas pantry station

COMMON TERMS USED IN THE LARDER & LARDER CONTROL

Aging: Holding meats in coolers under controlled conditions to allow natural tenderizing to take place.

AP required: As-purchased amount necessary to yield the desired EP weight. AP required is computed as EP required divided by yield percentage.

Antipasto: Italian Hors d’oeuvre

Beginning inventory: The dollar value of all products on hand at the beginning of the accounting period. This amount is determined by completing a physical inventory.

Bin card: An index card with both additions to and deletions from inventory of a given product. To facilitate its use, the card is usually affixed to the shelf that holds the given item. Used in a perpetual inventory system.

Canapé: An hors d’oeuvre consisting of a small piece of bread or toast, often cut in decorative shape, garnished with savoury spread or topping.

Carpaccio: Very thin slices of meat or fish, served raw.

Carryover: A menu item prepared for sale during a meal period but carried over for use in a different meal period.

Casing: A synthetic or natural membrane used to enclose sausage forcemeat.

Caul: A fatty membrane that covers the stomach of a pig; used for wrapping meats for cooking and for lining terrines.

Chitterlings: Pork intestines.

Coulis: A vegetable or fruit puree, used as a sauce.

Crepinette: A sausage patty wrapped in caul.

Crudités: A raw vegetable served as a relish.

Daily inventory sheet: A form that lists the items in storage, the unit of purchase, and the par value. It also contains the following columns: on hand, special order, and order amount.

Edible portion (EP): This term refers to the weight or count of a product after it has been trimmed, cooked, and portioned.

Ending inventory: The dollar value of all products on hand at the end of the accounting period. This amount is determined by completing a physical inventory.

First-in, first-out (FIFO): Term used to describe a method of storage in which the operator intends to sell his or her oldest product before selling the most recently delivered product.

Forcemeat: A mixture of chopped or ground meat and other ingredients used for pates, sausages and other preparations.

Garniture: Garnish; the act or process of garnishing.

Inventory turnover: The number of times the total value of inventory has been purchased and replaced in an accounting period.

Lard: The rendered fat of hogs; to insert strips of fat into meats low in marbling.

Last-in, first-out (LIFO): Term used to describe a method of storage in which the operator intends to sell his or her most recently delivered product before selling the older product.

Par level: A system of determining the purchase point by using management-established minimum and maximum allowable inventory levels for a given inventory item.

Requisition: When a food or beverage product is requested from storage by an employee for use in an operation.

Shelf life: The period of time an ingredient or menu item maintains its freshness, flavor, and quality.

Tripe: The muscular stomach lining of beef or other meat animals.

Waste percentage: This formula is defined as product loss divided by AP weight and refers to product lost in the preparation process.

Working stock: The quantity of goods from inventory reasonably expected to be used between deliveries.

Yield percentage: This formula is defined as 1 minus waste percentage and refers to the amount of product available for use by the operator after all preparation-related losses have been taken into account.

Yield test: A procedure used to determine actual EP ingredient costs. It is used to help establish actual costs on a product that will experience weight or volume loss in preparation.