LARDER SECTION

 

LARDER

Larder Kitchen

 

Definition & Introduction of Larder Work

 

The larder or Garde Manger is a department set aside for the storage of perishable food, both raw and cooked. It is the place 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.

 

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

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

·         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.

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

 

Breakdown of Work

 

Taking the above into consideration, it naturally follows that the work is broken down into various fields such as Hors d'oeuvre, Salads, Butchery, Poultry, Cold Buffet etc, and are prepared accordingly. In large busy establishments; each of these functions or duties are carried out by one or more men or sometimes women, who specialize in the work of that particular sub-department. As an example, the Butcher, Poulterer or Fishmonger may be an expert in that particular field without being a trained chef or cook, and it sometimes happens that the salads or Hors d'oeuvre are prepared by female staff trained in those particular duties only.

 

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

It should be mentioned at this stage that often quality rather than quantity of trade is the determining factor in deciding the number of staff required in the Garde-Manager, or for that matter in the kitchen as a whole.

 

 

Equipment found in the Larder

 

Heavy:

·         Refrigeration equipment including refrigerators, walk-ins, reach-in, pull outs, traulsen, 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 or (Chinois), heat presses, Pie moulds, whisks, egg slices, steel basins and graters; etc.

 

Miscellaneous:

Frying and flat spoons - Assorted knives (Butchers Boning knives ,butcher’s steak or cutting knives, Butchers saw, Butcher’s choppers and cleavers, Butchers chopping Knives, Cook’s 30 cms (12 inches) Knives, Cook’s 20-24 cm (5/7 inches) knives, Cook’s 6-8 cm (4 inches) knives, Cook’s 14-20cm (7 inches) filleting Knives, 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 channelling 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.

 

Planning the Garde Manger

 

Layout:  Planning the layout for a garde manger department can be a complex task. Unlike other departments that can depend on a basic menu and basic work load, 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 section, its own frying , smoking of fish and cold meats , all the decorating including tallow and ice sculpture , along with a complete line on charcuterie products such as galantines and pates.

 

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

·         on a pick up basis.

·         on a distribution basis.

·         on a combination of the two basis.

 

When a Garde Manger department executes food order on a’ la Carte basis, this is known as Pick up. 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. The main problem here is workload which will be different each day depending upon booking, functions etc. For this reason, it is difficult to establish an appropriate mise-en-place on a daily basis; as it is bound to vary.

 

 

 

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 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.

 

 

Larder Control

 

If the larder is to be run effectively, efficiently and economically, it is essential that the Chef Garde Manger exercise strict control over the foodstuff received and stored in the department.

 

This will involve:

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

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

·         That the food is protected from contamination by vermin.            

·         That portion control is ensured.      

·         That stock is regularly turned over.            

·         That food is not over stocked.        

·         A simple daily stock sheet to be maintained by each sub department.     
Every possible effort is made to ensure the highest standard of hygiene.            
Pilferage is discouraged and controlled.

 

 

Stock Sheet

 

The stock and order sheet should be as simple and easy to keep up to data as possible. A complicated stock sheet requiring too much writing will defect the whole purpose as it will be neglected during busy rush periods, the very time it is  needed most. For some sub departments, devising an easy and simple system is reasonably easy. In some cases it is not so easy for example; also keeping of the stock of food sent in and returned by the cold buffet can be complicated and time wasting if one is to measure every ounce or inch. Therefore it is necessary to accept some rule of thumb providing it is well supervised. An experienced chef Garde Manger should be able to tell at a glance the weight, or number of Portion of a given joint or cold dish. The butchery department also presents some Problems and the stock sheet for this department needs careful consideration. Each establishment will devise its own system taking into account its own problems.

 

Department			Day and date
Item	Unit	Stock	Unit Price	Cost	Order
Tomatoes	kg(lb)	2			12
Sardines	tins	4			8
Eggs	doz	11/2			4
Oil	1.(gal)	1/2			1
Vinegar	1.(qt)	1			2

 

Yield Testing

 

Most foodservice products are delivered in the AP or As Purchased state. This refers to the weight or count of a product, as delivered to the foodservice operator. EP or Edible Portion refers to the weight of a product after it has been cleaned, trimmed, cooked, and portioned. Thus, AP refers to food products as the operator receives them; EP refers to food products as the guest receives them.

 

Yield % is important in the area of recipe costing. This is true because a recipe cost must take into account the difference in price of products in their AP or EP state. In order to determine actual recipe costs, it may sometimes be necessary to conduct a yield test to determine actual EP ingredient costs. A yield test is a procedure used for computing your actual costs on a product that will experience weight or volume loss in preparation.

 

 

Total Yield % =    Remaining Weight     x    100

                                  Original Weight

 

Waste % is the percentage of product lost due to cooking, trimming, portioning, or cleaning.

 

 

Liaison with other departments

 

The Larder is both a storage department for most perishable foods and a preparation department for such foodstuffs. The Larder staff, under the supervision of the Chef Garde-Manger, are responsible for the ordering, storing and preserving of stores, keeping stocks up to date, and accounting for such items as meat, fish, poultry, game etc. which pass through the department on their way from the suppliers to the kitchen and eventually to the restaurant or banqueting rooms. The bulk of such foodstuff needs dissecting or cleaning, dressing, cutting into the required joints or portions, and generally preparing for cooking.

To function in an effective manner, the Larder department must operate in harmony with the Kitchen in particular, if confusion and wastage are to be avoided. A good layout of the Larder in relation to the Kitchen will avoid undue running from place to place. Lack of liaison between the departments could result in duplication of work, or sometimes in certain processes not being carried out to the best advantage.

 

For Instance:

·         Certain foods intended for cold service are best cooked in the Kitchen where there are greater facilities for carrying out the operation

·         Pastry for pies or puddings, and various savouries served from the Larder department; are best prepared by the Pastry staff, who will be more skilful in such work, and who are equipped with the necessary apparatus and tools for producing such items.

·         Savoury fillings as are required by the Pastry chef for such items as sausage rolls, patties, or pasties, ravioli, etc., will be prepared in the Larder and transferred to the Pastry department as and when required.

·         Another important function of the Garde Manger is to process and utilize the ‘leftover’ which is transferred from the Kitchen to the Larder at the conclusion of every meal.

·         A number of garnishes or accompaniments to dishes served from kitchen departments are prepared by the Garde-Manger. Such items as stuffings, forcemeats, lardons or bacon rashers, are naturally provided by the Larder, as well as cold sauces for the accompaniment of hot dishes.

 

 

Responsibilities of the Garde Manger Department

 

1)   Butchery

2)    Marinated Products

·         Salads

·         Pickled Products – Vegetables, Fruit, Fish and Meats

·         Brines / Cures – Smoked Products.

3)    Cold Soups and Sauces

4)    Appetizers and Hors d’oeuvres

5)    Forcemeat products

·         Pâté, Galantine, Terrine, Sausage, Quenelles, etc.

6)    Gelatin Products

·         Aspic, Mousse, Aspic jelly coating, Coulis, Chaud-froid, 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

 

Menu Responsibilities of the Garde Manger Department:

·         A la Carte:  Hors d’oeuvres, Appetizer, Salad, Entrée

·         Buffet: Cocktail receptions, Dinners, Conference breaks, Salad bars.

 

 

Responsibilities of the Chef Garde Manger

 

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

2.    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.

3.    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.

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

5.    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.

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

7.    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.