Lesson 3 - Sustainable Menu Item
INTRODUCTION:
The opening of Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill in February at Burswood will see one of the country's top dining destinations. Neil’s philosophy is “Keep it fresh, keep it simple”.
"I am hoping there will be plenty of people who are really interested in the quality of the ingredients that they eat and where their food comes from and the beautiful simple cooking that we do," he said when discussing the opening of his Perth restaurant (WAtoday.com.au, July 15, 2010). Neil Perry has an environmental conscience; the cornerstone of the menu is a sustainable philosophy. He uses the finest and freshest produce from Australia's most reputable suppliers.
MENU ITEM BRIEF:
Rockpool Bar & Grill Context
In recent years we have come to expect more and more from the food we buy. Today we can buy almost anything, pre-packed and ready to use, at any time of the year. To meet this demand for convenience, farmers have turned to large-scale, energy-intensive farming; pesticides and fertilisers are widely used; and the amount of food packaging has increased enormously. All of these changes have had a major effect on the environment.
Requirements
Your group should use the concept-mapping tool called Compendium http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/ (or similar) to plan your menu item.
This will be the central repository for your work.
Design and make a menu item that will encourage consumption of organic produce and or foods that are in season.
Specify which seasonal menu your menu item will feature on.
Your menu item should:
Be made from locally available foods in season (which maybe organic)
Consider using ingredients with minimal packaging
Source ingredients transported in a way that causes as little harm as possible to the environment.
Think about sustainability when evaluating your menu item.
You will be given class time to conduct online research using the Internet. You will find ample resources on the Resources Page of the Sustainable Food website.
A. Menu Item Recipe
Create a recipe or rehash an existing recipe with your own special flair added.
Give it a name.
List the quantity and ingredients, together with the steps to make the menu item under a section called method.
Specify the serving size.
A digital photograph illustrating the completed menu item should be presented (obtain once cooked).
Use Ms Word (or similar) to save the final copy of your work. You should also create an entry with an appropriate title (menu item title and your group identification) to the class blog under the category “Rockpool menu”.
B. Menu Item
Suppliers/Source of Ingredients Working within Compendium list the suppliers (where possible) for the ingredients used. Include the website of the supplier if available.
Include an explanation of why it should be included – why it is nutritionally superior (no hormones, antibiotics, additives, health benefits)
Save your final list of suppliers to the original Ms Word (or similar) created during stage A.
C. Menu Item Costing
Provide an estimated costing of the menu item for one serve. Use the spreadsheet provided at this site: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/technology/7_10/technology/teaching_ideas/finance_lit/finance_lit.htm
Cost one version using sustainable food ingredients and another version of the recipe using non-sustainable organic products. Which is more expensive and why?
You should be able to drag the costing spreadsheet from your computer, which you downloaded from the above site. Remember to save the final costing within your Compendium file.
Add a total of the menu costing for both recipes to the original MS word file created in stage A.
D. Food Miles
Calculate the food miles for both versions of the recipe. Which version of the recipe is better for the environment? You can use the following website or another of your choice : http://lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/food_miles/calculating_food_miles.php
Remember to save the food mile calculations within your Compendium file. Add a summary of the food miles for both recipes to the original MS word file created in stage A.
E. Cooking Demonstration
Give a demonstration of it being made & the final presentation for the diner. Ensure you take a final digital photograph and add this to your recipe created at stage A.
Give particular attention to the following practical preparation and service:
Complete part one of the worksheet for this lesson – Evaluating of the production process.
F. Conduct a Blind Tasting (immediately after demonstration)
Conduct a tasting of both versions of the menu item. Ask three people to select which is the superior dish. Do not reveal to the taster the sustainable food dish until the tasting has been completed.
Provide a brief summary of the results and any comments made by the tasters.
Ensure you add the results to the original MS word file created in stage A under an appropriate heading.
Complete part two and three of the worksheet for this lesson–Tasting of produced dish and group/product evaluation.
G. Minimizing Waste
Include ideas on how waste can be minimized in preparing the menu.
Ensure you add this to the original MS word file created in stage A under an appropriate heading. You only need to keep this brief approximately (100-150 words) or you may choose to demonstrate this in another manner, in which case keep it brief.
The opening of Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill in February at Burswood will see one of the country's top dining destinations. Neil’s philosophy is “Keep it fresh, keep it simple”.
"I am hoping there will be plenty of people who are really interested in the quality of the ingredients that they eat and where their food comes from and the beautiful simple cooking that we do," he said when discussing the opening of his Perth restaurant (WAtoday.com.au, July 15, 2010). Neil Perry has an environmental conscience; the cornerstone of the menu is a sustainable philosophy. He uses the finest and freshest produce from Australia's most reputable suppliers.
MENU ITEM BRIEF:
Rockpool Bar & Grill Context
In recent years we have come to expect more and more from the food we buy. Today we can buy almost anything, pre-packed and ready to use, at any time of the year. To meet this demand for convenience, farmers have turned to large-scale, energy-intensive farming; pesticides and fertilisers are widely used; and the amount of food packaging has increased enormously. All of these changes have had a major effect on the environment.
Requirements
Your group should use the concept-mapping tool called Compendium http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/ (or similar) to plan your menu item.
This will be the central repository for your work.
Design and make a menu item that will encourage consumption of organic produce and or foods that are in season.
Specify which seasonal menu your menu item will feature on.
Your menu item should:
Be made from locally available foods in season (which maybe organic)
Consider using ingredients with minimal packaging
Source ingredients transported in a way that causes as little harm as possible to the environment.
Think about sustainability when evaluating your menu item.
You will be given class time to conduct online research using the Internet. You will find ample resources on the Resources Page of the Sustainable Food website.
A. Menu Item Recipe
Create a recipe or rehash an existing recipe with your own special flair added.
Give it a name.
List the quantity and ingredients, together with the steps to make the menu item under a section called method.
Specify the serving size.
A digital photograph illustrating the completed menu item should be presented (obtain once cooked).
Use Ms Word (or similar) to save the final copy of your work. You should also create an entry with an appropriate title (menu item title and your group identification) to the class blog under the category “Rockpool menu”.
B. Menu Item
Suppliers/Source of Ingredients Working within Compendium list the suppliers (where possible) for the ingredients used. Include the website of the supplier if available.
Include an explanation of why it should be included – why it is nutritionally superior (no hormones, antibiotics, additives, health benefits)
Save your final list of suppliers to the original Ms Word (or similar) created during stage A.
C. Menu Item Costing
Provide an estimated costing of the menu item for one serve. Use the spreadsheet provided at this site: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/technology/7_10/technology/teaching_ideas/finance_lit/finance_lit.htm
Cost one version using sustainable food ingredients and another version of the recipe using non-sustainable organic products. Which is more expensive and why?
You should be able to drag the costing spreadsheet from your computer, which you downloaded from the above site. Remember to save the final costing within your Compendium file.
Add a total of the menu costing for both recipes to the original MS word file created in stage A.
D. Food Miles
Calculate the food miles for both versions of the recipe. Which version of the recipe is better for the environment? You can use the following website or another of your choice : http://lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/food_miles/calculating_food_miles.php
Remember to save the food mile calculations within your Compendium file. Add a summary of the food miles for both recipes to the original MS word file created in stage A.
E. Cooking Demonstration
Give a demonstration of it being made & the final presentation for the diner. Ensure you take a final digital photograph and add this to your recipe created at stage A.
Give particular attention to the following practical preparation and service:
- Demonstrate safe and hygienic work practices when using equipment and appliances.
- Demonstrate safe food handling practices to control reactions between ingredients and equipment to achieve performance requirements e.g. cross contamination, food storage.
- Demonstrate safe use and storage of equipment.
- Demonstrate safe workplace procedures and food handling practices for health and safety.
- Demonstrate teamwork skills.
- Display efficient time management skills.
- Evaluate the menu item
Complete part one of the worksheet for this lesson – Evaluating of the production process.
F. Conduct a Blind Tasting (immediately after demonstration)
Conduct a tasting of both versions of the menu item. Ask three people to select which is the superior dish. Do not reveal to the taster the sustainable food dish until the tasting has been completed.
Provide a brief summary of the results and any comments made by the tasters.
Ensure you add the results to the original MS word file created in stage A under an appropriate heading.
Complete part two and three of the worksheet for this lesson–Tasting of produced dish and group/product evaluation.
G. Minimizing Waste
Include ideas on how waste can be minimized in preparing the menu.
Ensure you add this to the original MS word file created in stage A under an appropriate heading. You only need to keep this brief approximately (100-150 words) or you may choose to demonstrate this in another manner, in which case keep it brief.
The worksheet for this lesson is available to download as both a word file(.doc) and pdf.
| menuitemworksheet.pdf |
| menuitemworksheet.doc |
Sustainable Food
2010 Kristine Kordic Some rights reserved
