By Amanda Sauceda
One week down and five more to go for my foodservice rotation! This past week has flown by because each day I shadowed a different position in the kitchen. All I have to say is these people move fast! Walking into the kitchen it is a flurry of movement. It can be kind of intimidating in the kitchen because you don’t want to get in anyone’s way. Everyone knows exactly what he or she has to do and fly by going from area of the kitchen to the next gathering all the items they need. You got someone with a hot dish on your left while the person on your right zips on by.
One of the hardest challenges this week was working on the tray line. I fumbled a lot in the beginning when the catering associate handed me the tickets and I had to figure out what the dish was for the #1 cardiac diet. So many different diets and then they could alter them to their liking! It was all very confusing in the beginning figuring out who got what entrée with what sides while making sure the dish looked presentable and finishing up within the target time. But halfway through I picked up a rhythm, got into the swing of things, and was able to not have to rely too much on the list detailing the variety of menus. I was also able to see a bit of the administrative side to running a kitchen. I helped with time reports, revising job descriptions, and finding ways to make the kitchen even more efficient.
The whole week was tiring! Often early mornings and you are constantly on the go because nothing ever goes to plan in foodservice. Flexibility and the ability to multitask are qualities that are essential to any foodservice operation and after this one week I can see exactly how truly important those qualities are. Next week I’ll be on the production side of things and I’m looking forward to it!
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