PART THIRTYTREE: DOLLARS AND CENTS - IT IS ALL ABOUT NUMBERS

FOOD COSTS AND HOW TO GET A RETAIL PRICE

Why do we need a food cost?

Part of becoming a Chef is to learn how to deal with the money site of cooking. In Trades school we learnt the inns and outs of costing a dish to establishing a retail price for the menu. A basic good knowledge of mathematics was essential for us to have. We where not allowed to use pocket calculators or computers. Everything calculated using your brain, thought us to be able to quickly do a food cost calculation and a retail price. 

Back in my days we did not have computers, mobile phones, the Internet, and pocket calculators where very expensive. I remember when my Dad got his first pocket calculator, he paid $ 800 for it. Today you can get a pocket calculator for a few dollars. Once I was in my last year of apprenticeship, I had a pocket calculator and it still cost about $ 70 but I was not allowed to use it at work or school. Been able to calculate with my brains instead has tremendously benefited me throughout my career as a qualified chef.

So having a food cost it a very important step in calculating a retail price. The food cost in % to the retail price which is 100%. 

That 100% has to cover the cost of the dish, running cost of the restaurant like rent, electricity, water, gas, beverages, crockery, equipment and maintenance, wages, suppliers and taxes. At the end you want to have a net profit. (A net profit is money left over after everything is paid.)

How low or high should the food cost be?

First, a low food cost without jeopardising the quality of the dish is always the preferred outcome. In other words, the food cost should never be above 30% . That is also not always possible. I give you 2 examples.

Eye fillet steak grilled with vegetables, mash potatoes and a mushroom sauce. Cost: $19.60. Asking price for this dish is $ 36.50. Your food cost is over 50%! The asking price is the price other restaurants and hotels sell this dish, been higher may result the costomers not ordering that dish.

Egg omelet (3 eggs) with fine diced vegetables. Cost: $2.15 Retail price $11.90. Your food cost is just below 20%. 

This does not mean, that only dishes with low food costs should be on the menu. It means, that you can offer dishes with a higher food cost and have some other dishes with a very low food cost like: chips, salads, soups, side dishes like mash potatoes, mixed vegetables, sauces

The menu card should have an average food cost of not more than 28 to 30%. To get to that figure, add up all the cost prices of everything on the menu card and add up all the retail prices on the menu card for all food items only. Here is an example:

Total cost of all food items on the menu card is: $ 200

Total cost of all food retail prices on the menu card $ 685

1 % of the total retail price is $ 6.85

Divide $ 200 by 6.85 equals 29.2 % which is the overall food cost.

How we had to learn how to calculate the cost of a dish

Calculating the food cost includes every single ingredient for the dish. Seasonings, oil for cooking, stocks for cooking, everything. The food cost is calculated for a single serve dish. Here is a short example:

1 side serve of mash potatoes: Retail price $ 6.00

Costs per serve:

300 gm of large potatoes  $ 0.54  1 kg $ 1.80. 

200 ml of milk $ 0.22                    1 Lt $ 1.10

100 gm of butter $ 0.34               1 kg $ 3.40

Seasoning   $ 0.20

Garnish $ 0.10

Total cost of side serve mash is $ 1.40 which is 23.33%

I am aware that the calculations for cost and retail price may vary from country to country and restaurants to hotels. This examples I am using is what we had to learn. 

Not only cooking the food is important, knowing the cost to the retail price is the most important factor for a successful operation. When we chefs put up a specials menu changing from day to day, we need to make sure that we maintain a good to excellent food cost.

Next week I write about on how we got drilled on the presentation of a dish on a plate. Until then, you have a fantastic week, enjoy life and great food. Cheers

PART THIRTYTWO: "THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER!"

THE WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES IS AWAITING YOU

Become a Chef and you never go hungry

I still remember the conversations I had with Mum. I was about 15 +and we where talking about my future. I had to make a decision on my professional future. We spoke about the chefs trade. 

1) A Chef will always find work. People have to eat, in peace and war times. Economically speaking, been a chef is a secure trade to be in and you will never go hungry.. 

2) There has ALWAYS been a shortage of Chefs. In Switzerland and in Australia was and still is a shortage of chefs. Finding a new job as a chef is easy. Some bigger newspapers have job adverts for chefs. 

3) Been a chef, the sky is the limit and the World is your oyster. Many great opportunities can await you as a chef. 

A World of Opportunity

Ever wanted to see the World? As a Chef you can see and experience the World. You can go anywhere and find a job. Work in a exclusive Hotel somewhere in the World? Why not. I did it, it is amazing. I was never out of a job. But there is more...

You can work in a restaurant or hotel, you can work in a hospital, age care facility, work in a staff canteen of a huge factory or office building, cook in a function centre. Wait there is more...

You could work on a oil platform or gas platform out at see, you could work as a chef for international fright and people shipping liners and private luxurious ships, this way you really see the World. There is more...

You can work in a mining camp in West Australia, they need to eat. The mines sometimes look for chefs, anywhere in the World. There is even more...

Cook in the Army, for Presidents and Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens, Cook in Universities and schools, cook in exclusive clubs. You can be a chef in an International organisation, you could work in an Consulate General of any nation as a chef. You want more? Okay...

You can become a airliner chef and work at the catering department of the airport, a chef in the railways, chef in a road house,  some arts centres have restaurants looking for chefs, sports facilities, tourist attractions, resorts, or you could be a chef on an expedition, adventure tours, prospecting tours.

You can even go to the South Pole and be a chef there for the research teams. 

You can start your own small or large restaurant, take away shop or cafe shop. You could run a catering business working from home. 

You can also become a trades teacher for chefs. You could run your own cooking school. 

Why did I become a Chef?

I was interested in cooking since I have been 9 years old. I was just fascinated watching and helping that nice food mum and grand mum use to cook. Little did I know that I was going to become a chef.

I love food, full stop. I went to cooking school when I was 12 and I started to cook at home sometimes. I am always trying new foods. 

I was always dreaming to see the World. I could not sit still for long.

My sense for adventure. 

But one of my main reason was that I could put a smile on a persons face with a nice meal. It is truly a trade of love. You work big hours but at the end of the day you have the satisfaction that because of you your guests had a very nice meal. Cooking nice food is a declaration of love on a plate.

Next week I share with you how a retail price of a dish on a menu in a restaurant or hotel is created. When I was in the apprentice ship, we had to learn the money site of a dish. Over the years the system became easier and it seems to work. Have a fantastic week, love life and all what is you. Cheers 

PART THIRTY ONE: UNSPOKEN RULES IN THE KITCHEN

THE BLUE PRINT OF KITCHEN ETHICS & TRUST

Today I am going to share a very important part of kitchen life with you. You will see that those points I am going to share with you, apply to all aspects of working life, not just the kitchen. When you enter the working life, meaning a apprenticeship or job, it is good to know how to fit in so to speak. In my working career I stuck to the rules I learnt while in the boys scouts and the Army, and I did well with them. I like to pass them on to you, especially those of you entering the work force.

COMING TOGETHER IS A BEGINNING

KEEPING TOGETHER IS PROGRESS

WORKING TOGETHER IS SUCCESS

by Henry Ford

RULE 1: You must be willing to learn and take on board constructive criticism. You never stop     learning, as longest you live! Nobody knows it all. I am a Chef for over 30 years and I learn every day something new. I learn from apprentices as much as I learn from other chefs.

RULE 2: Become a TEAM PLAYER. In a kitchen, with not much room, working with other people under stress, getting all the meals cooked and served, you must apply teamwork. The moment you got nothing to do, you help someone in the team getting the job done. You earn the respect you deserve. Look out for each other and always work with each other. 

RULE 3: You must be flexible. In a kitchen you know your starting time but never your finishing time. It is not your 9 to 5 run of the mill job. Some days you may have to work longer, some other days you can go home earlier. It is give and take. 

RULE 4: Trust goes a long way. Do not "rat" on your team mates. So when the head chef ask you who stuffed up that meal, you simply say: I don't know, I did not see it. Remember, you are a team and you back your work mates. What happens in a kitchen, stays in the kitchen. 

RULE 5: Admit to your mistakes. There is no shame or law who states that you can not make a mistake. We are all humans after all. Where people work, mistakes are made. Admitting to the mistakes one makes and learn from it is your best option.  My mother use to say: "No Master has fallen out of the sky".

RULE 6: Be a good Communicator. Part of a good communicator is to listen. When you work in a kitchen during service hours, you need to communicate with the other chefs. You need to listen and answer quickly. When you cook a la carte for 250 people in 2 hours, everything has to work like clockwork. The team of chefs cook table by table orders where every guest has something different to eat. All meals are cooked to order. With communication and absolute team work is a must. The head chef calls out the meals, you say yes, and deliver your part of the meals. Concentrate, listen, answer, deliver. 

RULE 7: Keep your temper in control. That is a important one when you want to work in the kitchen. When you work in a kitchen, the pressure is on. Everything is about timing. You have days where you don't stop for 6 hours or more for a short break. So when all the chefs are under pressure, some words can fly. Because you work under pressure, your temper can easy flair up. You have to control that temperament trying to get the better of you. Take a deep breath, concentrate on your work and deal with the issue you have later after service hours. Talk about the issue you have, and be nice about it, with the person you have the issue with. Sort it out, shake hands and get on with it.

RULE 8: Personal hygiene: In the food industry, personal hygiene is a absolute must. That includes not wearing rings. Clean fingernails, short haircut or wear a hairnet during work, control your body odour as it is always hot in a kitchen, have one to two showers a day. For the men, a clean shave. Long beards are not allowed. 

RULE 9: Never run late to work. Where ever I go, work or private, I make sure that I time myself to be there 10 minutes before I have to be there.

RULE 10: RESPECT is important. It is even more important that you respect others, no matter what colour of his/her skin is. In the Chefs game, you will work with people from around the World. 

Next week I will talk about the World Wide Opportunities good Chefs have and how save the chefs trade is. Been a Chef can open the World to you. 
Have a fantastic week, love life and enjoy every moment life gives you. 

PART THIRTY: A REAL FINAL TEST REHEARSAL

THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY

Two years and six months into my apprenticeship. My most important day of my apprenticeship was approaching fast. A apprenticeship as a Chef goes for 3 years. There was a lot to learn in that short time. When you finish the chef apprenticeship, you know only the basics.  The final exams are though and they go for 2.5 days. The real learning begins after the apprenticeship.

How ever, this most important day was not the final test. The most important day was set 6 months prior to the final tests. This was the day we are going to find out what we learned and what we still need to learn or brush up on. We where 3 apprentices and we are going to be tested. Half a day, basic knife skills, working with meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. Setting up basic stocks, make a demi glaze or gravy from scratch. After we got 90 minutes of questioning, all aspects of cooking, safety, hygiene, calculating cost to retail price of a dish plus lots more. We had an hour break and in the afternoon we had to cook a 9 course menu given to us. Our parents and management of the Hotel and Testers where invited for Dinner we apprentices cooked.We had 4 hours, from scratch to the finished dish. Because our Test was conducted in the Function kitchen, we where given an extra 45 minutes to gather what we needed. Every whisk, seasoning and all the goods we needed to cook that 5 course menu. A classical soup, followed by a cold entree, main course, desserts, biscuits and ice chocolates with coffee.

You had to fulfill a number of tasks in basic preparation like boning, cutting meat, filleting fish, cut different classical vegetable and potatoes, make a bouillon, a stock for gravy, a fish fond or stock and chicken broth.

Part of the test was also your appearance. Uniform need and clean, apron, chefs hats, necktie, fingernails trimmed, hairnet or short hair, the male chefs shaved, the female chefs no perfume or excessive make up.

We were tested on all levels of the kitchen, from cold larder to pastry section. As a Chef you would be able to prepare entrees to desserts. A special dessert was used often for the final tests, called Charlotte royal. See photo below:

We where working as a team, us 3 apprentices when it came to the cooking in the afternoon. Our task was to cook for 12 people, parents and management.

The first course had to be served exactly at 6:30 pm and the last course at 9:00 pm. After we had to clean the kitchen and that was also a part of the test. Hygiene was a high priority to know as a chef.

From 8 am to 10 pm we run off our feet, a introduction to the real test 6 months later. Now we could find out where our weaknesses where and work on them for the next 6 months.

The highlight of the day was; When we finished we could get changed and sit together with our parents in the function room. The The Chef or Tester who took our exam, where also on the table. We could then listen first hand from the experts where we had to complement our learning to iron out the weaknesses in our cooking. This was a great help for us. First we knew what the test is going to be like and secondly we knew where we had to put more effort into the area we where lacking on skill.

By the way, the Charlotte Royal dessert was on our menu.

Next week I share with you certain unspoken rules of kitchen life. The same rules will always apply, no matter where you are or what you do. Don't miss that one.
Till then, enjoy life, eat well and lough a lot.