COMFORT TO COMMERCIAL ASSIGNMENT SLO 1
BACKGROUND
As part of the Food Product Development Course being a Capstone course, it is very important to test each student’s ability to use their critical thinking skills in a way as to be able to visualize changes to products without actually making the products in a kitchen. This is vitally important to do in the food industry, since time to develop is shortening and the ability to design products on paper, before going into the kitchen is a tremendous skill you need to possess. This assignment will foster this skill that you will use the rest of your food career.
OVERVIEW
The scenario for this assignment is as follows:
You have graduated and are now working in the R&D Optimization group of a food company (The Company) that produces food products for the Foodservice industry. Specifically, “The Company” is a partner to a large “high end” restaurant chain (The Customer) that uses your group to identify ways that they can improve efficiency, develop new menu ideas, reduce cost of existing menu items, simplify formulations, and make sure that the items developed meet current consumer related food trends.
“The Customer” has noticed that their sales have been dropping on their three entrée menu offerings served with two great tasting sides. Most of the restaurant’s patrons refer to the meal (entrée plus two sides) as “high end comfort foods.” These three entrees that need to be optimized are the beef Wellington, the country fried steak, and their stuffed flounder. Since these are familiar high margin items for “The Customer,” they have contacted “The Company” for help. As a result, you have been chosen to work on the project and you along with two others, from your R&D team, have been given a choice of which of the three you would like to work on. This is based on your familiarity with the dish and your understanding of how it is made. Recipes to use are, Chef Gordon Ramsey’s Beef Wellington, Chef Lorious’ Crab Stuffed Flounder, Chef Rhee Drummond’s Chicken Fried Steak. All are available on YouTube to review only. After you and the other team members have discussed you have decided to work on one of the menu meals which consist of one of the entrees along with sides that match the quality of the entrée.
OBJECTIVES
Your job is to create and design an alternative menu occasion (entrée + two sides) that will be acceptable to “The Customer’s” customer, without actually testing in a kitchen, while meeting the requirements listed. As you can see below this will challenge your different strengths and possibly some weaknesses that you may have developed.
Please make sure to reference the URL for the comfort recipe chosen in your paper, and analyze “the food recipe found on the internet” and two sides (of your own choosing) that accompany, and recommend and design a totally new menu offering (entrée + two sides) complete with detailed instructions for cooking, plating, and serving BOH and FOH. Goals/Requirements are to reduce overall cost of the meal by 20%, saturated fat by 20% and sodium by 35%, for the optimized meal. This assignment is for both FNBI and Culinary Science & Food Service Mgmt. (undergraduate), along with any Masters level students.
The analysis will be used as a baseline understanding of the food that is being served in the restaurant.
Nutritional Analysis – All students will have to analyze the comfort item + two sides (these sides will be designed by the students and should be a good matchup culinarily to the comfort item). This information will be used as the baseline for nutritional values and to calculate % increases/ decreases using well developed formulation skills and integrate processing/cooking techniques to provide food safe offerings. The baseline menu offering will be compared to the revised menu offering that has been designed to meet the Requirements listed in the Overview section.
Food Systems Administration & Culinary– All students will detail the preparation, cooking, plating and serving of each of the food products in application as well as menu development, while reducing the overall cost of the menu offering through reduction of ingredient cost.
Food Science – Using understanding of Food Ingredient interactions and the Principle of Flavor Development related to processing, combined with their knowledge of Food Safety and Quality Assurance/HACCP, all students will create alternative prototype menu items, rich in flavor that meets or even exceeds “The Customer’s” expectations for the project.
Report – All students will write a report (minimum of 16 pages including a cover sheet and bibliography) focusing on cost and nutritional analysis comparisons as well as “front and back of house” production steps, that must be followed to successfully achieve the required objectives associated with the “new” menu offering. This assignment will test your ability to take your vision of the “new” menu offering and transfer it into a well written, properly formatted, and easily understood report that could be used to teach restaurant employees the “what, when, where, how, and why this change is being considered by management.
TIMING
This assignment is due on October 19, at 11:00 AM, although students may turn in earlier if desired. The assignment will be checked for plagiarism through the use of TURNITIN.
INGREDIENTS & COSTS
In order to complete a comparison of the comfort food menu cost and the newly developed food menu cost, a list of ingredients needed to complete the analysis is available on the course modules page on CANVAS, and only the costs listed should be used. If an ingredient that a student would like to use in the alternative meal is not part of the list, an email is to be sent to the professor asking that the ingredient be added to the list. This request will only be granted if the student can show the necessity of using the non-listed ingredient to be able to meet the three requirements listed for the assignment.
GRADING
The following rubric will be used to grade the assignment. Each student should review carefully and ensure that they understand what is needed to receive a good grade and pass this assignment. The assignment is worth 100 points or the same as an Exam grade.
Please see below:
RUBRIC – COMFORT TO COMMERCIAL – 100 PTS.
Criteria 100% 90% 80% 70%
Completion
30% of overall On time and no delays from expected time and date. Missed date and time by one day. Missed date and time by two days. Missed date and time by greater than two days.
Materials &
Methods
30% of overall All information is provided in thorough detail. Thoughts and points are very well organized and formatted. All information is provided, although additional detail would help with organization, formatting and readability, .
Basic information provided and/or minor parts missing. Organization fair. Incorrect information is provided; and/or organization and formatting poor making it difficult to read and understand.
Spelling & Grammar
15% of overall Very few, if any grammar and/or spelling errors. A few minor grammar and/or spelling errors that do not distract from reliability of the information recorded. Few major errors and/ or several minor grammar and/or spelling errors. Do not distract from readability of the information recorded. Spelling and grammar errors compromise ability to understand content and readability of the information recorded.
Discussion
25% of overall All information was provided in thorough detail and accurate. Thoughts and points very well organized. Documentation showed progression of thought from analysis to use in restaurant setting. All information was provided in thorough detail, however some inaccuracies noted. Thoughts and points well organized. Documentation showed progression of thought. All of the required information is provided, however organization was only fair and documentation of the progression of thought was difficult to understand A number of sections of information is missing and therefore is not understandable. Information that is included is incorrect. Organization is poor and not well thought out.
