Volume 22

Dinner in the sky.

Breakfast in the sky, lunch in the sky, cocktail in the sky, meeting in the sky...there is no limit to your imagination on how to leave a lasting impression on your guests. Started as part of innovative event management, Dinner in the Sky, now a full viable business model, takes place at a table suspended at a height of 50 meters by a team of professionals. Benji Fun, is the worldwide leader for this type of activities. Dinner in the Sky is available for a session of 8 hours. It can be divided or personalized according to the client’s wishes. Dinner in the Sky seats 22 people around the table at every session and three in the middle (chef, waiter, entertainer…). 
        Dinner in the Sky is an event that can be organized anywhere (golf court, public place, race track, castle, vineyard, historical site…) as long as there is a ground surface of approximately 500m² that can be secured. Dinner in the Sky may with a second crane, or more procure facilities, cater for entertainment such as a music band or a car that is being presented at the same height as the table or…

Crazy? Check out www.dinnerinthesky.com

CKP's design Makes Waves in Hotel Magazine



CKP's kitchen design in the recently renovated Ferringgi Grill & Bar and Spice Market of Rasa Sayang is featured in the November 2007 issue of Hotels Magazine. 

More details....



As it
has been said..

  If you organize your kitchen, you can organize your life

- by Louis Parrish -


  DR. CKP FIXIT says.......

  • A kitchen design can look as beautiful as it can be on paper. The challenge is... TO BUILD IT!

  • A piece of equipment is as good as it stays inproper working order. The best piece of equipment in the world is still useless to the operator if it remains unrepairable...hence the most important criterion in selecting a piece of equipment is it's manufacturer's after sales service structure. 

Palatable Chicken.              

A major frustration for foodservice operators is that chicken parts, that have been cooked well done, still exhibit bloody bones and blood around the bone vicinity. Though adequately pasteurized, these are still deemed unacceptable to customers because of the unsightly appearance of blood. The so-called “problem” stems from the chickens nurtured growth and present storage methods.  
        Today's marketed chickens are considerably younger and far tenderer than they were years ago. Even though the animal is large enough (regulatory to local standards), their bones have not yet matured and are still somewhat soft and porous. As a result, there can be seepage of bone marrow through the soft bone and into the surrounding meat. When a young chicken is deep chilled, frozen ice crystals form within the bone. They expand and force the hem out of the marrow through the soft, porous bones. During the cooking process, the tissue will darken in color. Although the appearance is unappetizing, the meat is not harmed when this happens. 
        To take a pragmatic approach, it would be efficient to teach consumers to eat “bloody” chicken and dispel any existing misconceptions. As a fortification, the cooks can also convince consumers that they have a thermocouple (temperature reading probe) and know how to use it to validate pasteurization. One may think of overcooking the chicken in order to rid the visible raw blood. This is not a good option as the meat dries out, becomes unappealing and ends up not tasting good. As a counter measure, cooks tend to needle the chicken, pumping in solutions of phosphates, flavoring compounds and water. This has a converse effect as pathogens are placed in the middle of the chicken. If consumers had the same mindset to eat safely prepared, bloody chicken, as they do with beef, they would be able to enjoy juicier chicken with ease of mind.

Source:
O. Peter Snyder Jr.
Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management

Wine and Food: The Search for the Perfect Match

    Pairing food with wine can be an exciting and enlightening experience. Just as the right combination of ingredients complements and highlights each other to create a wonderful gourmet dish, a basic understanding of food, wine and how the flavours in each interact, can result in a successful pairing. Pairing the right wine with a meal, creates a combination that can sometimes achieve a palatable dining experience. There are no absolute rules, but good guidelines can help create the most successful and interesting pairings. The following are some recommendations: Delicate wines, such as Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc go nicely with salads, vegetables, fish with lemon sauce and foods that are generally poached or steamed. 
    Earthy and hearty wines such as Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Merlot go well with poultry, game birds, pork, veal, and with butter and cream sauces. The food should be sautéed, baked or roasted. Meaty, pungent or spicy wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel, go well with beef and offal. The suitable sauce would be Demiglace, and the food should be grilled or braised. Trust your senses, with a little basic guidelines and with your instincts, you will truly enjoy and appreciate the pleasures from finding the perfect match.


Source:
How to pair wine with meal. www.mamashealth.com
Wine and food pairings 101, by Geyser Peak Winery. www.gourmetsleuth.com

New Technology - Fryer.

      A fryer, in particular deep fat fryer is a major component of the kitchen equipment in a foodservice operation. Fryers are here to stay, and since they consume huge amounts of energy, the most efficient system is in need. Alto Sham has introduced a gas fryer model (FRY Tech ASF-75) with a heat exchanger system that provides 71 percent efficiency as rated by the “Foodservice Technology Centre” of Pacific Gas & Electric. This is currently the highest rating within the gas fryer market, compared with fryers of the same type. The Fry-Tech gas fryer offers a unique heat exchanger system to provide faster oil temperature recovery. 
        In terms of efficiency, the heat exchanger design significantly reduces connected gas demand. It also lowers flue temperatures to put less demand on the HVAC system and requires a less powerful hood system. The Alto sham ASF-75G gas fryer cabinet is constructed of stainless steel and includes heavy-duty castors mounted on both front and rear. The fryer is provided with a burner and a heat exchanger system powered by a fan-assisted combustion system with built in controls for ignition and flame rectification. 
        The fryer has a temperature range of 93°C to 191°C. The Food Service Technology Center of Pacific Gas and Electric conducted efficiency testing on the equipment. Product tests were started using French fries, a notoriously difficult frozen product to fry in consecutive loads due to short duration fry times that continue to reduce oil temperature from load to load. Since the oil does not regain sufficient temperature for subsequent loads, the product absorbs more oil and takes longer and longer to fry in order to produce an acceptable product. 
        Testing in the Fry-Tech gas fryer indicated an average oil temperature recovery time of slightly over 10 seconds, resulting in a per hour production rate of 134 pounds (±07.). The conclusion of testing resulted in a cooking energy efficiency rating of 71-percent for the Fry-Tech gas fryer versus a 55- to 64-percent rating for other fryers of the same type. This fryer was awarded the Kitchen Innovation award 2007.

For more details visit
www.altoshaam.com

Source :
www.fermag.com

Websites relevant to foodservice facilities design:

www.hfbexecutive.com

www.hotelsmag.com

www.fcsi.org