Catering Melbourne Blog

When people think of chocolate no two people are the same

Most chocolates that people are familiar with are dark, milk, white, semi-sweet, and maybe sugar-free.

But there are so many more out there.

Take AERATED chocolate for instance. It usually dark or white chocolate where air bubbles are introduced to the chocolate as it is being made.

And then there is FILLED Chocolate. It is a chocolate that additives were added. Things like nuts, jelly pieces, dried fruits and even cereals.

As for Organic, it is made from the raw material that the farmers produce.

In the 1990’s chocolates with a high content of cocoa became very popular in Europe. The content of cocoa was 40-60%. Now some producers make chocolate ranging from 70 to 85%. There are even some that contain 99%!

Here is a list of unknown or unimagined chocolates.

Raw or Roasted Cacao— this the whole cacao bean minus the shell.

Cacao Nibs—this the broken up pieces of the bean.

Ground Cacao—as the name suggests it’s the bean ground up.

It is the healthiest form of chocolate there is however it can be quite bitter to the taste.

Chocolate Liquor— Unlike what it’s name may suggest there is no alcohol added. This how chocolate starts. Producers start by grinding cacao nibs into a liquid paste in which nothing is added. It has about 53% cocoa butter at this stage.

Unsweetened Chocolate—this what people use to bake with. It is sometimes referred as pure or bitter chocolate. It contains at least 35% chocolate liquor. There is cocoa and sugar in various amounts. There really no difference between bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate. Often times they are referred as dark chocolate. The chocolate bittersweet or semi-sweet (the type baked with) is sweetened by adding cocoa liquor without adding the cocoa butter.

Sweet Chocolate—this chocolate is sometimes mistaken for bittersweet. The reason being that it contains at least 15% chocolate liquor in which cocoa butter and sugar is added in various amounts.

Milk Chocolate: This chocolate contains at least 10% chocolate liquor then cocoa butter and sugar is added in various amounts then at least 12% milk, cream, or milk powder is added.

White Chocolate: technically isn’t considered a type of chocolate since it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor. But it must have at least 20% cocoa butter and 14% milk with sugar added in various amounts. No wonder my white fudge never turns out!

Cocoa powder— is really cocoa powder or unsweetened cocoa.

Then the last on my list is Dutched Chocolate.

It is formed by washing cocoa powder in an alkali solution of Potassium Carbonate. This wash darkens the color and neutralizes acidity of the cocoa powder. Cocoa that is very alkalized is called Black cocoa. This is the chocolate used in Oreo cookies.

In short the use and types of chocolate just depends on the imagination of the producers. Then in turn the consumer who is using the chocolate. Well I can say for this, my imagination turned to making white chocolate fudge and as I stated earlier it didn’t turn out. OH,well back to the drawing board. I haven’t given up.

The key to building a restaurant brand with staying power is not only creating your competitive edge but also keeping it. Obviously many things go into making that happen, but for your customers it always comes back to the food and the right restaurant equipment makes great food possible.

As our economy is quickly changing so are the likes and dislikes of our clients. When purchasing restaurant equipment, you will need to decide if it is possible to use existing equipment behind the line to adapt to the emerging trends in today’s fierce competition for the consumer dollar. If you are in the restaurant industry, I do not need to tell you that everything about the restaurant industry has changed, is changing and will continue to change. With this being said, it is imperative to become one of the success stories you will need to be the quickest and the best at adapting and keeping your food fresh. As a restaurateur, we need to look into our crystal ball and ask ourselves if the equipment we purchase today has the flexibility to meet the unforeseen needs that could be in front of us.

Use these three simple rules when researching your next piece of restaurant equipment prior to making your purchase:

1. Is the piece of restaurant equipment easy to use? Add-ons and extra features may sound like a good idea but what does it deliver to the operation and the customer aside from extra parts? Are training times increased, is the through-put time getting longer with additional steps and options, and are these extras just more things to repair? One-touch simplicity is the name of the game throughout our fast-casual concepts, which helps maintain efficiency levels during peak periods.

2. What is the quality of the restaurant equipment and what is its output? The least expensive equipment is not always the best choice when you factor in the output. Many of us do not want to hear this in these tight economic times. Be real about what the output will be for the dollars that you are spending. Although you may be a fast-casual operation, faster is not the goal. Faster is a result of developing a winning system using quality restaurant equipment products that allow us to present great food.

3. Will the through-put of this machine meet your goals and expectations? So far, you have determined that the piece of restaurant equipment is easy to use, of high quality but it needs to answer the question of can it reliably serve the needs of 400 consumers during a lunch rush? Assuming that you are not in business to turn people away, your restaurant equipment MUST be able to deliver.

A lot of time and effort must go into purchasing a piece of restaurant equipment. The decision is a big commitment and will help you to determine the success or failure of your venture. You will receive better results if you are able to build good relationships with your suppliers as they will be able to guide you in the right direction. With this being said, DO NOT solely rely on what they say as gospel as what is best for your facility. Remember, it is still your decision to make.

Ingredients:
1 large lamb, ground; lean
1 onion salt
1 garlic salt
1/4 cup butter (or marg.); softened
1/2 teaspoon curry powder; to 3/4 ts.
4 hamburger buns
Instructions:
Spape ground lamb into 4 patties, 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides wiht onion salt and garlic salt. Cook under broiler until brown, about 15 to 20 minutes, turning to brown on both sides. In the meantime, combine softened butter with curry powder and spread generously on both sides of the cooked patties. Serve between warm hamburger buns.

4 green pepper,large
1 water,boiling,salted
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon salad oil
3 cup rice,cooked
1/4 cup onion,chopped
3/4 cup carrots,diced,cooked
1 1/2 cup lamb,diced,cooked
1 can tomato sauce(8oz)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 salt to taste
1 pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Cut tops from green peppers; remove seeds and membrane.

2. Cook green peppers, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water 10 minutes; drain.

3. Combine oil and onion; saute until lightly browned.

4. Add carrots and rice; cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until rice is lightly browned. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.

5. Fill green peppers with lamb mixture; place in lightly greased shallow baking pan.

6. Bake in preheated 350′F. oven 45 minutes.

Lauren this is just a short to thank you so much for the amazing food that arrived for our party
everybody commented on it
Thanks again Steph Reid

Fancy a nice cold beer? It’s only natural

Almost without us noticing, something strange has happened: Australians have stopped gagging down chilled chemical soup and now drink beer — pure, sparkling, natural, cold beer. The nation’s two biggest brewers, which between them make about 97 per cent of our beer, have both begun cleaning up their acts. Over the years the things added to beers served many purposes: to stop us dying (beer is food and will kill you if you drink it when it’s off); to make the brewing process quicker; even to improve the “lace” or foam on the inside of the glass. Lion Nathan quietly announced recently its natural beer promise, while CUB has made natural claims about two of its beers. Lion Nathan makes the natural beer claim about Tooheys New, Old, XXXX, Swan Draught and West End, and they can only be made from up to five natural ingredients: malted

Boom time for organic fruit and vegies

WA’s organic food industry is booming, driven by a surge in the popularity of farmers’ markets and growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly produce. The retail value of organic sales in WA rose 30 per cent during the past year to almost $50 million and producers are gearing up to meet further growth in demand. Organic Growers Association of WA president Annie Kavanagh said increasing demand from consumers to know where their produce had come from and how it was grown was behind the rise in sales. The resurgence in farmers’ markets had also proved a good selling point for organic produce. At a grower level, it was now easier to enter the industry than five or so years ago. Some farm consultants now specialised in providing advice to organic growers. West Australian (Perth), October 20.

Hello Oron

Thank you for the delivery by Caitlin of the Savoury Pastries, the staff really enjoyed them and felt very spoilt by the huge selection of food.
Thanks again
Cheers Niki

Hi Lauren

Just wanted to provide some positive feedback from our event on Saturday night at Oak Avenue Cheltenham.

The lady (sorry, I forget her name) who was our host did a fantastic job, was friendly, professional and we hardly even knew she was there. It certainly helped to make the night a success and the food was great.

So thanks and if you can, please pass on our thanks to the young lady who prepared and served the food.

Cheers

Michael Riley.

Hi Lauren,

Again you’re catering and professionalism has been superb!

Kind Regards,

Joss

Jocelyn Larsen| Australasian Key Account Manager