Maxican cuisine....

History of Mexican Cuisine

The variety of natural environment in Mexico and the highlands of Central American have been unfair to the development of food and dietary patterns. From the dryness of the desert in the north, through the mild basins of the valley to the tropical forests of the South, different climates and soils have conditioned what and how people ate. Within the large regions, hundreds of micro regions have had their own environmental and dietary characteristics, and for millennia, cultures have adapted these environments to suit their food needs. Three especially deep events that have influenced environment and diet are the appearance of agriculture, the arrival of Europeans (1519), and the technical and governmental changes that occurred in the twentieth century.
Mexican food is a style of food that is created in Mexico. Mexican Cuisine is known for its strong and mixed flavours, colourful decoration, and the variety of spices that it has. Mexican cooking, in terms of variety of pleasing taste and texture, is one of the riches in the world in proteins, vitamins and minerals, though some people describe it as very spicy.

When the Spanish conquistadors came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they found a country with a rich native cuisine. The Spanish brought with them cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens, as well as olive oil, cinnamon, parsley, coriander, oregano and black pepper. They also introduced nuts and grains, such as almonds, rice, wheat and barley, as well as fruits and vegetables, such as apples, oranges, grapes, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower and potatoes. These ingredients were incorporate into native food dishes.

The combination of cultures that mark Mexican history influenced the nature of Mexican food. Corn, which has been a basic ingredient in Mexican food for 4000 years, is the fundamental ingredient in the diet. Corn kernels are first soften in water and lime, then ground, and finally fashioned (most typically) into tortillas Beans, rich in protein, plus a seemingly endlessly variety of chillies, provide the final ingredients in this “holy trinity of Mexican cookery”.
From this basic beginning, Mexican cuisine provides a broad variety of dishes. High-quality ingredients surely counts for a lot, but the Mexicans are also talented cooks and seem to know how to give a dish that extra energy that makes it special. An easy salsa Mexican is taken to new heights with a touch of cilantro and lime, while a complex mole sauce is always heavenly thanks to over thirty carefully-chosen herbs and spices which are added in and left to slowly simmer in the pot.

Enchiladas:​The ideal of tortillas being “wrapped, filled and eaten in various forms” is a custom that originated with the Aztecs. However, referring to this dish as an “enchilada” dates in the US from 1885. The word “enchilada” means “in chilli” and it is generally a snack sold on the streets of Mexico, and it consists of a “corn tortilla dipped in chilli sauce”. This real Mexican version of the dish is totally different from the so-called enchiladas served in the US, which are “limp, stuffed tortillas,” hidden beneath a sea of red sauce and cheese. Here are two recipes:


Easy Enchiladas

Ingredients:

Twelve (12) corn tortillas
One (1) 28oz can of red enchilada sauce
2 cups (16oz) mozzarella or queso blanco
11/2 cups meat (optional) shredded beef or chicken
2-3 tablespoons oil

Preparation

Coat each tortilla with oil using your hands or a brush. Spread out on a cookie sheet or baking dish and bake in a500 degree oven for about 7 minutes. Take out to cool until they are warm to the touch.

The cheese can be shredded, or just cut into slices 3-4 inches long and ¼ inch thick. (Or thicker if you like them cheesy.)

Pour just enough sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 glass-baking dish to cover it. Pour the rest of the sauce into a large bowl.

Lay the tortilla in a baking dish and if you are using the meat, put in about 2-3 tablespoons. Place the cheese on top of the meat. Fold one edge over the cheese, then the other one, and then turn the whole things over, fold side down, in baking dish. Repeat for each tortilla. Sprinkle any leftover sauce and/or cheese on top of enchiladas.

Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Enchiladas Suiza

Ingredients:

Twelve (12) corn tortillas
2 cups shredded chicken
6 oz. chopped, roasted and skinned green chilies (fresh is best, but you can use canned in a pinch)
3 cups of fresh spinach
½ cup chopped onion
1-cup cream or sour cream
4 oz. cotija, crumbled
5 oz. evaporated milk
15 oz. green Chile sauce
Warm oil to dip tortillas in

Preparation:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the onions for about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook it for about 5 minutes until leaves are wilted. Fold in the chicken and green chillies. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat cream, evaporated milk, cotija and chilli sauce over heat until sauce is smooth.

Prepare a 9x13 inch-baking dish by coating the bottom with a thin layer of sauce. Dip a tortilla into the warm oil to soften it and place it into the pan. Place about ¼ cup filling down the centre of the tortilla and sprinkle with a tablespoon of Asadero or Queso Quesadilla cheese.

Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down in dish. Repeat until all tortillas are used.

Pour remaining sauce over the top, Sprinkle with the crumbled cotija. Bake dish for 15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Tacos

A taco is a “tortilla with something wrapped inside”. Again, as with enchiladas, the central ingredient is the tortilla, which is made from corn and should not be mistaken for a Spanish version of the same name that is made of eggs and potato. Dating from the time of the Spanish conquest, Bernardino de Sahagun provides a list of the various types of tortillas that the Spanish encountered in Mexico. These are:

Tlaxcalpacholi – a colour corn flour tortilla.

ueitlaxcalli - which translates as a very thin, large, white tortilla.

Quauhtlaxqualli – a large, white, thick, coarse tortilla made with nixtamal, and totonqui.

Tlaxcalli – which refers to the common white tortilla

According to Avernin, a “taco” is “definitely not: A canary yellow tortilla with black sports”. Therefore, the hard, curled up holders typically called “tacos” in the US are nothing of the kind (Avernin). Bernal Diaz Del Castillo documented the first taco feast enjoyed by Europeans and Cortes himself arranged for the banquet in Coyoacan for these captains . However, the taco predates the European invasion as anthropologists have found evidence that the people living in the lake region of the Valley of Mexico traditionally ate tacos filled with small fish. As this suggests, the content of a taco differs with geographical region, but also, with the time of the day, as there are “early morning tacos, evening tacos and late night tacos.”

Tamales: The history of the tamales is ancient. There is evidence that this is a Mexican dish that dates as early as 5000 BC, possibly 7000 BC in Pre-Columbian history. In Pre-Columbian history, women follow armies of warriors and served as cooks. The warring tribes of the “Aztec, Maya and Incan cultures” created a need for a ready portable, but sustaining, food and the tamale were born. Tamales can be ready ahead of time planned for their consumption and warmed as required. They can be “steamed, grilled, or over the fire, or put directly on top of coals to warm,” or even eaten cold. There is no record of which Mexican culture that actually invented the tamale, but the evidence suggests that one culture did and the others followed this example.
The use of tamales caught on fast in Pre- Columbian culture and there was a variety of dishes that is unknown today. There were: plain tamales, tamales with red, green, yellow and black Chile, tamales with chocolate, fish tamales, frog, tadpole, mushroom, rabbit, gopher, turkey, bee, egg, squash blossom, honey, ox, seed and nut tamales. There were white and red fruit tamales, white tamales, and yellow tamales, dried meat tamales, roasted meat, stewed meat, bean and rice tamales. There were sweet sugar, pineapple, raisin, and cinnamon, berry, banana and pumpkin tamales. There were hard and soft cheese tamales, roasted quill tamales, ant, potato, goat, wild boar, and lamb and tomato tamales. The wrapping for these tamales varied almost as much as the ingredients.
“Cornhusks, banana leaves, fabric, avocado leaves, soft tree bark and other not poisonous, non-toxic leaves” were used:
The most typically used wrappings were cornhusk, banana or avocado leaves. Over the centuries, the variety of tamales has decreased. Now the most common are “red and green Chile, chicken, pork, beef, sweet Chile, cheese and of late, vegetables”. Since making tamales is labour intensive; tamales have become associated with holiday fare in Mexican culture. Women work collectively and the process usually takes an entire day, as it is “virtually unheard of to make a few tamales”. Generally, when tamales are made “hundreds are made at a time” for “tamale feasts”.

Salsa: “Salsa” is the Spanish word for “sauce”. The common conception of salsa today are “salsa frescos” or salsa crude,” that is fresh sauces served as a condiment with a Mexican meal. These uncooked sauces are pureed until smooth or semi-chunky. Evidently, from the accounts of Spanish-born Bernadino de Shogun, vegetable sauces were a stable of Mexican cuisine since the time of the Aztecs.
De Shogun’s accounts describe the products sold by food vendors in large Aztec markets in great detail. He says that Aztec merchants sold “foods, sauces, hot sauces, fried food, olla-cooked, juices, sauces of juices, and shredded food with Chile.” These food stuffs were sold with a wide variety of condiments, which included “squash seeds, with tomatoes, with smoke Chile, with hot Chile, with yellow Chile, with mild red Chile sauce, yellow Chile sauce, sauce of smoked Chile and heated sauce. Toward the end of this long description, De Sahagun begins to describe what sounds remarkably like modern salsa. He says that food sold with the sauce of small squash, sauce of large tomatoes, sauce of ordinary tomatoes, sauce of various kinds of sour herbs, avocado sauce”.
“Salsa as a culinary sauce takes a variety of spices and vegetables in there combination creates a plate that is attractive, tasty and unique”. For me, the Hispanic Culture is a lot like salsa. Everything is altogether in one dish with a lot of favour.

The Most Basic of Ingredients

As this brief history of Mexican cuisine shows, at the heart of virtually all-Mexican dishes is corn, which was regarded by the native people of Mexico as “gift of the gods.” In a traditional Navajo wedding ceremony, the bride’s grandmother presents the wedding couple with a basket of cornmeal and the “couple exchange small handfuls with each other”.

Blue corn: This is simply a variety of corn that has a dark bluish to red colour, which has a coarser texture and nuttier flavour than other varieties of corn. It has been a stable food of Pueblo Indians.

Masa: “Masa” is the Mexican word for “dough,” and it refers to the dough produced to make tortillas, tamales, and other traditional Mexican dishes.

Nixtamal: This term, which is frequently encountered in Mexican cooking, refers to dried maize (corn) that has been treated with lime and partially cooked.

Corn Husks: The outside leaves that cover the corn that is still on the cob. Husks have many uses and can be used fresh or dried. Typically, dried corn husks are soaked and used to wrap foods, such as tamales.

Types of Catering Establishments

TYPES OF CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS

Various catering establishments are categorised by the nature of the demands they meet. The following are some of the catering establishments.

Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment that serves the customers with prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The term covers a multiplicity of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine. Restaurants are sometimes also a feature of a larger complex, typically a hotel, where the dining amenities are provided for the convenience of the residents and for the hotel to maximize their potential revenue. Such restaurants are often open to non-residents also.

Transport Catering
the provision of food and beverages to passengers, before, during and after a journey on trains, aircraft and ships and in buses or private vehicles is termed as transport catering. These services may also be utilised by the general public, who are in the vicinity of a transport catering unit. The major forms of modern day transport catering are airline-catering, railways catering, ship catering and surface catering in coaches or buses which operate on long distance routes.

Airline Catering
catering to airline passengers on board the air craft, as well as at restaurants situated at airport terminals is termed as airline catering. Modern airports have a variety of food and beverage outlets to cater to the increasing number of air passengers. Catering to passengers en route is normally contracted out to a flight catering unit of a reputed hotel or to a catering contractor or to the catering unit operated by the airline itself as an independent entity. 

Railway Catering
catering to railway passengers both during the journey as well as during halts at different railway stations is called railway catering. Travelling by train for long distances can be very tiring; hence a constant supply of a variety of
refreshment choices helps to make the journey less tedious. On-board meal services are also provided on long distance trains. 

Ship Catering
Ship catering is catering to cargo crew and passenger ship passengers. Ships have kitchens and restaurants on board. The quality of service and facilities offered depends on the class of the ship and the price the passengers are willing to pay. There are cruises to suit every pocket. They range from room service and cocktail bars to speciality dining restaurants. 

Surface Catering
catering to passengers travelling by surface transport such as buses and private vehicles is called surface catering. These eating establishments are normally located around a bus terminus or on highways. They may be either
government run restaurants, or privately owned establishments. Of late there has been a growing popularity of Punjabi style eateries called dhabas on the highways. 

Outdoor Catering
this catering includes the provision of food and drink away from home base and suppliers. The venue is left to the people’s choice. Hotels, restaurants and catering contractors meet this growing demand. The type of food and set up depends entirely on the price agreed upon. Outdoor catering includes catering for functions such as marriages, parties and conventions. 

Retail Store catering
some retail stores, apart from carrying on their primary activity of retailing their own wares, provide catering as an additional facility. This type of catering evolved when large departmental stores wished to provide food and beverages to their customers as a part of their retailing concept. It is inconvenient and time consuming for customers to take a break from shopping, to have some refreshments at a different location. Thus arouse the need for some sort of a dining facility in the retail store itself. This style of catering is becoming more popular and varied nowadays. 

Club Catering
Club catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to a restricted member clientele. Some examples of clubs for people with similar interests are turf clubs, golf clubs, cricket clubs etc. The service and food in these clubs tend to be of a fairly good standard and are economically priced.
Night clubs are usually situated in large cities that have an affluent urban population. They offer entertainment with good food and expensive drinks. 

Welfare Catering
The provision of food and beverages to people to fulfil a social obligation, determined by a recognized authority, is known as welfare catering. This grew out of the welfare state concept, prevalent in western countries. It includes catering in hospitals, schools, colleges, the armed forces and prisons. 

Industrial Catering
The provision of food and beverages to 'people at work,' in industries and factories at highly subsidised rates is called industrial catering. It is based on the assumption that better fed employees at concessional rates are happy and more productive. Catering for a large workforce may be undertaken by the management itself, or may be contracted out to professional caterers. Depending on the choice of the menu suggested by the management, catering contractors undertake to feed the workforce for a fixed period of time at a predetermined price. 

Leisure-Linked Catering
this type of catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to people engaged in 'rest and recreation' activities. This includes sale of food and beverages through different stalls and kiosks at exhibitions, theme parks, galleries and theatres. The increase in the availability of leisure time and a large disposable income for leisure activities has made it a very profitable form of catering.

FRENCH CUISINE

HISTORY OF FRENCH CUISINE

When many Americans think of French cuisine the notion of expensive restaurants and French fries may come to mind. Like many Cuisines  of foreign countries, French cuisine is much different then our own. It boasts its own rich history that evolved over time from the middle ages to present day. It has been revered as one of the world’s most refined culinary locations, and there are over 9,000 restraints in Paris alone.

The history of French cuisine dates back to the middle ages. During this time French meals where very similar to Moorish Cuisine, and were served in a style called service en confusion, meaning that meals were served all at once. Meals consisted of spiced meats such as pork, beef, poultry, and fish. In many cases meals where determined by the season, and of what food was in abundance. Meats were salted and smoked to preserve, and vegetables were also salted and put in jars to preserve for the winter months. During this time the presentation of the meal was also very important. The more lavish and colorful the display, the better, and cooks would use edible items such as saffron, egg yolk, spinach, and sunflower for color. One of the most extravagant dinners of this time was a roast swan or peacock, which was sewn back into its skin and feathers to look intact. The feet and beak were gilded with gold to complete the spectacle.

During the 15^th & 16^th centuries the French where influenced greatly by the advancing culinary arts in Italy. Much of this influenced was do Catherine De Medicis (a Florentine princess) who married Henry duc d'Orleans (who became King Henry II of France). Italian chefs where light years of ahead of French culinary experts, and had already begun creating dishes such as lasagna, manicotti, and had experimented using ingredients like truffles, garlic, and mushrooms. When Catherine married King Henry II, she brought along with her Italian chefs who in turn introduced Italian culinary practices to the French court. Even though the culinary cultures of these two countries have taken different roads, the French owe much of their culinary development to the Italians and their intervention in the 1500s.

The period between the 16^th and 18^th centuries was also known as the Ancient Regime, and during this time Paris was referred to as “the central hub of culture and economic activity and as such the most highly skilled culinary craftsmen were to be found there.” During the Ancient Regime food distribution was regulated by the city government in the form of guilds, and these guilds put in place restrictions that allowed certain food industries to operate in assigned areas. Guides were separated into two groups: people who supplied the raw materials to make food, and the people who sold already prepared items. The restrictions that were put in place by guilds hampered the development of culinary arts during this time, by restricting certain chefs to assigned areas.

Between the 17^th and 18^th century there was a development in Haute Cuisine or “High Cuisine”, and its origins can be found in the recipes of a chef named La Varenne. Varenne was the author of what is known today as the first “true French cookbook”. Unlike the cooking styles of the middle Ages, Verenne’s cookbook (Cvisinier François) contained new recipes which focused on more modest and less extravagant meals. This was an ongoing trend throughout the history of French cuisine, with more and more chefs continuing to tone down on the abundance of a meal, and focusing on the ingredients in the meal.

The French Revolution also brought about a turning point in the French food industry, because it led to the fall of guilds. With guilds no longer in place any French chef could produce and sell any type of food product he or she wished. This lead to a type of enlightenment within the French food industry, and more chefs began to experiment with different types of ingredients and dishes. 

One of the most prominent chefs of the 18 th and 19 th century was Marie-Antoine Carême. Carême based his cooking around the development of what he called his “mother sauces”. These sauces were made up of espagnole, velouté, as well as béchamel, and where also known as fonds or “base sauces”. Carême over the span of his career created hundreds of sauces, many of which are still being used today in French cuisine.

In the late 19^th century and early 20^th century there began a modernization of haute cuisine. Much of this new cuisine owes its development to Georges Auguste Escoffier. Escoffier was chef and an owner of many restaurants, as well as a culinary writer. Much of Escoffier methods in modernizing haute cuisine were drawn from the recipes of Carême. By simplifying Carême recipes as well as adding his own touches Escoffier was able to develop a new modern French cuisine. In his efforts to modernize French cuisine Escoffier also developed a system to organize and manage a professional kitchen. The system was called a “brigade system” and separated the kitchen into five sections. In this system each member of a designated section created a specific part of the dish. The sections included the "garde manger" that prepared cold dishes; the "entremettier" prepared starches and vegetables, the "rôtisseur" prepared roasts, grilled and fried dishes; the "saucier" prepared sauces and soups; and the "pâtissier" prepared all pastry and desserts items. By reorganizing the manufacturing of dishes within the kitchen Escoffier was able to cut down on the time that was required to prepare a dish, in turn making professional kitchens more efficient. Escoffier is a legend in the world of French Cuisine and he has written many famous cookbooks, his most famous being Le Guide Culinaire which includes over 5,000 recipes.

Since the days of Escoffier there have been many changes in the anatomy of French Cuisine. Over time new techniques have evolved, and chefs have become more inventive. There has been a tendency to shy away from larger menus, and the focus has changed from the abundance food included in a dish, to the quality of the ingredients in the dish. Present day French meal structure is divided into Le petit déjeuner, Le déjeuner, and Le dîner (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner). Breakfast often consists of “tartines” which are small slices of French bread which are then spread with jelly, and or pastries. Lunch was once known as one of the largest meals of the day, and in many professional situations workers would be allowed a two hour lunch break. Though in today’s French society many French workers are allotted an hour for lunch, which most use to eat out or at the business or school’s cafeteria. Dinner in most cases consists of three courses: the entrée, the plat principal or main course, and the cheese or desert course. Some popular French dishes include Blanquette de veau (blanquette of veal), Coq au vin (rooster in red wine), Bouillabaisse (fish soup), and Boudin blanc (Delicate flavored sausage similar to bockwurst). Wine is essential item in French meals, and it to has a rich history in France. In many cases a different wine is paired with each course in a meal, and each wine is picked depending on what is being served for each course. Though France is know for its wine, there has been a 60 percent drop in the consumption of wine during meals throughout France. Instead there has been a rise in fruit juice, water, and beer consumption, as well as other alcoholic drinks mixed with cider or other mixers.

French cuisine has a rich history, and like many other native cuisines, French cuisine owes it development to brilliant chefs as well as the some helpful influences from neighboring countries. It can be assured that French cuisine will continue to evolve and change and that in years to come brilliant French culinary experts will continue to push the boundaries of the culinary world. Like many cultures it has taken many years for the French to perfect their cuisine, with each generation adding something new to the mix. Yet it is because of the chefs of the past generations that a country’s cuisine can develop to what it is now.

ASIAN CUISINE

                                                               ASIAN CUISINE

Evolution of Asian Cuisine

Cooking is one of the oldest of human activities; indeed it may be the oldest above basic animal survival. At the wandering hunter-gatherer level of society, cooking is very simple – kill something, throw it on the fire along with whatever vegetables and fruits were found that day, eat. No one specialized in cooking, since every able body was needed to find the food in the first place. Cooking equipment consists of a few sticks for skewering meat and vegetables, leaves for wrapping and baking, maybe a hot flat rock.

At the next level of society, subsistence farming, cooking is a little more complex. Agriculture increases the selection of food stuffs available and also increases the probability that any given foodstuff will be available when wanted. Subsistence farmers rely on grain for their calories where hunters rely on meat, but grain requires considerable effort to convert to an edible form. As a matter of fact, it has been calculated that a farmer has to work harder for his calories than a hunter. The relative abundance of food in a subsistence farming society compared to a hunter-gatherer society is at least partly offset by the amount of effort required to prepare the food. A settled existence allows the development of arts such as pottery and metal working, which in turn allows new cooking techniques such as baking and boiling. It is in subsistence farming societies that the regional cuisine begins to take shape, usually referred to as a “peasant” cuisine. These peasant cuisines usually consist of a limited number of relatively simple dishes, since a wide variety of ingredients is not available, nor is the time to spend on fancy preparation.

At the next stage of development of a society, central authority and trade begin to emerge. Central authority implies castles and palaces, a ruling class who like to indulge their whims and show off for their neighbours and subjects. The rulers need professional cooks, not only because they are too important to do their own cooking, but to provide them with the delicacies that only skill and experience can produce. Trade implies towns and cities, specialization of labour, exotic foodstuffs from far away, and processed food products. Taverns appear in the market place, and food is served, creating the first restaurant. The up-scale restaurants serving the lesser nobility and rich merchant classes often mimic the cooking of the palace. It is in the kitchens of the palaces and restaurants that sophisticated combinations of exotic ingredients are prepared with complicated techniques. It is in these kitchens that recipes are codified and written down.

The Three Cuisine Areas of Asia

§  The South West – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma

§  The North East – China, Korea, Japan

§  The South East – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia ,Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei

Curries are very important to the cuisines of the South East and South-west, less so in the cuisine of the North East. South Western curries are generally based on yogurt, whereas the curries of the South East and North East are generally based on coconut milk.

Rice is a staple starch in all three cuisines areas. In addition to rice, South Western cuisines include a variety of leavened and unleavened breads and South East and North East cuisines include rice and egg noodles.

In the South West, the major oil used in frying is ghee, or clarified butter. In the South East and North East, the major oils are vegetable oils.

Garlic and ginger are used in all three cuisine areas, as are chilli peppers, although chillies are much more common in the South West and South East. The North Eastern cuisines use soy sauce in nearly everything; the South East substitutes fish sauce; there is no equivalent in South Western cooking. In the South East, there are two additional flavourings that are not used in the other cuisines – galangal and lemon grass.

Cuisines of the South East

The original cuisine of the South East is probably the peasant cuisine of Thailand. Archaeology has recently discovered that the metal working cultures of the central plain of Thailand date back to at least 3000 BC, easily in the same class as the ancient cultures of China and India. The peasant cuisine associated with these early metal workers spread east across the mountains into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and south down the Malayan peninsula and the island arc of Indonesia.

This cuisine did not develop in isolation, of course. As it spread, it was influenced by ideas coming from the North East and South West, and influenced them in return. Most recently, of course, the cuisines of Europe have influenced the native ones. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were French colonies, Malaysia was a British Colony, and Indonesia was a Dutch colony. Thailand was a rarity in that it successfully resisted European colonisation.

Rice is the staple grain of the North East and South East and is only slightly less important in the South West. It is the original crop that caused the conversion from hunter-gatherer to subsistence farmer in this area; as such it spread across the region before regional cuisines began to evolve. Some Italians may object if you claim that Marco Polo brought spaghetti back from China, but there is little doubt the noodles came to this region from China.

Curries are a very common across the region, but less common in Vietnam where the Chinese influence is strong. The concept probably came from India and spread east, but the people of the South East modified the original by substituting coconut milk for yogurt as the basis for the sauce.

The cooking utensil called the wok, and the stir fry technique using vegetable oils came to the area from the China.

Garlic and ginger are common all across Eurasia and probably arrived in the area at almost the same time as rice.

The arrival of chilli peppers in the area can be placed with relative accuracy. Chilli peppers, indeed all peppers, are native to the Americas and arrived in the region with European explorers/exploiters. This means they could not have arrived before about 1520, and were widespread by 1600.

Fish sauce is probably a local invention, but the Romans had a similar concoction (liquamen), so it is possible the idea was imported. (Maybe that’s where the lost legion ended up)

There are many spices used in the region; cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka, cardamom and cumin from India, coriander and star anise from China, cloves, nutmeg and mace are native.

Several herbs are common in the region, Thai basil, and sweet basil and mint being the commonest. These herbs grow almost everywhere across tropical and subtropical Eurasia, so, while the idea of using them in cooking may have been imported, the actual herbs used are native varieties. This is especially true of Thai basil, with its purple stems and licorice flavour.

Citrus flavours are important to the region’s cuisines, especially lime, which is native to the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia. Not just the juice and pulp are used, but also the zest and leaves.

Last, but certainly not least, are lemon grass and galangal. These two flavours are the flavours which make the cuisines of the region unique. They are undoubtedly of local origin, for they are used nowhere else in the world. They are the two flavours which I have chosen to define the scope of this page.

Notes on Recipes

Equipment

The Wok

The wok is the most important piece of cooking equipment in Southeast Asia and China. If you plan to do much of this region’s cooking you should invest in a good wok. A cast iron fry pan will serve in a pinch, but the rounded bottom of the wok provides a range of cooking temperatures in one pan, which can be important in stir frying.

                                             

There is much type of woks available – round- bottomed and flat-bottomed, on- handled and two-handled, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, and Teflon coated. The most traditional is hand beaten of mild steel with a round bottom and two handles. Mild steel is preferred for its heat transfer properties; thin stamped stainless steel or aluminium just don’t hold enough heat, and cast aluminium takes too long to heat upend cool down. The traditional round bottom is designed to sit in the round hole of a charcoal burner. In a modern kitchen equipped with ages stove, the round bottomed wok might fit the burners, depending on the design of the stove. If the wok does not fit the burners, it may be placed on a wok ring. In an electric kitchen, a flat bottomed wok is best, both for stability and for heat transfer. A properly conditioned iron work is at least as non-stick as any Teflon coating ever made.

A new wok must be seasoned before use. Scrub it well with soap and water to remove any coating applied to protect it during shipping, rinse well, and dry. Place the wok over low heat, wipe lightly with vegetable oil and let stand on the heat for 10 minutes. Cool and wipe with paper towels to remove the dark film. Repeat the oiling, heating, cooling and wiping procedure until the paper towels come away clean. Once a wok has been seasoned, it should be cleaned with plain water only using a wok brush, never with soap or abrasive cleaners, then dried and oiled before storing. If the metal ever rusts, clean with steel wool or fine sand paper and re-season.

Wok Tools

The most important wok tool is the long handled shovel-shaved scoop used to stir fry. Other wok tools include; a ladle, used to transfer liquids to and from the wok; a strainer with a brass or steel basket to remove foods from hot oil; a strainer with a bamboo basket of removing foods from boiling water or stock; a bamboo whisk brush for cleaning; a rack which sits on the side of the wok for draining fried foods.

Steamers

Large dedicated steamers with multiple stacking are available in stainless steel or aluminium, but more common are the stackable bamboo steamers. These are designed to be used in a wok over boiling water, and are often used as serving dishes.

Clay Pot

Clay pots – “hot pots”, glazed on the inside but unglazed on the outside are used for baking or stewing. They are available in a range of sizes, and like woks, with either one handle or two.

Cleavers

The oriental cleaver is a very versatile instrument – it performs all the functions of the various knives of western kitchens. Light cleavers are used for general chopping, slicing and carving; heavier, thicker cleavers are used for chopping bones. A good set of kitchen knives can be substituted.

Rice Cooker

If you are cooking rice often, a rice cooker is worth the investment. Place rice and water in the cooker, plug it in and press the button. Perfect rice very time.

Hand Held Blender or Small Food Processor

Most South East Asian dishes require considerable fine chopping – a hand held blender with a mincer/chopper attachment or a small food processor will cut your preparation time in half.

Ingredients

Curry Pastes and Powders

Southeast Asian curries are normally based on curry pastes which are made from a variety of fresh and dried ingredients ground together in a mortar and pestle. This is the recommended process if you are cooking curries daily, but the pastes have a limited shelf life. If you are only cooking them from time to time it is more convenient to make up curry powders in advance and add the fresh ingredients at cooking time.

All the recipes given here are based on curry powders, recipes for which are given in the section on Sauces, Relishes and Spices for the appropriate country. I would recommend that you buy fresh whole spices and grind them yourself in a spice or coffee grinder rather than buy pre-ground spices. Stored in an air-tight container in a dry place, curry powders will keep for a couple of months before their flavors start to decline.

If you would prefer to make pastes, refer to a recipe for the appropriate curry in my Thai sauce pages – for instance, to make Thai red curry paste, refer to a recipe for a red curry of pork or chicken in the Thai recipe section. Use the proportions given in the recipe of onion, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, lemon grass, chilli paste, coriander leaves and curry powder to make your paste. Pastes, of course, should be refrigerated after preparation. They will keep for a week or two.

Chilli Paste

The chilli paste referred to in the recipes can be made at home by grinding fresh chillies in a mortar and pestle or food processor. A little salt and vinegar may be added to thin the mixture slightly. Alternately, you may buy a prepared chilli paste, but be sure it contains only chillies (with a little salt and vinegar as above).

Obviously the colour of the paste will depend on the colour of the chillies used to make it. Use red chilli paste in a red curry and green chilli paste in a green curry if you can. If you can’t, doesn’t worry, the colour of the finished product may not live up to the name of the recipe, but the taste will be pretty much the same.

Coconut Milk

When coconut milk is specified in the recipe, use canned coconut milk with no dilution. When making curry, the first part of most recipes calls for you to put about 1/2 cup of coconut milk in a pan and heat it up. It is VERY important that you not shake the can first. Open the can and skim the top cream off and heat it until you see the oils starting to separate. Then add the curry paste/powder.

Tamarind Liquid

The Tamarind Liquid referred to in the recipes can be made as follows. Take 3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp, and soak in 1/2 cup warm water for 10 minutes. Knead and rub with your fingers until the pulp dissolves. Strain the liquid to remove the seeds and fibbers.

Tamarind liquid may also be made from concentrate by soaking 1tablespoon of concentrate in 1/2 cup warm water, but the concentrate tends to be very dark in colour, which can adversely affect the colour of the dish.

There are a few types of Tamarind available. Some recipes call for sweet tamarind and others call for the bitter types. If your recipe doesn’t specify, use the sweet type. If the recipe is too sweet, you can cut it with a little salt or fish sauce. If you have access to fresh, sweet tamarind, it can be elated by breaking open the shell and eating the soft flesh. Some prefer the bitter type, taking the seed covered with the flesh and covering it with a mixture of sugar and dried red pepper.

 

(F & B SERVICE) BAR AND BAR EQUIPMENTS

BAR EQUIPMENTS AND OPERATIONS

BAR: A Bar is a place where alcoholic beverages are served in the premises like beer, whiskey, vodka, rum, cocktails, mock tails etc. 

The seating arrangements in bars are generally in the form of raised stools and raised counters or tables. Bars are sometimes attached to restaurants and hotels. Sometimes bars may function just by themselves.

Bar is a term used for the special counter on which drinks are served. The entire concept of serving drinks and the ambience everything put together is termed a Bar. The place where the bottles and glasses are stored is known as a gantry or back bar. In some bars the gantry is done up very beautifully with wooden finish or stained glass finish or lights. In some places it is very simply done up.

Types of Bars

                    There are different kinds of bars depending on the type of entertainment provided by them and by the type of clientele who frequent the bars.

Nightclub or Discotheque - When a bar has a large dance floor and there are DJ’s to provide music or a live band playing it is called a Discotheque.

Sports Bar - These establishments cater to the fan who wants to enjoy beer, food, and the local sports teams with other fans. In many instances, the decorations will vary from place to place because of different sports teams. It's also common to find local sports memorabilia a large TV screen attached to the bar and clients can relax with a drink in their hands and watch sports channels on the TV it is called a sports bar.

Dive Bars - These types of bars are where you will often find people from the neighborhood gathering for drinks in a very informal, relaxed setting. You'll typically find a lot of camaraderie in bars like this because the patrons all know each other and have been going there for years, swearing by it over any other kind of bar.

Cocktail Lounges - These are the kinds of places mentioned at the beginning. You will typically find these kinds of bars in places like hotels, restaurants, and airports. In cocktail lounges, bartenders serve up a variety of mixed drinks in a quiet, relaxed setting for their patrons

Dance Bars -  Dance floor is not as big as a discotheque but mid-sized where clients dance to recorded music is called dance bar.

Wine Bars - This fairly recent addition to the United States that gained popularity throughout the 1990s, these businesses focus solely on serving wine, as opposed to beer and liquor. People can try samples of various wines while lingering and socializing with other wine fans in a laid back, relaxing atmosphere.

Salsa Bars - Customers dance to Latin Salsa music in Salas bars

Topless/Strip Bars- Topless/Strip bars female dancers go topless or strip themselves and dance and also serve drinks to clients.

Biker Bars - where motorcycle enthusiasts frequent the bars.

Gay bars -  wherein the bars are frequented by gays

Singles bar - which is frequented by singles of both the genders for socializing purposes.

Retro bars - which typically have the ambiance of ancient culture and lounge bars. The ambiance of the bars including the lighting, seating, kind of drinks to be served is chosen very carefully to attract the best of clientele.

BAR EQUIPMENT

Parts of the Bar

Bar is mainly divided into 3 parts, they are ;

§  Front bar

§  Under bar

§  Back bar

Front Bar:

The customer’s area where customers order their drinks and where orders are served.

Parts of the front bar:

·       Bar table

·         Rail

·         Bar die

·         Glass rack

·         Arm rest

·         Foot rest

·         Pick up station

Under bar:

            Considered as the heart of the entire beverage operation

Parts of the under bar:

·         Pouring station

·         Speed rail

·         Ice bin

·         Bottle wells

·         Hand sink

·         Drain board

·         Glass sink

Back bar :

               Back bar’s main function is to store and display of necessary.

·         The major pieces of under bar equipment have surface of stainless steel which is durable, cleans easily and is unaffected by chemical cleaners needed to kill bacteria.

·   It also looks nice and easily takes a high polish.

·   Work surfaces of under bar equipment are a standard 30 inches high, with a depth of 16 inches to the back splash at the rear.

·   Units from the same manufacturer fit side by side and give the appearance of being continuous.

·  1) Each piece of equipment is either on legs 6 or more inches high, for access    to plumbing and ease of cleaning, or else flush with the floor.

·  2) The legs have bullet feet (feet tampered like bullets) for ease of cleaning.

·  3) The feet are adjustable to accommodate uneven flooring.

A wide range of equipment are found in licensed bars today will   vary according to the type of bar and the products they offer. But it is important to keep in mind that in order for equipment to function efficiently and provide for quality beverages, regular cleaning and maintenance is essential. The equipment found in bars today can

be classified as:

I). Major - that equipment which is usually large, electricity or as powered, fixed or permanent, and subject to mechanical break-down.

II. Minor - that equipment, which is usually smaller, manually 

operated, mobile and subject to regular replacement.

MAJOR BAR EQUIPMENT MINOR BAR EQUIPMENT Furnishings - bar counter - shelving - bar stools Plumbling - sinks - taps - beer tap (manual) Refrigeration - fridges - glass chillers - ice machine - bulk beer cooling system Electrical - glasswashers - expresso machines - electric spirit dispensrs - cash register - beer taps (electric) - Blenders - Shakers and bar glasses - Manual spirit measures - Spirit pourers - Service trays - Glass racks - Drip trays - Cutting boards - Knives  and utensils - Ice buckets - Ice crushes - Juicers - Stirrers - Ash trays - Glassware - Rubbish bins - Wine and beer bottle openers

Let us see few of them which are commonly used by bar man.

Bar Spoon:  This is a spoon with a long handle used to stir mixed drinks in tall glasses. You can also use the back of the spoon for layering drinks.

Bar Towels:  Any absorbent towel will do. You need it in case of a spill and to keep your bar clean

Bartender Book: It is a mixed drink recipe book and bartender guide. It is a great reference when you need to look for recipes. I highly recommend, The Bartender's Black Book.

Blender : A blender is essential to make your frozen drinks. Make sure you get a heavy duty blender for blending your mixed drinks.

Bottle Opener : Every bartender should have a bottle opener. It's one of the main tools at the bar.

Can Opener or Can Punch : A can opener is a tool to remove one end of a can. A can punch is a tool to make a hole in juice cans.

Champagne or Wine Stopper: A special stopper with two wings that clamps over the lip of a champagne bottle. It keeps the champagne sparkling. 

Citrus Zester / Stripper:  A special tool that cuts 1/4 inch wide strips of citrus rinds.

Cocktail Muddler: A wooden stick used for muddling ingredients. It is used a lot to crush cherries and mint leaves for some mixed drinks.

Cocktail Shaker : There are two types of shakers. The standard cocktail shaker (no picture) and the Boston shaker with a mixing glass. They are very useful for shaking your mixed drinks.

Cocktail Strainer: A strainer is used with a Boston shaker to strain mixed drinks. It helps a lot when straining into several glasses. The standard shaker has a built-in strainer.

Corkscrew / Wine Opener: This is a wine opener. There are many different types of corkscrew openers available. The one is a waiter's corkscrew. 

Ice Bucket and Ice Tongs: The ice bucket is a container that holds the ice. The ice tongs is a tool to pick up ice cubes for your drinks.

Jigger / Measurer: This is a measuring cup. There are many sizes of jiggers. The most common is the double ended jigger with 1 oz and 1 1/2 oz measuring cups.

Juicer or Citrus Reamer: There are many different types of juicers. There are manual juicers and electric juicers. The main purpose of a juicer is to extract the juice of citrus fruits.

Knife and Cutting Board: A sharp paring knife and a small cutting board is necessary to cut your fruit garnishes.

Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons: Measuring cups are useful for adding ingredients to punches. Measuring spoons are useful for measuring some ingredients like sugar and spices.

Shoes (Comfortable Slip Resistant): Bartenders are standing all night behind the bar. They need comfortable slip resistant shoes to get them through a busy night.

Speed Pourers: Speed pourers are very useful for free pouring. There are many different types of speed pourers and they all pour different amounts of liquor.

Equipment for mixing

l  Ice chest, ice bin

l  Containers for bottles – bottle wells and speed rails

l  Handgun for dispensing soft drink mixes

l  Mixer (shake mixer), and blender

l  Frozen drink dispenser (machine)

l  Glasses – overhead on the back bar, on drain boards, almost anywhere there is room.

l  Glass froster’s.

Equipment for Washing

l  A three- or four-compartment sink

l  Drain boards

l  Special glass-washing brushes

l  Hand sink with towel rack

l  Waste dump

Storage Equipment

l  Dry storage (unrefrigerated) cabinets with locks

l  Under counter and back bar refrigerators

Tools and Equipment for Garnishing

l  Condiment tray

l  Cutting board

l  Bar knife

l  Relish fork

l  Zester, router, or stripper

l  Nutmeg grater

Tools and Equipment Used in Serving

l  Bottle and can openers

l  Corkscrews

l  Round serving trays

l  Folios for guest checks

l  Bar caddy

l  Coaster

l  Stirrer/swizzle stick

l  Wine bucket

Glassware’s

·         The glassware you use in serving drinks plays several roles.

·         It is part of your overall concept: its style, quality, and sparkle express the personality of your bar.

·          As functional equipment it has a part in measuring the drinks you serve, and it conveys them to your customers.

·         It is a message carrier: glass size and style tell your guests that you know what you are doing – you have served each drink ordered in an appropriate glass.

·          It can be a merchandising tool; subtle or flamboyant variations of custom in glassware excite interest and stimulate sales – oversize cocktails in wine glasses or beer mugs coffee drinks in brandy snifters, special glassware for your own specialty drinks.

Major Types

l  Tumblers

l  Footed wares

l  Stem wares

l  Mugs

§  A tumbler is a flat-bottomed glass that is basically a bowl without stem or foot.

§  Its sides may be straight, flared, or curved.

§  Various sizes and shapes of tumbler are known by the names of the drinks they are commonly used for: old-fashioned, rock glass, highball, Collin, cooler, zombie, pilsner. Glass jiggers and shot glasses are mini-tumblers.

§  Stemware includes any glass having all three features – bowl, foot, and stem.

§  In selecting glasses, size is a better guide than the name of the glass, since a glass with a specific name will come in many sizes.

§   Buy glass sizes that you will never have to fill to the brim; they will surely spill.

§  A glass for dinner wine should be only half full, so the drinker can swirl the wine around and appreciate the bouquet.

§  A brandy snifter of brandy is served so the customer can savor the aroma.

§  In making your glass selection, remember that glassware is about the most fragile equipment you will be using.

§  Consider weight and durability. Consider heat-treated glass if you use a mechanical dishwasher.

§  Consider design and buy glasses that do not need special handling: flared rims for example, break easily. Then consider the breakage factor in figuring the numbers you need.

Control Points of a Bar Operation

•         Planning the Menu

•         Purchasing

•         Receiving

•         Storing

•         Issuing

•         Preparing

•         Serving

Storing Controls

•         Using the first-in first-out inventory rotation method, which stores the oldest products in front of the newest so the oldest can be used first?

•         Dating products when they are stored.

•         Controlling the storage area temperatures:

•         Dry storage: 50°–70° F (10°–21° C)

•         Refrigerated storage: 40° F or lower (4° C or lower)

•         Frozen storage: 0° F or lower ( -18° C or lower)

•         Maintaining the proper humidity and ventilation.

•         Controlling the keys to storing areas.

Physical Inventory Process

•         List the products on the physical inventory form in the same order as they are found on the shelves in the storage area.

•         List the unit (e.g., twenty-five-ounce bottle, 

one-liter bottle) on the form.

•         List the amount of each product in storage.

•         List the purchase price for each unit.

•         Calculate the total price by multiplying the number of units by the price per unit.


 Here are few accessories used in bar: