Detail still matters to big-time cooks

Press, 28 May 1983, Page 21

Detail still matters to big-time cooks

Adietitian in charge of feeding thousands of people daily still needs to think about such small things as washing lettuces.

That chore was one. of many hidden costs in meal preparation that a Canadian dietitian, Dr Elizabeth Upton, has pointed out at a Christchurch seminar.

Dr Upton is an associate professor at the School of Hotel and Food Administration at the University of Guelph, near Toronto. Her job is the training of administrative dietitians who supervise food services. Dietetics had come a long way since the start of her career 'in the 19505, Dr Upton said. It was now more sophisticated and costconscious.

Every process through which food passed lessened the final amount in some way, she said. When the meal preparation involved mountains of food, attention to detail was needed. Computers were often used to calculate the quantity of recipe ingredients but the dietitian still had to think about the hidden costs. Making sure that cookies did not stick to trays or that meat was not cooked at hotter than necessary temperatures made a difference. A dietitian was needed wherever people were fed in groups. In Canada, they were often employed in banks or other large company buildings where cafeterias fed many office workers.