Work Flow Plan and Recipe

Evaluation

This terms assignment was based on technology and the hospitality industry as our society is constantly changing and technology is meant to be an asset to us, in terms of making our lives more efficient, our food safer and our food experiences more enjoyable. With advances in technology comes a higher expectation of sustainability, especially with a greater knowledge and awareness of the impact on society of sustainable practices, packaging and processing techniques. Taking into consideration these new factors, many customers are forced to question the products they buy. To deepen our awareness of sustainable products, our assignment requires us to work in a pair to plan, prepare, present and package a pasta meal suitable for sale to a targeted group, of our choice. 

We began work on the assignment in week nine of term 4 and have had 5 weeks of school plus holidays to complete the tasks. We were given enough time in class to complete all the written work required as long as we managed our time effectively and took advantage of every lesson. Jazmin and I only had to design and produce the packaging at home for the pasta, then in week 3 of term 4 we had to cook our chosen pasta recipe in class. I found the time given for this assignment was very generous as I completed little work at home due to all the class time provided. 

With the investigation into the unit and research regarding our target group for the recipe I learnt much information which deepened my awareness for sustainability and my knowledge about developing recipes to meet the needs of different age groups, genders and grouped individual nutrition requirements. My partner Jazmin, and me decided to target young children aged 4-10, as this age group requires a meal that meets the daily calorie intake of 1545 - 1740 calories. Young Children need to eat plenty of vegetables, fruit, cereals, lean meat, fish and poultry. Their diet needs to limit saturated fat, moderate total fat intake, foods low in salt and consume only a moderate amount of sugars. When it came to the packaging for the product I learnt about the labeling that needs to be on the product required by the law, also about the company BioPak and all or their environmentally friendly products. In regards to the practical side of the assignment, I found that organisation was key to success as if you took the time to study the recipe you could devise a plan with your partner beforehand. Jazmin and I decided to organise who would do what steps of the method so we could be as productive as possible to maximise our time efficiency. We also became very familiar with the recipe beforehand, therefore we weren’t lost on the day when deciding on appropriate equipment to use and following correct procedure. 

I found that Jazmin and I were very successful in terms of the practical task as we had everything organised prior to the date and we worked well on the day, Our recipe was simple to cook and we both had experience with the recipe, which allowed us to focus less on the details of the method but on the final outcome of the meal. The work flow plan helped us because it identified all the equipment and utensils the recipe required so we could get started with the recipe straight away. It also outlined the steps of the recipe in detail, so there was nothing for us to think about. We managed to finish cooking and cleaning half way into the lesson, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy a final result, take pictures and take the time to make everything perfect. I was very happy with the finished product as the recipe turned out better than expected. We modified the original recipe to add more vegetables to meet out target markets nutrition needs, which resulted in the final product to have a variety of colours, due to the carrot, onion, mushrooms and zucchini, which also created a more appealing look. With the added vegetables, the flavour of the recipe was healthy and appetising. The pasta was cooked al dente, and the sauce had simmered just enough to be the perfect texture. The vegetables were cut into tiny pieces to make it easy on the target group and were cooked so they weren’t soft or hard. Luckily our recipes portions were perfect for our bowls and met the serving size required for children, as the Australian guide to Healthy Eating stated that a child's serving size should be half an adults serve. Our finished product did not have any garnishing as parsley is the common garnish for bolognaise sauce but research showed that children prefer there to be nothing extra on their pasta. We could have added cheese to garnish the recipe, but it is a personal preference, especially among young children. 

We did not come across any problems as we had planned the lesson in precised detail. The only thing that we did not expect was that the recipe said that the sauce needed 30 mins to simmer but on the day it only took 10 mins, which turned out to be a huge advantage because the pasta cooked quickly, which resulted with us serving our final product in under half an hour, 20 mins less than predicted. Other than that the method was accurate with the serving sizes and ingredients. We were also lucky that the amount of sauce was perfect for the amount of pasta we cooked. I was very pleased with the end result as it was a quick recipe and tasted great. I would definitely make this recipe for my family and myself based on my experience. This is a more nutritious alternative to the traditional spaghetti bolognaise recipe as it contains more vegetables which added a greater variety of favour and texture to the recipe. In my opinion, Jazmin and I completed enough research to make an informed decision when it came to choosing a pasta recipe. We had identified the required calorie intake for our age group, nutrition needs and the number of daily servings for each food group. Once we had visited numerous websites regarding nutritious pasta recipes for young children, we narrowed our choice down to three recipes and then chose one based on the how well it met the nutrition needs of children aged 4-10. We then analysed the spaghetti bolognaise with vegetables recipe, by researching all the ingredients to find the nutrients and calories. Once this was done, we compared it to the information we had previously discovered regarding nutrition needs for young children, and found it was a suitable choice for our target group. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this assignment as the investigation and practical parts were both interesting and challenging. The research part of the assignment allowed me to further my knowledge into nutrition needs and discover that gender, age and personal needs influence your diet requirements. I found the research into sustainable packaging and labeling very interesting as it is a topic that we haven’t covered in great depth and I enjoyed learning about the features that make products environmentally friendly and the law requirements that food companies have to follow with the packaging. Designing the packaging for the product added a creative part to the assignment which I enjoyed very much but I did find it quite challenging to cover the bowl as it was circular and had a smaller circumference a the bottom. My favourite part of the assignment is always the practical work! Because by then we have completed all the research and we can put all the developed skills and information gathered into use. The practical work also helps me develop my organisation skills, as the more work I put into planning the lesson prior to the date, the better the lesson works out. This has been my favourite assignment during my 2 years of doing hospitality as a subject. 

Pictures:

Labelling

These are the labels that are going to be used on the packaging: