Posted by Robyn Erickson, By Invitation Only... Catering on March 23, 19100 at 11:12:38 :
In Reply to: Menu Development posted by Ron on March 23, 19100 at 10:25:22 :
: I am looking for a source, person or book on menu
: development. I am looking for some type of
: consultant to help me put together a "Catering BBQ
: Menu". I have not found much in the area of
: developing a " Catering menu". When I think menu
: I''m thinking about a menu that is priced with
: standardized recipes for all menu items. I am
: looking for a California style menu.
: I have found lots of help and forums on the day to
: day items but not information onspecific menus and
: recipes . I feel that to go forward this is an
: important issue for my business. While in school I
: learned the importance of this but found few in the
: real world have standardized recipes. I have found
: that with the 20 or so recipes I have put together
: have been a great help to me and those who work for
: us. But to do them from scratch with the low volume
: we do has taken me years to do those.
: We are small and do not have a full time staff
: outside of my wife and I. We had a large event for
: 550 people and could not have done it without the
: standard recipes. Currently most recipes and any
: modification are in my head . I know this is not
: good for consistency and getting proposal out fast.
:
: Thanks for any pointers or suggestions
: Ron Edwards
Ron, I am also small. There's myself and let me see... myself. I have on call staff when necessary.
Anyway, when I do find a recipe I like I add it to a program I use, "MasterCook". This has been handy to me because once you have imput your recipes, (in addition to the recipes the program comes with) you can develope a menu for each event, scale the recipes for the guest count for each event, produce a shopping list, and get nutritional info. For example, you can put in a recipe you find for 10 guests and scale it for whatever. It's great and has been a timesaver/lifesaver. Hope this helps some.
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