Menus, Recipes and Cost Management
Course Outline

Course Fee: $50
ACF Approved CEH: 6 Hours
Subject Area: Fundamentals of Professional Cooking Series
Course Approved by: The American Culinary Federation
Instructor: Amber Johnson
Instructional Videos Included (2 total videos):
Understanding Measurements, Understanding Yields

This course has been developed and optimized for online delivery using the licensed title Professional Cooking, 8th edition, published by Wiley and Sons, Inc. and authored by Wayne Gisslen. The fee for this course includes access to all online course materials, instructional videos and an official certificate of completion from chefcertification.com. Once your course is completed, your course completion will be authenticated, and a certificate of completion will be generated. This official certificate of completion will be uploaded to your account, and will be available through the course dashboard for this course.

Introduction/Course Description:

A menu is a list of dishes served or available to be served at a meal. But a menu is more than this. It is an important management tool. Nearly every aspect of the operation of a food-service business depends on the menu. In fact, it is fair to say the menu is the single most important document in the business. Purchasing, production, sales, cost accounting, labor management, even the kitchen layout and equipment selection of a new facility—all are based on the menu.

Recipes can be said to be the building blocks of the menu. Each item on the menu can be represented by the recipe or the procedure for preparing it. Therefore, recipes, like menus, are important management tools. They indicate ingredients to be purchased and stored, and they give measuring and preparation instructions to the kitchen staff.

In addition, recipes are important tools for the cook because they are a means of recording and passing along essential information. Learning to cook without being able to consult recipes would be like learning to play the piano without using written music.

This course discusses menus and recipes as they are used in commercial kitchens. How do we construct a menu that builds sales by offering the best choices to the customer and that also promotes efficiency and productivity? How do we read and understand recipes? How do we measure ingredients and portions, convert recipes to different yields, and calculate food cost with the aid of written recipes?

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Course Objectives/Program Outline

Module One - Menu Forms and Functions

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how the makeup of a menu depends on the type of meal and on the institution using it.
• Describe the differences between static and cycle menus, and between à la carte and table d’hôte menus.
• List in order of their usual service the courses that might appear on modern menus.
• Devise balanced menus that contain an adequate variety of foods and that can be efficiently and economically prepared.

Quiz: Multiple-choice questions that pertain to objectives above.

Module Two - The Written Recipe

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the problems and limitations of written recipes and the importance of using judgment when cooking.
• Discuss the structure and functions of standardized recipes.
• Use and understand recipes to practice basic cooking techniques.
• Measure ingredients and portions.
• Use metric measurements.
• Convert recipes to higher or lower yields.

Instructional Video: Understanding Measurements
Quiz: Multiple-choice questions that pertain to objectives above.

Module Three - Food Cost Calculations

Learning Objectives:

• Perform yield-cost analysis.
• Calculate raw food cost.
• Explore ways to keep food costs as low as possible.

Instructional Video: Understanding Yields
Quiz: Multiple-choice questions that pertain to objectives above.

Final Exam

Multiple choice questions taken from each module

Final Learning Statement

Learning statements should be in a narrative format – as opposed to an outline format. Depending on individual writing styles Learning statements should be around 1 page. The learning statement can vary according to individual style. Your learning statement should answer the broad question of "what did you learn?". To help get you thinking, here are some suggested questions:

• What are the major concepts of the course that you have learned?
• What new professional language have you acquired relating to the topic?
• What new resources did you find in the study of the content?
• Are there any ideas that presented themselves as enlightening and useful?

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Requirements for Course Certificate of Completion

The following are the general course requirements for issuing a certificate of completion for this course:

• Student must receive 80% or better on each module quiz as well as the final exam
• Student must complete a Final Learning Statement at the end of this course