Again, incomplete equipment may have to be considered in planning the menu. If there is no power machinery the amount of hand work or heavy physical preparation called for may have to be cut down in accordance with the equipment at hand. In serving large numbers power machinery will often pay for itself in a few months through the saving in labor. It will not only do the work better and more humanely but will allow a much greater variety of food. In the matter of equipment the institution must get away from the idea that it is a large home, with working conditions as they have been in the average home. It should consider itself an industrial plant where one of the aims is maximum production with minimum labor; and it should realize that proper equipment and proper working conditions are necessary in the accomplishment of this aim. Even though the labor supply may be adequate, efficient planning of menus demands that there be an adjustment between those foods requiring much labor and those requiring little, so that proper balance may be maintained.
In discussing the limitations in menu making the element of cost has come up again and again. It becomes a definite restriction in institutions that work on a budget, or where the group to be served demands good wholesome food at the lowest price. As examples of such institutions there are the factory cafeteria, the school lunch and the college cafeteria.
Though menus must be made out in advance of the day when they are to be used, they should be sufficiently elastic to allow for proper utilization of left-overs. Using left-overs may mean very little change and substitution, or may require complete revision of the day's meals. Left-overs must be used, for it is only by constant care that the food cost can be kept down to a minimum. That this is true of all institutions, whether great or small, is shown by the extreme care exercised in the largest hotels to the end that no food shall be wasted. Where there is family service, rather than plate service from the kitchen, there will probably be a large amount of left-over food. It requires a good deal of ingenuity to use these left-overs in some other form so as to maintain variety and that element of surprise which is so essential. In the cafeteria or other institution using à la carte service the left-over problem is not so serious. It is very nicely taken care of in tea rooms and hotels which serve a club luncheon, the menu for which may be chiefly made up from the left-overs.
It is obvious that the form of service may influence the kind and extent of the menu. That is, the cafeteria can serve a large variety of dishes because the patrons wait on themselves. A similar choice or variety is impracticable where there is table service, except in hotels, restaurants and tea rooms where cost is not so great a factor.
CHAPTER II
STANDARDS FOR JUDGING MEALS
Provided the principles of good nutrition have not been violated, the main basis for judging any meal is palatability. Palatability depends upon appearance and quality. Appearance in turn depends upon quantity, color, form and service upon the plate. Quality is determined by odor, flavor, temperature, texture and consistency. Reduced to outline form, the elements of palatability are:
| quantity color form neatness arrangement | ||||
| appearance | ||||
| Palatability | ||||
| quality | odor temperature flavor texture consistency | |||
Commercially and aesthetically it is unwise to make servings too large. Every one has had the experience of being served with more food than can be eaten with relish and without waste. The effect is to surfeit the appetite and to limit the variety which a patron may have, unless he is able financially to order the variety; in which case he is obliged to leave some food uneaten. In any institution which serves à la carte, it is better to adjust portions and prices to the end that the patron may have some variety in his meal without prohibitive expense.