Procedure:
Sequence
CHICKEN/TURKEY/POULTRY
This catagory includes, for our use, domestic birds which are raised and bred for human consumption. For our use, this catagory includes chickens, turkeys, ducks, and occasionally wild pheasants. The nutritive value of chicken is similar to that of beef; rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals, but is generally more easily digestable than beef due to it's muscle fiber structure (short fibers). Poultry, and especially chicken, is a very versitile product and can be cut, prepared, and presented and in a variety of forms.
The anatomy of all poultry is consistent, in that the whole bird will yield breast, leg and thigh meat. What varies can be the size of the pieces or the shape they are cut into or whether they are boneless or with bone. Exercises here will be done using chicken:
The following is a quick and simple summary of how various poultry are classified/some of this information does not strictly apply to the market in the Dominican Republic, but this information is valauable none-the-less.
Chickens of either sex from 4 to 7 months of age, weighing from 3.5 to 5 pounds. These are mature and very plump chickens, but at the same time still tender.
The best range is from 8 to 30 pounds, the best turkey for flavor and yield weighs between 18 and 22 pounds.
Roosters weighing about 5 pounds, very tough and stringy.
Some important points are:
PREPARED MEATS
This is the family of processed meats and poultry products that have been precooked, or preserved by drying or smoking, or other techniques.
One of the oldest types of prepared foods, this product comes in a great variety. The different combinations are endless, and involve the ratios of the ingridients, how fine the meats are ground, what kind of casing is used, how much fat, if it is raw, dried, cooked, canned, pickled, processed, or smoked. The following list are the most common sausages we use:
smoked or cooked sausage - liver sausage, hot dogs, frankfurters, mortadella, chopped pork, chopped beef,
[is made from pork, beef and veal; can be cold or hot smoked and cooked in 1600F water]
dry and semi-dry sausage -
salami, chorizo
[is made from pork,and beef which is usually highly seasoned]
We also have occasion to use other processed meat products such as Prosciutto ham and Serrano ham, smoked duck breast and smoked turkey breast. Our own meat processing plant also produces cooked ham of the Polish variety, and a cooked pork leg ham. Bacon, being salted and smoked, is one of the most frequently used prepared or processed meats.
All these prepared meats are quite sensitive to temperature and humidity factors. Low humidity and good air circulation should be observed for most all types of sausages and processed meats. A good average temperature is about 50 degrees F.
SEAFOOD
For our purposes, ie., an introduction to the butchershop and the food service industry in general, seafood refers to all products, whether fresh, frozen, processed, or preserved which originated in fresh or salt waters. Seafood may classified into two general catagories;
Fresh Water fin fish
Salt Water fin fish
Crustacea;
lobster/shrimp/crab/crayfish
Mollusks;
scallops/conch/oysters/clams
You must be very vigilent when receiving fish. Do not be afraid to smell what you are checking. The fish itself should be with firm flesh, the eyes bright, clear and full. Eyes which are cloudy or sunken can indicate an old fish or one that was captured in a state of "trauma" which causes a negative change in the quality of the product. Look at the gills, or the "lungs" of the fish to see that they are bright looking, red not bleached pink in color and free of any type of slime buildup. The skin should appear shiny with strong colors, the scales firmly attached, and the fish's smell fresh with a faint aroma of the water.
We do not accept all fresh fish offered to us for a variety of reasons. The obvious one is that the fish has not been handled properly and is not 100% fit for human consumption. Also, many colored fish such as a Parrot Fish are not acceptable to us because this is a kind of fish with many unknown factors. Therefore we stay with the fish we know and that the guests request.
Seafoods are very delicate, and highly perishible. If received fresh they must be quickly refrigerated and kept well below 400F. Near freezing temperatures and a covering of crushed ice will greatly help to retain the product quality. Try to handle the fish as little as possible to avoid bruising it and try to prevent it from drying out even when it is properly refrigerated. This means wrap the fish or fillet with plastic film, or cover it with a layer of ice. Dehydration will quickly cause spoilage of seafood.
All seafoods must be prepared and readied for freezing.
Fish: should be filleted, or drawn and gutted, or scaled amd then well rinsed.
Shrimp: should also be well washed before freezing; remove heads from whole shrimp if to be frozen for more tham 6 weeks.
Whole lobster; should be frozen very quickly and completly to prevent the "ink" in the neck sac to leak down onto the tail meat; whole Caribbean lobsters do not really freeze well in the raw state, and it is better to convert them into lobster tails for long term storage.
Remember to keep the seafood well wrapped to prevent dehydration. Wrap first in plastic film and then with aluminum foil...don't forget to label your package once it is covered in foil.
Defrosting: If the frozen product is not defrosted properly, quality will suffer, and the freshness will be lost as bacterial decomposition sets in. The safest and best way to defrost frozen seafood is in the coldest spot of the refrigerator, for 24 hours. The second choice is to defrost under cold running water. Once completly defrosted do not refreeze the raw product.
Fish are very high in nutritive value and are a source of complete proteins. This protein is easily digested because the fish oils are highly polyunsaturated. Compared to beef, gram for gram fish contains more protein and less calories than beef, because the fat content is lower. Also fish provide high levels of vitamins and minerals, and are the best source for iodine. Shrimps are even more concentrated in their nutritive delivery, while containing very little fat, however, they are very high in cholesterol content.
Most of the fish we see here are of the salt water variety. They generally arrive fairly fresh, whole and gutted. This is called a Whole or Round fish; Fish can also come in other common ways: dressed, which is the whole fish eviscerated and scaled with the head and tail removed; filleted, which is the delivery of the fish sides cut lengthwise from the backbone; Steaks, which are cross-section slices of dressed fish. The most common fresh fish delivered here are:
The above are the local fish,caught locally, delivered fresh.
There are also fin fish which we import, and come in different forms. Some come fresh-frozen/whole:
The following list comprises the shell fish which we most often receive fresh and utilize here:
The following is a list of shell fish which we import because of it's non-availability or to maintain a reserve supply:
The following is a list of processed seafood products which we often use in the hotel:
Gutting
Scaling
The same three items always constitute the breading process;
The wash is the liquid part of the process. It can be all eggs, or eggs combined with milk or water or oil, the greater the egg content the greater the pasting or binding power of the wash. A ratio of 3 beaten eggs to one quart of milk is a good standard..remember to beat the eggs before adding the milk. The hotel pan makes a very good utensil for carrying out the breading proceedure.
Below is a typical worktable set-up for a production situation of a breading project. Try to always keep one hand working with the dry products and the other hand working with the wash pan, that way your hands will remain useful, and not get "breaded" up. In a situation where you will be doing a large amount of breading, more than one person on the "line" helps tremendously.
General
To Split:
To Remove Head::
General
To Split:
Medallions/ Meat:
Oriental Fan Cut:
General
SHRIMP SIZE CHART
Salt Water:
Generally recognized size names
Fresh Water:
Preparations:
General
Preparations:
Most of the conch which we use here is received in the cleaned form, called "fillet" of conch. Examine the "foot" well to make sure all of the hard black foot and the curled tip have been removed.
General
Cleaning/Dressing:
General
Cleaning/Dressing:
Tenderizing:
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