Carribbean Theme Meal 1

Melissa Cockley
Florida Hospital Orlando Main Campus
The Welch Cafe
February 22, 2017
 Carribbean Theme Meal 2

Introduction..3

Areas of Improvement.5

Recipes and Cost.6

Nutrient Information8

Invoices9

Pricing, Sales, & Budget....11

Waste..12

Production Schedule..13

Survey14

Poster & Display15

Conclusion.18

Additional References19
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Introduction:
Caribbean cuisine has a mix of multiple different cultures that gives its food a unique

taste. When society views Caribbean cuisine, they most often think of rice, beans and plantains.

With the Caribbean islands having tropical climate year round, majority of their foods are

flavorful due to fresh fruits and vegetables that are located on the island. Seafood also plays a

large role in their dishes considering they have access to a variety of sea life being an island in

the tropics. With their cuisine being so diverse, it was an easy decision for me to pick it as a

theme meal. I enjoy fresh foods packed with flavor, but not necessarily spicy. I wanted to choose

a meal that would be a healthy alternative for customers, that was also simple to make.

The purpose of this project was to create a meal with a theme, whether it be cultural or

creative, to introduce to the cafs menu. I was required to create two entrees: one was required

to be vegan, and one was required to be gluten free. I located my recipes on

www.ohsheglows.com because they had a variety of vegan and gluten-free entrees to review. I

needed to follow the Stop Light Method as a guideline to insure I was creating a healthy

alternative that appeals to customers. The Stop Light Method reference sheet can be referred to

on page 25 of this report.

To start this process of preparing a theme meal, I researched many different recipes and

presented them to the chefs and managers in the food and nutrition department at Florida

Hospital. After discussing which recipe would most likely be a new and intriguing dish, we

decided on Baked Chicken/ Tofu with a Pineapple Salsa and Coconut Rice. I started to convert

the recipe to feed roughly 950 people since I was not only serving the Welch Caf, but the

doctors lounge as well. I consulted with the chef manager, Mr. Eric Foster, multiple times to get

an accurate standardized recipe formed. Once I configured accurate number, Mr. Foster and I set
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up a time and date to perform a test run on my recipe. On the afternoon of February 2 at 2:30pm,

Mr. Foster, myself and my fellow interns met in the kitchen to start testing my recipe. After

about an hour and a half, we finished preparing the Coconut Rice and Pineapple Salsa. My

calculations were slightly off for the rice, but were easily adjusted. The rice came out sticky,

which many people liked, but Mr. Foster knew it would not hold well in a seam box on the actual

day of my meal. The Pineapple salsa produced more servings than anticipated, which was

actually very helpful because we did not have to order as much product as we assumed we would

need to.

After testing my recipe, I edited my recipe sheets and formed a meeting with Ms. Alyssa

Thompson, to input my edited recipe into CBOARD. With her Help, we were able to estimate

how much each portion would cost, and how much the budget would be for the recipe. I also was

informed that my Pineapple salsa would be considered a yellow item on the caf menu. Even

though it is mainly fruits and vegetables, it contains salt causing it to fall in the yellow category.

The Tofu and Chicken breast would also be considered green since there is minimal seasoning.

Unfortunately, the Coconut Rice would be a Red item on the menu because of the coconut

milk containing a high amount of fat. Once Ms. Thompson entered my recipes into CBOARD, I

was able to send them to Ms. Abbey Cobb for pricing. Ms. Cobb helped determine a price for

each item of my meal, and inserted them on to the program the cashiers use. By entering the

information into the cash register, we are able to track the number of entrees we sold for my

theme meal.

The Monday before I presented my theme meal, I met with Mr. Foster and Mr. Mark

Seckler to insure everything was ordered and in place for me to start working on my meal the

following day. We discussed that signs needed to be made that included the stop light method
 Carribbean Theme Meal 5

that the caf currently follows, survey cards needed to be made and printed, and the final order of

produce needed to be placed. Shortly after meeting with them, Mr. Foster placed a separate order

of produce for my meal to attempt to obtain an accurate pricing. On Tuesday, I did a walk

through with Mr. Foster in the kitchen to assure that all of my ingredients had arrived for me to

start preparing my Pineapple Salsa that day. We were reassured by the Chef Joe that he had

panned up 600 Jerk Seasoned Chicken Breast the day before. Mr. Foster and I set aside all of my

ingredients so that I could easily access them on Wednesday to start cooking all of the entrees

and sides.

The day of my theme meal I arrived at the hospital at 6:30am. I had brought my recipes

into the kitchen at 6:45am to start prepping my meal. I met all of the chefs who were on duty and

helping prepare each item. I worked alongside Chef Janice for majority of my meal prep. My

fellow interns Lauren, Leah and Meghan were also there to help if need be. We finished in the

kitchen at approximately 10:00am and proceeded to The Welch Caf to set up for lunch.

Everything was in place when lunch began at 11:00am. I worked alongside with Welch

employee Sharon to serve my meal. Lunch started out slow but picked up very quickly. Leah was

doing a great job handing out samples, and many of those customers came to my station to

purchase my meal. Meghan was close to the station handing out surveys to everyone she

purchased a meal. Lauren assisted me by helping prepare samples and replenishing the Pineapple

Salsa. I finished serving lunch at 1:15pm and proceeded to Mr. Fosters office to walk to the

doctors lounge. Since my meal was also being served there, I wanted to see how it was

displayed and how my meal was selling. The doctors lounge is considered catering, so doctors

do not have to pay for their meals like a customer of the Welch Caf would. The woman catering

the lounge informed me that were going through pans of the chicken and rice very quickly. After
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visiting the lounge, I returned to the offices for the day to prepare for a presentation we had later

that day.
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Areas of Improvement:
One item I would improve is my survey. I felt that it was simple and easy to fill out

because I was just asking customers to circle what they liked and disliked about my meal, but I

found that it confused many people when I was reviewing my surveys. Many of the words that

were circled for the liked category was also circled for the disliked category. I also wish I

had mini pencils or pens available for people to use for my survey. Another area that I would

improve is the process of the samples. We struggled with preparing them while also serving the

meal. I feel that we could have prepared them ahead of time, but we would not have been able to

keep them hot.

I would also edit my recipes because we had an access amount of Pineapple Salsa. The

kitchen ended up using the rest of it on Friday for their lunch option. There were two pans left

over from Wednesday that they mixed with Pico de Gallo to put on top of fish. Im glad they

ended up using it, but I should have been more accurate in my calculations for portions. I also

would have wanted to sit down with Mr. Foster and Mr. Seckler to order my ingredients. We

were having a lot of trouble locating the invoices after I presented my meal. I requested having

the invoices printed on the following Friday, but was unable to find the invoice for mint and

chicken. The chicken order would have been a larger order than what I needed since they use

chicken in other areas and for multiple days.

Overall, I believe that my meal was very successful. I received multiple reviews

complimenting the meal and stating how wonderful it was. I also received verbal feedback from

many employees and staff members on how they felt about my meal and saying what a great

job I did with it. While I was serving my meal, the manager for Lakeside Caf, Mr. Jorge

Oquendo, approached me requesting that I present my theme meal at his cafe. I met with him the
 Carribbean Theme Meal 8

following day to discuss options about serving my meal there. Unfortunately, he wanted me to

modify my theme meal, or possibly create something new to put on their menu and present it the

same way I did for the Welch Caf. As much as I would love to put something on their rotating

menu, with our program requiring a certain number of hours elsewhere, I would not have the

time to create another theme meal to present for the Lakeside cafe.
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Recipes & Costs:

The most expensive dish in my theme meal is the Jerk Chicken, because it is a form of

protein. The least expensive recipe is the coconut rice because majority of the ingredients are

very inexpensive such as water, vegetable oil and brown sugar. The total cost for my meal was

$984.13 for 950 portions of rice and salsa, 600 portions of chicken, and 144 portions of tofu.

Pineapple Salsa- Total cost for 950 portions: $268.58.

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Jerk Chicken- Total costs for 600 portions: $426.66

Jerk Tofu- Total Cost for 144 portions- $86.16

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Coconut Rice- Total Cost for 950 portions- $202.73

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Nutrient Information:
The nutrient information for my meal ranges from Green to Red with the stoplight

method that is used in the caf. My entrees of Jerk Chicken and Jerk Tofu are green because they

are seasoned lightly and have no other ingredients besides seasoning and the protein. My

Pineapple Salsa dish was considered yellow because it contained salt. The Coconut Rice is the

only item that is considered red on my menu. The rice recipe includes coconut milk, which is

very high in fat. The two other side items that Mr. Seckler and Mr. Foster felt would fit

appropriately with my meal were steamed broccoli and a Caribbean Island vegetable mix that

they have used in the past. Both of those side options are considered green.

Jerk Chicken:

Jerk Tofu:

Coconut Rice:
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Pineapple Salsa:
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Invoices:
Collecting invoices was slightly difficult. Unfortunately, I was not able to sit down with

Mr. Foster to place the order for my meal, so a few items were ordered with the normal truck

order. The order for chicken breasts was much larger than what I needed for my meal because he

was ordering for multiple days, and we were unable to locate that invoice to see exactly how

much was ordered. I was also unable to locate an invoice for my mint or diced pineapple. Mr.

Foster addressed that he called Fresh Point to place an order for my pineapple because it was not

in the system. By calling in an order, he did not receive and invoice for that purchase.
Carribbean Theme Meal 15
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Pricing, Sales & Budget:

Referring to pricing of each menu item, Mr. Seckler informed me that entrees will cost

$4.29 per portion, and side items cost $2.29 per potion regardless of what item it is. Vegetable

sides cost the same as grain would. Chicken and tofu were also the same price even though they

are different forms of protein. When I spoke with Ms. Cobb referring to pricing, she explained

that for each item the hospital aims to stay between 20-25% of the food cost. That pricing stayed

true for the Jerk Chicken with Pineapple salsa, but was lower for the Jerk Tofu with Pineapple

Salsa and Coconut rice.

The morning after I presented my theme meal, I approached Mr. Seckler for the report

that displays how many of each item was sold in the Welch caf. The Consolidated RVC

Report shows how many of every item in the caf was sold during a certain meal period. The

report was not as accurate as I had hoped. The cashiers were informed the day of my theme meal

to ring as accurately as possible, but unfortunately the numbers were not what I had expected.

The report showed that I had sold four portions of tofu. I know that I had sold more than 4

because we had gone through a pan and a half while I was serving. Each pan held 15 portions of

tofu. It is possible that some were rang up as a Combo meal, but Mr. Seckler and I noticed

there were eight portions of Eggplant Parmesan sold, and that was not an option on that day. So,

we assumed they would really be tofu that was sold. There were also grilled chicken breasts that

were rang up, but the only chicken that was sold that day was the Jerk chicken on my menu. We

included those into my sales as well. The numbers for my rice was close to what I expected to

be, and I calculated the amount of salsa sold but the number of portions of each entre I had sold.
 Carribbean Theme Meal 17

When determining the cost per portion sold at the doctors lounge, I spoke Glenda, a

member of the catering staff, and Mr. Martin Lamm. Glenda provided me with a sheet of how

many pans of each item was provided in the lounge. I knew that each pan of tofu had 15 pieces,

and each pan of chicken had roughly 20 pieces. She also showed me a data sheet displayed the

raw cost of all of my items. Mr. Lamm explained to me how they come up with the

percentage cost for the doctors lounge. He informed me that I would multiply the raw cost of the

item and multiply by 1.75% to determine the selling price for each of them. For example, my

Jerk chickens raw cost was $1.37, so I would multiply $1.37 x 1.75%= $2.40 as my selling

price. My estimated profit from the Caf and the doctors lounge was $2481.61.

Welch Caf Sales

Item Food Cost Actual Number sold Sales
% Price Price
Jerk Chicken w/ $4.80- $4.29 152 $652.08
Pineapple Salsa $3.84
Jerk Tofu w/ Pineapple $4.25- $4.29 12 $51.48
Salsa $3.40
Coconut Rice $.95-$.76 $2.29 42 $96.18
Jerk Chicken Combo N/A $6.45 124 $799.80
Jerk Tofu Combo N/A $6.45 11 $70.95
Total Sales= $1,764.54
*Combos include an Entre, 2 sides and a beverage.
Doctors Lounge
Item Number Sold Raw Cost Selling Price Sales
Jerk Chicken w/ 455 $1.37 $2.40 $1,092.00
Pineapple Salsa
Jerk Tofu w/ 120 $1.56 $2.73 $327.60
Pineapple Salsa
Coconut Rice 320 $.50 $0.88 $281.60
Total Sales= $1,701.20
Profits/ Costs
Welch Profits $1,764.54
Doctors Lounge Profits $1,701.20
Initial Costs $984.13
Estimated Profit= $2,481.61
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Waste:
The day I presented my theme meal, 600 chicken breast were pre-portioned and 144

pieces of tofu were prepared. Mr. Foster suggested that if we needed to prepare more chicken or

tofu that we can make that fairly quickly instead of having it already seasoned and possibly

going to waste. Between the doctors lounge and the welch caf, I had 75 breasts, and no tofu left

over. I had two pans of coconut rice left over, which is 40 portions, and the pineapple salsa had 6

quarts left over from that day. The chefs and managers saved the left-over salsa to use for lunch

on Friday to serve with fish. By the time lunch was finished on Friday, no salsa was left over.

Item Produced Sold Waste

Jerk Chicken 806 731 75
Jerk Tofu 144 143 1piece (sample)
Coconut Rice ~540 497 40 portions
Pineapple Salsa 1,345 1,345 0
 Carribbean Theme Meal 19

Production Schedule:
Production Schedule
Date: February 20, 2017 Unit: Welch Cafe
Prepared by: Time: Task: Location:
Chef Joe 1:00pm- 3:00pm Panning Jerk Chicken Kitchen

Production Schedule
Date: February 21, 2017 Unit: Welch Cafe
Prepared by: Time: Task: Location:
Melissa & Eric 1:00pm- 2:30pm Preparing Pineapple Kitchen
Salsa

Production Schedule
Date: February 22, 2017 Unit: Welch Cafe
Prepared by: Time: Task: Location:
Daniel & Janice 6:00am- 7:30 am Panning & seasoning Kitchen
Tofu
Melissa 6:45am- 7:15am Panned broccoli Kitchen
Jeff 8:00am-8:45am Panned mixed Kitchen
vegetables
Joe, Janice, Melissa, 8:00M 9:00AM Prepared Coconut Kitchen
Lauren, Leah, rice, panned for
&Meghan serving
Joe & Janice 9:00am-9:30am Baked Jerk Chicken Kitchen
& Tofu
Melissa & Lauren 9:30am- 10:00am Panned Jerk Chicken Kitchen
for serving
Joe 9:30am-10:15am Panned Tofu; Panned Kitchen
items for Doctors
Lounge
Melissa & Lauren 10:30am-10:45am Gathered supplies for Kitchen/ Welch Cafe
samples, displayed
Intern board
Melissa & Lauren 10:50am-11:00am Prepared samples, set Welch Cafe
up work station
Sharon, Melissa & 11:00am-1:00pm Served recipes Welch Cafe
Lauren
Melissa, Lauren, 11:00am-12:30pm Prepared samples Welch Cafe
Leah & Meghan
Leah & Meghan 11:00am-12:45pm Samples & Surveys Welch Cafe
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Survey:
My survey card focused on customer rating, price of the meal, what each customer liked

and disliked about the meal, and if they had any additional comments that they would suggest

(survey displayed on pg. 26). I attempted to make this simple and quick for customers to fill out.

Meghan and Leah were distributing the surveys while I served customers. I printed 100 surveys

and received 38 back. Out of the filled surveys, only 1 rated me with a sad face, but did not leave

any other additional information. I received multiple surveys the happy face and the love

face.

Overall
Rating
1
Value of Meal
0 1(Low) 0
2 3
0 3 4
16 4 8
5 21
21 N/A 2

The main component that many surveyors liked about my meal was the flavor. There

were very few components circled with that they did not like about the meal. I received positive

feedback from multiple surveys stating they Loved the Coconut Rice! as well as Delicious!.

Two comments that were very informative stated:

Nice heat on the jerk seasoning offset by the cool freshness of the salsa was perfect! Nice

job keeping the chicken moist and lightly toasting the coconut for extra flavor! Great job!

Great rice! Good spices on the chicken. Pineapple salsa adds nice sweetness & acidity. Only

suggestion would be to macerate a little bit of the salsa first, then blend it.
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Posters & Display:

There were many areas of the caf that needed to be adjusted in terms of advertising for

my theme meal. In the front of the caf, close to the sandwich bar, I displayed a poster board

provided by Ms.Mann and Ms. Hanson to showcase my theme by providing two sheets

containing background information. One Sheet displayed my menu items, along with bullet

points that were colored the appropriately for each item using the stoplight method. The other

sheet presented information as to why I chose Caribbean as my theme, as well as facts about

pineapples and coconuts. My stop light method menu was hung by the entrance of the caf and at

the station where my meal was being served.

Carribbean Theme Meal 22
Carribbean Theme Meal 23
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Conclusion:
I feel that my theme meal was successful. I was satisfied with the way everything turned

out, and had received many complements for my Pineapple Salsa and Coconut Rice. There was

quite a bit of waste, but not as much as I assumed there would be. I am disappointed that I had

immense amount of Pineapple Salsa left over, but was glad they were able to use it for another

dish. My goal was to either break even or make a profit with my meal, and I did accomplish that.

The entire day went smoothly so that was very reassuring. I did not have any mishaps or issue

with any products or with staffing. Everyone that I worked with was friendly and extremely

helpful. It was wonderful to hear that the manager for Lakeside was considering my meal for a

menu in his caf, its just unfortunate that it will not work out due to time restraints. Overall, I

had a great experience and a new respect for food service managers when it comes to meal

planning.
 Carribbean Theme Meal 25

Additional Information/ References:

1. Grilled Tofu W/ Pineapple Salsa & Coconut Rice Recipe-
http://ohsheglows.com/2012/07/09/grilled-tofu-with-pineapple-salsa-and-coconut-rice/

2. Stop light method information-

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3) Survey: