My strong weaknesses in this part of the task were my time management and my lack of clearing up as I went along. I found it difficult to keep on top of the washing and clearing up because there were so many things to attend to and I was constantly worried I’d forgotten something, this made my task harder and did not allow me to work calmly. My time management skills were also weak and I allowed the preparation of my work to spread too long into the actual cooking time, this created extra stress. Some thing I could have done to help myself were measure out and pre cut and prepare everything in advance, I shyed away from doing this because I was worried my dish wouldn’t be as fresh as possible. Some things I could have done on the day would have been to work faster and more efficiently, I could have achieved this by keeping my worktop neater, putting away everything I wasn’t using- this would have been very helpful as my work surface was littered with things I wasn’t using or had used once at the beginning. I feel better organisation and practicality would have made my project far better.
Finished Results
Flavour
I felt very enthusiastic about my finished product in general and one of the areas I was most pleased with was the taste. I feel the taste was not only an interesting fusion of sweet and salty, spicy and mild but that that I achieved the flavours of an authentic Thai dish. The flavours were contrasting, but I intended this I wanted to reflect the range of flavours in Thai food from the milder and sweeter north to the spicier and more exotic flavours of the south. I think that the individual flavours contributed to each other very well and I tried to ensure (during planning, preparation and cooking) that my dishes did not have overpowering flavours which did not complement each other well. This is not to say that I did not want each dish to be diverse and interesting individually, rather that I did not want to upset the subtle balance of the complex flavours in the dishes and make the meal overbearing. I wanted my meal to appeal to a mild palate, so took steps stop the meal being too spicy and rich. The salad had a range of flavours; the dressing was sweet and spicy but had rich undertones due to the coconut used in the dressing. The salad itself was crunchy because of the lettuce and fresh vegetables; the chicken was sweet and spicy. I had pre marinated it and cooked it slowly to ensure that the flavour was strong and could be tasted in the salad, I added the cashews because of their nutritional value and the rich mellow taste they brought to the dish also I wanted to show combined influences on one dish; as nuts are used more in northern Thailand and spicy salads in the South I thought this choice very fitting.
The main dish: coconut rice with chicken satay and stir-fried veg was a mixture of many recipes I read whilst interpreting the brief. I was very pleased about the way the flavours came together for this particular dish, the spicy chicken satays really set off the subtle spice in the stir fry and the rich sweet peanut sauce complemented the mild coconut rice. The rice contained a fairly small amount (1tbs) of brown sugar, this served in giving the rice a sweet undertone without making it taste overly sweet like rice pudding. I wanted to make the clear choice of choosing things in pairs which both have which suit each other very well. This was very important to me because a lot of oriental cuisine tastes similar and it’s a Thai trade mark to have a dish which has gentle flavours which bring out the best in each other. Establishing this in my dishes was very important because otherwise I do not fell I would have met the brief well enough. He stir fry veg were how I wanted them and not at all overcooked, the chicken was very enter because I cooked it with the foil on and started it’s cooking with a very low temperature, it had absorbed the marinade and was saturated it the aromatic flavour. The rice had become slightly stick due to the coconut milk and sugar and had thick mild consistency.
The papaya and coconut sponge with warm mango sauce was one of the dishes I initially worried about, I was concerned the flavours would be to contrasting and not do particularly well as a sponge. I was wrong, it turned out better than I’d imagined and the flavours were actually in keeping with each other and very tasty. As the sponge cooked the natural fruit juices moistened the sponge and saturated it with flavour, this not only gave an interesting flavour, but also gave off a lovely smell when mingled with the coconut in the cake.
All in all I was very pleased about the flavours both separately and combined of my dishes.
Texture
Texture was one of the most important things about these dishes for me, both when I was making my choices and one of the main targets when I was cooking. As there was such a varied range of what I was cooking I knew there would be an interesting contrast of textures. My salad was mostly crisp and crunchy, the Chinese lettuce, pak choi and nuts ensured this. The chicken was chewy and succulent due to its extended marinating time. I also slow cooked the chicken to ensure it was very moist and chewy.
My main dish had a range of flavour and this was intentional, when selecting I chose ingredients which I thought would help me make this possible. The coconut rice was creamy and moist, whilst the stir fry was crunchy and spicy. The chicken in the satays was cooked similarly to the salad chicken but just a little tougher to keep it on the stick. I added the peanut sauce to my main dish because not only did it add excellent rich flavour it added great texture and a small addition like that really brought the dish together very well and made the dish even more authentic in my opinion.
The coconut and papaya sponge with warm mango sauce did not have a great range of texture and the end result was slightly less spongy and more like a pudding. Although not ‘greasy’ it had a very moist texture, whilst cooking the papaya pieces had become very soft and the juice had leaked through the cake giving it a syrupy texture. The cake was not overly sweet, the smooth warm sauce served with it was slightly sweetened and the small mango pieces complemented the small bits of papaya in the sponge well.
Appearance
I was really pleased with the aesthetic outcome of my dishes. I really wanted to make sure they looked good as I was aware of the dishes were being photographed. I arranged the dishes so they looked well presented.
My salad looked leafy and varied, I put the chicken on a bed of lettuce I had sliced in long thin strips to make it look oriental, I topped the chicken with the cashew nuts in a circle along the outside.
The main dish was arrange with the fluffy white rice on one side of the plate, the colourful stir fry in one corner and the satays and peanut sauce centred with peanut sauce trailed over the rest of the dish. The main dish looked delicious and very authentic, I wanted to ensure this because it was specified in my brief that I needed to demonstrate the influence of another culture on our eating habits, I didn’t want to have just followed the recipe and the dish look nothing like it was supposed to.
I was really impressed with the sponge’s appearance, golden brown and the bright yellow sauce looked really exotic and was what I had intended. I garnished the sponge with a small slice of mango and papaya; I think this looked really good as well as showing visually what was inside it.
Cost
Recipe for Tangy chicken salad.
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinned-£3.97
2 tbsp of cane sugar £1.29 (per 500g)
2 tbsp of Thai fish sauce £1.79 (per 600ml bottle)
2 oz of roasted cashew nuts £0.89 (150g)
2garlic clove crushed and chopped£0.30 (1 bulb)
2tbsp of soy sauce £0.87 (per 400ml bottle)
1 head of lettuce £0.56
4 shallots finely sliced £0.97 (per kg)
1 stalk of lemon grass finely chopped £1.24 (4 stalk packet)
4 kaffir lime leaves N/A
1 chilli seeded and finely chopped £0.39 (per packet)
2 spring onions finely sliced £0.47 (per packet)
10 coriander leaves £0.59 (per small packet)
2tbsp of veg oil £ 0.49 (per 400 ml bottle
120ml of coconut cream £0.81
A lime £0.19
Recipe for chicken satay and peanut sauce
1 tsp of coriander seeds N/A
1 tsp of cumin seeds N/A
2 skinless chicken breast fillets £3.97
1 tbsp of Thai fish sauce (as above)
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp of sunflower oil (as above)
1 tbsp of curry powder £0.29 (50g pot)
½ tbsp ground turmeric N/A
60ml of coconut milk £0.81
1 ½ tbsp of sugar N/A
For peanut sauce
1 tbsp of sunflower oil (as above)
1 ½ garlic cloves, finely chopped (as above)
1 tbsp of curry powder (as above)
75ml of coconut milk £ 0.81
125ml of chicken stock £0.29
1 tbsp of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 ½ tbsp of lemon or lime juice
4 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter £0.56
9- 12 wooden skewers £0.99
Recipe for chicken satay and peanut sauce
105g of broccoli £0.52 (per head)
105 g of asparagus £1.12 (1 jar containing 12)
105 g of pak choi £1.15 (pack containing 3 stems)
105 g baby sweet corn £0.83
2 tbsp of veg oil (as above)
1 ½ cloves of chopped garlic (as above)
2 sliced shallots (as above)
1 small chilli chopped and seeded (as above)
1 tbsp of fish sauce (as above)
1 tsp of sugar
Pinch of salt
Recipe for chicken satay and peanut sauce
Enough long grain rice to long grain rice to fill a measuring jug to 200ml / 7 fl oz
1 x 200 ml / 7 fl oz of coconut milk (as above)
150 ml / 5 fl oz of water
¼ tsp of salt
½ tsp sugar
Recipe for papaya and coconut sponge
2 eggs £0.87 (for a dozen eggs)
2 oz brown sugar (as above)
Pinch of salt
2 oz butter £0.51
2 oz coconut milk (as above)
4 oz white flour £0.49 (per 500g)
2 tsp baking powder£0.19
2 tsp coconut extract N/A
Sauce:
1 mango £0.98
¼ can of coconut milk (as above)
1 oz brown sugar (as above)
1 tsp vanilla extract £0.18
Grated coconut (to sprinkle) £0.75
When selecting ingredients I tried to ensure that I was not only choosing the ingredients that I needed but also ones that were the best value. I knew when selecting ingredients in brief that this was a potentially expensive project given the fact that the ingredients are both unusual and that I would need big quantities due to the fact that I was cooking three dishes. I wasn’t worried about this at all I just had to ensure I was buying the right ingredients in the right quantities because many of the ingredients such as coconut milk were used several times throughout the whole process.
Quality was a very important factor for me and I chose to use fresh vegetables as I felt this was more important that saving time and money by using tinned of frozen veg. I did however use tinned papaya as I couldn’t find any fresh at the time.
I did not have a specific budget as I felt it was more important to concentrate on choosing the right ingredients rather than worrying about a going over a certain figure, I’m glad I did this because I feel if I had been worrying about a budget, this factor would have hindered my choices and made my shopping difficult. However I do fully understand the reason for having budget in place, realistically when people shop they usually have a set amount of money they do spend. If doing a project like this in future I think a budget, even if a loose one would be helpful.
Nutritional Value
When originally selecting the dishes in my choice of ideas I was aware of the fact that it was important for my dishes to be nutritious. My dishes were not strictly aimed at children, but it is still important that any given dish does not contain excess amounts of saturated fat, salt or sugar. Because of the spices and interesting flavours it was unnecessary for me to use extra salt in my savoury dishes, I was glad about this as salt is know to cause many health problem such as heart disease, high cholesterol and a range of other dietary issues. I reduced the sugar content in the cake; the original recipe used two kinds of sugar and honey. I only used pure cane sugar (brown) as I thought it would be healthier. I chose to include a lot of fruit and veg in my overall dish choice. I used rice instead of noodle in my meal, because it contains a lot more fibre and carbohydrate. My stir fry contained a lot of green vegetables, which are rich in vitamin a. I included a range of veg that was more varied that what the recipe listed as I thought it was really important to include a variety that would taste nice as well as offer am range of nutrients. I was aware before I undertook the practical that nutrients like vitamin c are water soluble and destroyed by heat. There was nothing I could do to totally preserve the vitamins, but I took steps to avoid careless mistakes such as allowing the veg to sit in warm water whilst completing other tasks. I placed the harder veg such as carrots in boiling water for five minutes to take the edge off them so I could cook them at the same time as the other veg. After boiling the veg, I drained them and ran ice cold water over them to prevent further vit c being destroyed whilst I was cooking. In total, my meal had a low saturated content as I added minimal oil/margarine etc to it, and I cooked the meal using minimal fat. The stir fry veg only had one tbsp of oil added to, the chicken was baked and I left it to drain on kitchen roll before serving.
Overall, I think I took some important steps to make my meal more nutritious than it would have been otherwise. I did feel it important to make my meal fairly nutritious, but as this was not outlined in my brief I did not give it top priority, as I would have if my brief topic had been aimed at a child.
Ways of improving
I think there are a few defiant ways I could have improved to make my finished product better and my working easier.
The first point which I found difficult and know I could have improved on was my time management. I allowed my preparation time to run over into my cookery time and this made my whole task considerably harder. I constantly felt behind schedule and this affected the efficiency of my tasks as I was constantly distracted and felt as though there was other stuff I should have been doing. I found it hard to concentrate, and as I had so many ingredients on the go at one time I could not give each set of ingredient the attention they required. A way I could have improved would have been to do small tasks such as weighing out all my ingredients at home and coming into the lesson earlier. I was annoyed at this mistake as I feel I should have known better and that a petty mistake may have cost me a lot of potential marks.
My management of space was also very poor and made me make a lot of mistakes in my work, I did not tidy up as I went along and there was a huge accumulation of clutter which grew as I went further into the task. This limited my actual working space and worried me as I couldn’t find equipment when I needed it and had to take time away from my cooking to wash up and look for more. I thing this was a direct result of my poor preparation time, I could have used that time to collect and organise all equipment instead of using my cookery time for this. An easy way to rectify this problem would have been linked to my first point, trying to make sure I complete what I need to be doing in the correct time frame and that tasks do not overlap and create problems by running out of or not organising time.
Although I was very happy with the finished result, I think that looking at the picture I could have garnished my dishes better making them more attractive. The cake especially I felt could have benefited the most form this as it looks a little untidy as the mango sauce was a little runnier than I expected and pooled over to one side of the plate and this did not look the way I wanted it to. I think reserving a little time for garnishing would have helped me ensure that my dishes looked as good as they could have.
As I mentioned earlier I did not look at the nutritional value very closely, I assumed that these were fairly health dishes and did not make as many clear differences as I could have done if I’d analysed it and done some research as to how to reduce fat salt and include valuable nutrients. I think that although this is not outlined in my brief it would have been good for me to have included this information as I would have learned from it and it would have been a bonus for my dish.
On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed my practical work and despite some minor errors am pleased with my dishes. I think if I did undertake such a project again that if I considered these points and worked to the up most of my abilities I could produce work of a higher standard, whilst incorporating all the points I was pleased with from this task. I think the mistakes I did make were sill and that with better panning I could have avoided them, I am a little displeased about this as I feel the good point of my task were ruined by insignificant mistakes. However I am glad that the mistakes I made were small and not bigger. I am pleased with how I handled health and safety matters, I was very aware of washing the boards and washing hands to prevent cross contamination. My hair was tied back and out f the way before I came to the lesson. There were no breakages throughout my prac, which I am very glad about.
I think having evaluated my work I can full examine my strengths and weaknesses and isolate any problems to encourage me not to make the same mistakes again, and to locate my strengths in the hope that I can build upon these. I found this exercise enjoyable and think I have gained a good knowledge of the topics evolved. I feel I can come away from it with confidence and a sense of achievement.
