Qualitaly_119

OCT. NOV. 2020 X we realize that it won’t be the same as before. ______________________________ AT PAGE 24 IN THE KITCHEN The (forward) march of the brigades Covid-19 forces the Italian catering industry to reorganise the actions and movements of employees by evaluating new working methods by Alessandro Vergallo In the previous issues we have extensively explored some of the problems linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, involving entrepreneurs, specialists and other figures in the food & beverage world: problems linked to lockdown, reopening of businesses, food delivery, reduction of interior space, concession of public space and so on. In this issue, on the other hand, we will focus on the new parameters to which restaurateurs, chefs and other ‘players’ working in the sector must adhere in order to live and work together in Italian kitchens. An articulated but above all delicate theme that involves many workers who tinker with ingredients, meals, ladles, pots and dishes every day. The lockdown for worldwide catering has represented a real break with the past. Since 10 March, the date that sanctioned the closure of all activities, many things have changed in the kitchens of our restaurants, especially in terms of management and organisation. The DPCMs that have followed one another in recent months have almost put aside the ‘old’ HACCP rules that gave certainty and fluidity to the entire food & beverage system. New rules that today involve everyone in the sector: from those responsible for the supply of ingredients to those who serve in the room to those who clean the premises. It is well known - and it is clear - that in our country different types of establishments live together in terms of size, location, structure and organisation: each room is a reality in itself. Paradoxically, the larger the kitchen, the easier its organisation. “Where there is a medium-large kitchen,” says Pasqualina Capuano, Vice-President of the Order of Food Technologists of the Region of Puglia, “it is easier to plan the work, following a path that resumes the principle of marching forward: the former must be installed on one side of the worktop, while the latter, to guarantee personal distance, on the other. In a kitchen, moreover, where the stoves are central, it is necessary that the chef and assistant cook work in a staggered manner. Both take care of a different dish and the accesses and exits in the space are from different sides so as not to have returns along the way.” A COMPLEX ORGANISATION Today those who work in the kitchens of our restaurants must have clear ideas about what they have to do during the working day and, above all, they are required to comply with the latest provisions of the law, calculating and foreseeing everything, even the unexpected. “First rule,” says Vincenzo Butticè, chef at Il Moro restaurant in Monza and National Councillor of the Professional Association of Italian Chefs (APCI), “the brigade’s entrance into the kitchen is staggered, in order to avoid crowds inside the locker rooms; second rule, the obligation to wear a mask during the work shift despite the reshaping of spaces and the metre and a half of distance between one person and another, established by law to guarantee personal distance.” The primary rules to be respected in the kitchen are always the same. Washing your hands frequently has always been customary, even before the advent of Covid-19. New entry in culinary clothing, mask and gloves even if, wearing the latter is sometimes counterproductive and - in some cases - unfavourable, because they absorb everything and, unlike hands, cannot be washed. “Gloves are a palliative,” underlines the APCI National Councillor. “The best thing is to wash your hands frequently, and you can do it easily, when necessary, in almost all medium-sized Italian kitchens that have one water point every 5/6 square metres.” There are also health regulations regarding the hygienisation of the environments in which the dishes are prepared. Mattia D’Avolio, food business specialist, says: “It is a good idea to sanitise kitchens several times during the day using products with a wider range of detergents as well as sanitising agents. If before, sanitation was carried out at the end of the lunch and dinner service, today there is more attention on the part of the cleaning staff who are always operational throughout the production cycle.” THE KITCHEN IS A WORLD OF ITS OWN In the kitchen everyone is subject to the head chef and everyone moves with speed to guarantee the customer a hot dish. In recent months, however, the rhythms in the back of Italian restaurants have changed. They have been recalibrated, both because of the revisiting and remodelling of the dishes, and because the premises have had to adapt to a downsizing of the receptivity. Those activities that had large spaces had to reduce the number of seats by about 35%, while the smaller ones, on the other hand, underwent an average revision of 50%. “Covid also affected the plating MAGAZINE