Catering is one of those things that happens randomly. It is not making 50 plates a night. It is making 300 plates in an hour. Usually not in your own kitchen.
It is the last part that gets me into trouble.
I was recently putting together a bid for a gathering. I have a list of my catering supplies and I was going down what we had, the capacity, etc. with my client.
The food was set, the portions, the plating… Which was easy for me because most of it was in buffet form. I love buffets. You can add and subtract as needed without it looking odd.
I went through the things I needed a day before, putting things together as needed. And then I blew my top.
You see, the last time I had used my chocolate fountain, my assistant, who I had worked with before and assured me that he knew how to clean things, was the one who cleaned and packed the chocolate fountain. I had not made sure, other than glancing at things as he packed, that things were right.
A chocolate fountain has two main components: The heater & the auger. The rest of it is decoration and splash guard.
What I hadn’t realized was, when I asked if he knew, and he said yes, was that he had never dealt with such a thing before, but did not want me to know. So, he took it completely apart. And lost a nut. But it really wasn’t needed because he had to break the auger to get at the nut.
Chocolate fountains are always available. The thing is, to buy one in warm weather instead of during the post-holiday sales is VERY EXPENSIVE. I will eat the cost. It is the way of the cook and caterer. Equipment is the second most expensive thing we have. The first is the people.
Especially when they break things.
Sigh.
Chef Rena
Uh oh… I need a new gaylord, too. I wonder what died in there…