News – 2023-07-14
Corporate catering is increasingly transforming from a dusty canteen into a modern company restaurant serving healthy, varied meals. In some companies, there is practically no discernible difference from a-la-carte dishes, star chefs are increasingly enjoying bringing new ideas to corporate catering. But ideas alone are not enough, they also have to be implemented. And the right kitchen technology plays an important role in this.
Company catering has very different faces: Counter with pizza, soups, salads or pasta, traditional food service and even with table service. Sometimes the food is freshly prepared directly in front of the customers, sometimes Cook & Chill is used, sometimes Cook & Serve. And it is always important to offer guests as much variety as possible. Martin Wolf, Segment Director Catering at RATIONAL, says: "There should be something different on the menu every day, as well as variety of vegetarian and meat or seafood dishes." However, Mr Wolf is also aware that it is not ideas or recipes that stand in the way of change, but often the kitchen equipment that is not able to offer the required flexibility.
Mr Wolf believes that the challenge has largely been overcome with the iVario from RATIONAL. This is because the cooking system, which looks like a tilting pan, holds between 100 and 150 litres, depending on the model, and replaces tilting pans, pots and pressure cookers in catering. The dishes that can be prepared vary accordingly: from large roasts and overnight cooking, to perfectly cooked pasta or vegetables and pan-fried dishes. Up to 4 times faster and with up to 40% less energy compared with conventional kitchen technology. This is made possible by the heating system, which is extremely powerful on the one hand, but also extremely responsive. Milk does not boil over and rice pudding does not burn, even though the chef does not have to supervise the cooking process. The cooking system will only call when someone needs to intervene, for example to turn the steak or add water to a casserole. Even pasta and vegetables are automatically removed from the water thanks to the automatic raising and lowering mechanism.
"In industry catering, large quantities often have to be cooked in a short time," says Martin Wolf. "That’s why the iVario is optionally available with a pressure cooking function." Potatoes and legumes, for example, are cooked up to 35% faster and, as the cooking expert assures us, without any reduction in quality. As the pressure cooking function does not require any maintenance, it quickly pays for itself.
The two-pan units are ideal if more flexibility is required for individual dishes, with a capacity of 25 litres per pan in the iVario Pro 2-S and 17 litres per pan in the iVario XS. This means that two pans are available, each of which can be used to prepare different dishes. "This function is frequently used in catering for cooking the food fresh in front of the guest," says Wolf.
For Wolf, it goes without saying that corporate catering is changing more and more, including to retain or attract specialists. He believes that the use of flexible kitchen technology is not yet a matter of course. And this should change very quickly for the benefit of the guest.