1. Nathan Hurst Catering Controlled assessment
Evaluation
Suitability
My task was to cook a starter and a main from a country of my choice and I chose authentic dishes from
Italy (which were lasagne and minestrone soup) with 2 different accompaniments such as my bocconcini
salad and homemade garlic bread in the time scale of three hours. I met this task successfully due to all my
dishes being cooked and presented in the time scale provided. The dishes I cooked showed a variety of
practical skills including: bread making for my garlic bread, and various cutting methods such asjulienne
etc. for my salad. The cooking methods I used were frying and baking. I carried out research before
choosing my dishes to help me gain a better understanding of international cuisine. I also practiced my
chosen dishes in preparation of the practical exam.
The main dish was Lasagne which turned out wrong due to the pasta sheets curling up because there was no
sauce covering the sheets. This meant that thepasta burned and curled up whilst the lasagne was cooking
which customers would not accept in a professional restaurant due to it not looking appealing and not
beingcooked to a high standard. Although the pasta sheets were burnt and had to be removed so there was no
pasta sheets, the lasagne tasted delicious due to the white sauce and the meatinesscombining together. Also,
the mince I used in my lasagne added to the texture of my lasagne which was soft and tender.The béchamel
sauce made the dish creamy and soft and the mince made the dish meaty and adding to the thickness of the
dish. The appearance of my lasagne looked a bit liquidy/oily due to there being no pasta sheets to separate
each section of my dish e.g.) the béchamel sauce and the meat, which caused them to mix making the dish
look liquidy.
The starter dish minestrone soup ended up being ok with just one minor error which was that the vegetables
needed to be cooked for a longer period of time due to the vegetables still being fairly hard and not soft
enough, but overall the flavour of the dish was very good due to the vegetables bringing out various flavours
to make the dish taste how it should taste: sweet, earthy, and tomatoey which would be accepted by
customers in a restaurant because it has been cooked and made properly with just a small error (vegetables
needed to be cooked longer to make them softer). The texture of the dish was thick and soft due to the
vegetables and the stock thickening the dish up and making it smooth and very soft. The appearance of the
dish was mixed with different colours from the vegetables and stock, which made the dish very appetising
and tasty.
The Bocconcini salad turned out to look very appealing due to the colours from the mozzarella, tomatoes
and the herbs, and drizzled with oil to add that extra bit of flavour to the dish and to make it look a bit more
appealing also the colours are of the Italian flag. The texture of the dish was very soft and smooth and the
flavours the dish were great, the lovely tanginess of the tomatoes and the savoury taste of the mozzarella
combined made the dish taste amazing which would be acceptable to customer standards.
I also made garlic bread which I chose to do during the exam because I had enough time to make it. Garlic
bread is also a traditional accompaniment dish which customers will be able to dip into their minestrone
dish. The textures of the garlic bread were a bit tough but still soft enough to chew. The flavours that the
garlic breadhad was very garlicky due to it being garlic bread and it was also a bit salty.
The selling price per portion of my lasagne is £3.39 but I think I could sell it for £5.00 which is £1.35 profit
on the lasagne. The sum to calculate profit is £5.00 (selling price) - £3.65 (cost price) = £1.35 profit and also
£5.00 is a reasonable price which customers will be willing to pay. The selling price per portion of my
minestrone soup is £2.16 but I thinkI could sell it for £4.00 which is £1.84 profit. The sum to calculate profit
is £4.00 (selling price) - £2.16 (cost price) = £1.84 profit and £4.00 pound will be a price that customers will
be willing to pay due to the price being reasonable for a minestrone soup. When running a restaurant it is
important to get profit due to you having to pay bills and peoples wages which you will not able to do if you
didn’t get profit off the dishes you are selling and not make any money.The selling price per portion of my
salad is £2.04 but I think I could sell it for £3.00which is 96p profit on the salad. The sum I used to calculate

2. Nathan Hurst Catering Controlled assessment
the profit is £3.00 (selling price)-£2.04 (cost price) =96p profit and £3.00 is a reasonable price to pay for a
salad.
I think that my dishes are suitable as part of a balanced diet but some dishes such as my lasagne which
needs to be eaten in moderation. The nutritional valueof my lasagne is it is not suitable for a balanced diet
due to the dish containing a lot of saturated fat and salt which is not ok because it is double the daily amount
that a women should have. A diet high in fat can lead to obesity and a lot of salt in a diet is bad for the heart.
The lasagne does contain nutrients such as carbohydrates and protein which is good for the body because
carbohydrates give us energy and protein builds our body cells and muscles. The dish is also low in sugar so
it makes the dish a little healthier, I could make this dish healthier by replacing the mince with quorn which
is healthier because it is lower in fat and is suitable for a vegetarian to eat. I could also change the pasta
sheets to wheat free sheets for a coeliac.The nutritional value of my minestrone soup is that it is healthy due
to containing little fat, saturated fat, and sugar but the dish contains a vast amount of salt which is bad for
your heart. The vegetables are an excellent source of vitamins and I can reduce the amount of salt to make it
healthier. The salad was healthy because it provides calcium from the cheese and vitamins from the
vegetables. My garlic bread is a good source of energy because it is high in carbohydrates. To make it
healthier I could use wholemeal bread instead of normal bread.
The things I could do to improve my dishes if I were to make them again is that I would make sure that the
Lasagne pasta sheets did not burn and curl up so that the dish did actually have lasagne sheets in the dish. I
would also make sure that the lasagne was layered correctly so that the pasta sheets had sauce covering
them. I could make a vegetarian version using vegetables and quorn mince which also makes the dish
healthier. The Lasagne is a very popular dish in Italy but I could have been more adventurous and cooked a
selection of antipasti dishes such as: braciole, bruschetta, bresaola, and capicollo. As a main dish I could
have cooked a risotto or a fish dish such as calamari. I could have done an authentic Italian desert such as
tiramisu or pana cotta.