Please find comments below from Ian Leadbetter, National Corporate Chef at Rational
Several trends have emerged in banqueting recently. For example, the demands of maintaining social distancing for larger events has seen a reduction of self-serve buffets and an increase in bowl food menus as well as more intimate, private parties with plated dinners. Both these approaches can be made easier with the latest iCombi Pro cooking system from Rational, thanks to its intelligent assistants and Finishing programme. This allows for a variety of pre-prepared meals to be brought up to serving temperature while keeping the food in perfect condition in terms of flavour, texture, and vitamins.
The ability of Rational cooking systems to maintain the healthy properties of food during the cooking process also helps with the continued growth of the trend for healthy, plant-based meals. The iVario Pro is ideal for preparing large batches of healthy foods like pulses and rice – even at the same time with the two pan models. Meanwhile, the iCombi Pro’s steam generator provides an efficient and speedy method of cooking vegetables and other proteins.
We’ve also seen an increase in demand for traditional, nostalgic comfort foods as well as for global cuisines. People want to be reminded of the good times, of family memories or happy holidays. Dishes like custard or Macaroni cheese are easy to prepare with Rational cooking systems. For example, the iVario Pro could be used to boil a batch of pasta as well as making the cheese sauce before being transferred to the iCombi Pro for finishing – with the ability to create the perfect crispy browning, or any desired result.
Conference centres are looking for ways to lower their carbon footprints through a variety of methods. This can include ways to improve the venue itself, travel to and from it, accommodation and ways to improve the efficiency of food production while reducing waste.
Reducing the amount of miles travelled both for guests and food is a big consideration. The increasing growth of events that combine virtual and in person elements reduces the number of attendees travelling there, while the smaller catering requirement for these events makes it easier to source food from local suppliers.
One of the biggest ways to cut energy usage in event catering is to use advanced multifunctional cooking systems like the iCombi Pro and iVario Pro. The shorter cooking times, enhanced energy efficiency and ability to prepare a variety of foods at the same time can make significant reductions on energy consumption compared to a traditional cookline.
Many operators face two key challenges with high volume catering. On the one hand, there’s the need to serve hundreds of diners at the same time, with all the food having to be of consistent quality and at exactly the same high standard. On the other, there’s frequently changing staff, some temporary, others of differing abilities – an issue that has been highlighted by the pandemic and Brexit. However, modern multifunctional cooking systems, such as the iVario Pro and iCombi Pro, have advanced technologies that can deliver effective solutions to meet these challenges.
Rational’s iVario Pro multifunctional cooking system and iCombi Pro combi steamer are both intuitive to use, work independently, and automatically adjust the cooking process to the current circumstances. For example, in the iCombi Pro the intelligent assistant technology recognises the size and load quantity of the food, adjusts the cooking process accordingly and reliably delivers the desired result.
Since these intelligent cooking systems can take on many routine tasks, such as monitoring different foods as they cook, uniform results are easier to achieve.
The iVario Pro is excellent at preparing a large volume of dishes very efficiently, with less waste and requiring less staff.
Meanwhile the iCombi Pro’s Finishing System allows chefs to prepare food in advance in a relaxed, stress-free atmosphere and then serve it later piping hot - whether it’s for 20 or 2,000 diners at a time. The Finishing process controls the reheating of food to ensure that it retains all its flavour and texture, exactly as if it had been freshly cooked. The Finishing System uses the iCombi Pro in conjunction with Rational’s mobile food trolleys and the Thermocover. It allows plated meals that have been pre-prepared and finished in the iCombi to stay at the optimum temperature for up to 20 minutes after finishing.
In order to make it easier for new or inexperienced employees, the iVario Pro and iCombi Pro have the MyDisplay function. Here, only the chef’s chosen dishes are shown on the control touchscreen. To avoid language challenges, the cooking programs are labelled with photos of the individual dishes. All the user need do is touch the image to start the process.
