The march forward
When professionals get to work in their kitchen, lab or bakery, they are (if they are conscientious) very sensitive to hygiene and cleanliness.
It is impossible for a good baker for example to do a day's work without regularly cleaning the table where he or she works, and it is even more frequent for pastry cooks or cooks who handle more sensitive products such as MFE (meat-fish-eggs) which can easily be a source of contamination if strict hygiene and temperature respect are not respected.
It is impossible for a good baker for example to do a day's work without regularly cleaning the table where he or she works, and it is even more frequent for pastry cooks or cooks who handle more sensitive products such as MFE (meat-fish-eggs) which can easily be a source of contamination if strict hygiene and temperature respect are not respected.
14 K 5/5 (22 reviews)
Keywords for this post:HygieneProcedureCleanlinessUsesHaccpLast modified on: June 30th 2021
The march forward
They have a whole series of rules and ways of doing things, one in particular being that "the dirty never crosses the clean", otherwise known as the "forward march". This means that in a kitchen, all the products go in one place, the waste goes out another, and the processed products yet another. For carrots, for example, the necessarily earthy carrot boxes enter through a door, are washed, peeled, washed again, the wash water is changed, the peelings are discarded (hopefully composted) and the clean carrots enter the kitchen to be processed. With the forward motion, the peelings will never cross paths with the clean carrots again.
Not with as much rigor of course, but we can still be inspired by it, and then especially it makes life easier on the work surface. In practice, it's always better to work in one direction, which varies if you are right or left handed.
Here is a specific example: breaking eggs in a bowl, simple? Simple! but a little method is not bad either, see :
On this picture, we are going to break eggs to put them in the bowl of a food processor in the middle, it's really quite simple, but :
- The eggs are on the right hand side (for a right handed person), easy to access
- You break them on top of the bowl which is in the middle
- When it's done, you put the shells on the left hand side, not on the right hand side, and on a sheet of newspaper that preserves the work surface
- Once it's done, we fold the newspaper on the shells and go to the bin. The work surface remains clean and clear.
The eggs have thus followed the direction of the green arrow, the "forward march".
Of course for a left-handed person it would be more convenient the other way around.
This way of doing things, all French apprentices learn it at the very beginning of their training, they never put peelings, shells, trimmings or any other waste directly on the work surface, they always have in a corner a "dustbin" (a simple bowl for us) where all the waste goes which is never left for a long time near the food.
It's quite simple, more hygienic, more practical and a very good way to work in your kitchen.
To sum up: Think of always working in the same direction on your work surface, to avoid crossing clean food with raw food.
What about us?
In our kitchen, should we do the same?Not with as much rigor of course, but we can still be inspired by it, and then especially it makes life easier on the work surface. In practice, it's always better to work in one direction, which varies if you are right or left handed.
Here is a specific example: breaking eggs in a bowl, simple? Simple! but a little method is not bad either, see :
On this picture, we are going to break eggs to put them in the bowl of a food processor in the middle, it's really quite simple, but :
- The eggs are on the right hand side (for a right handed person), easy to access
- You break them on top of the bowl which is in the middle
- When it's done, you put the shells on the left hand side, not on the right hand side, and on a sheet of newspaper that preserves the work surface
- Once it's done, we fold the newspaper on the shells and go to the bin. The work surface remains clean and clear.
The eggs have thus followed the direction of the green arrow, the "forward march".
Of course for a left-handed person it would be more convenient the other way around.
This way of doing things, all French apprentices learn it at the very beginning of their training, they never put peelings, shells, trimmings or any other waste directly on the work surface, they always have in a corner a "dustbin" (a simple bowl for us) where all the waste goes which is never left for a long time near the food.
It's quite simple, more hygienic, more practical and a very good way to work in your kitchen.
To sum up: Think of always working in the same direction on your work surface, to avoid crossing clean food with raw food.
Lasts posts
Your oven in "proofer" mode
In the bakery, proofing is a crucial stage in the process of making light, plump breads and pastries. During proofing, the yeast ferments the sugars present in the dough, releasing carbon dioxide which forms bubbles. This process allows the dough to swell and aerate, guaranteeing a soft, light...September 27th 20247375
The right size of zucchini
When you buy zucchini at the market, you're often offered a wide variety of sizes, from very small to very large. But which ones to choose? Here are a few tips.September 9th 20241,7235
The (small) miracle of béchamel sauce
Making a béchamel sauce is going to confront you with a little miracle that happens every time: You pour milk over a roux, it's very liquid, you stir over a low heat, and then all of a sudden, miracle, the sauce sets, it thickens, you've got your béchamel. Let's see what happened.August 27th 20242,2384
Pastry doughs
To make a classic tart, you'll need a pastry of course, and if you don't use puff pastry (normally reserved for "fine", in french, tarts), you'll have a choice of shortcrust, shortbread, sweetcrust or "à foncer". Let's take a look at the differences between these four.August 16th 20242,7114.4
A few tips on homemade ice cream
If you make ice cream at home, which is a very, very good idea, you'll find a few tips and tricks in this article that should make your life easier. Combined with the site's ice cream recipes, they'll help you improve your production, to the delight of everyone around you, children first.August 11th 20242,6855
Other pages you may also like
Is it really necessary to cream egg yolks?
Let’s try and answer a question that crops up in cookery and patisserie, even if it verges on the existential: do the egg yolks in a custard recipe really need to be beaten until pale, or not?February 28th 201838 K4.3
Perpetual stock
It's something you have probably have done yourself: cooked or pre-cooked vegetables before adding them to a recipe. This is almost always done the same way: peel the chosen vegetables (carrots, for example), cut them up, boil them in salted water (using a tablespoon or so of coarse salt per litre),...November 22th 201624 K5
Drawing a pattern in pastry
Often in the kitchen, in pastry-making, or in baking, we need to trace a pattern on a pastry. It's just a question of aesthetics but it has its effect after baking on a galette, pithiviers, pâté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), etc.May 23th 201927 K4.1
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .February 7th 2017122 K 14.1
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.June 21th 201756 K 24.2
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.