You don’t want your customers to remember your food for all the wrong reasons, so it’s important to know what to do if your staff have got the trots or start vomiting.

Eating outdoors tends to be relaxing and informal. Warm temperatures, sunny days and holidays are ideal for barbecues, picnics and eating alfresco. However, these warm temperatures and lingering times are also the ideal conditions for bugs. Good food hygiene practises are the key to fun and happy times - nobody wants to remember a bout of food-borne illness.
 

Pears have long been a popular choice in desserts on cold wintry evenings, but American and New Zealand pear growers are encouraging people to use the fruit in other ways with their “Smarten Up Your Summer with Pears” campaign. This was kicked off with a luncheon for key food writers, who indulged in five delicious courses developed by AUT culinary arts lecturer, John Kelleher, and the team at Piko restaurant. Dishes included a summer pear salad and goat’s cheese tower, pork belly and pear persillade with caponata of pears and barbecue smoked pear puree, and what many considered the standout dish – caramelised pear with muscovado ice cream and pistachio soil. Consider incorporating this versatile fruit into your own menu with this dessert recipe:

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of dining at Wildfire Restaurant in Sydney. Owner Tonci Farac took me on a tour of the restaurant explaining how his chefs used a hard wood known as ironwood in the flame barbecues. Whole joints of meat were subtly marinated and then cooked on long metal rods at high temperature to seal in the juices. He called it Brazilian barbecue and it was such a success his restaurant was packed for most seatings. When I tasted the meat, the flavour was like nothing I had ever eaten from a barbecue before – it was and is still one of the best I have ever tasted. While caterers have been very successful here in New Zealand with spit roasting as an outdoor food service, many are yet to catch on to the barbecue trend which is phenomenal in North America, Australia and definitely making its mark in the UK. 

With summer on its way, maybe it is time to look at barbecue catering as an extension of your operation. 

Domino’s Pizza is dishing out dinner to deserving families in the lead up to Christmas.

“The Christmas period is a stressful time for many people and this year the impact of the recession may make it even harder for some New Zealanders.  We want to help take the pressure off Kiwi families by providing dinner on Domino’s, delivered right to the door,” says Ryan Bohm, general manager, Domino’s Pizza New Zealand.

Pre-dinner canapés or a cocktail party – when it comes to serving mini morsels there are a lot of things to consider. At the same time, trying to keep ahead of your opposition in trends and styling takes considerable effort. According to Steve Barton, executive chef at Ellerslie Events Centre, the most important factor is to know your clientele.

To the delight of food lovers everywhere, a wide variety of authentic ethnic cuisines have now become available in New Zealand. From Thai, Chinese, Malaysian and Japanese cuisines, to even Korean and Indian foods – the varieties are endless. Today supermarket chains and distributors have aisles dedicated to a wide range of authentic ethnic flavours in the form of prepackaged meals, prepared sauces and ground spices; and restaurants specialising in Asian cuisine have become popular choices amongst New Zealanders.