The kitchen is one area which is not in direct contact with guests. Thus, the need for modern technology (in terms of information technology, not cooking), has been not thought of much and this has been one area which has been left out of the keyboards and monitors. The times, however, are changing and chefs have started to realise the need for modern systems to be introduced in the kitchen.
Computers have become as essential a part of the food production areas as normal kitchen equipment. Manual systems are getting thrown out for more modern, automated and computerised systems to take care of the day-to-day routine jobs requiring much of the productive time.
Functions like indenting etc. have all slowly started to become automated, relieving chefs from the headaches of calculating and processing stocks in the kitchen and of speculating the next day’s requirements. Computers can accurately predict, by taking into account the previous records and trends and the requirements of the next day, rather than just speculating and over indenting.
The introduction of the electronic point of sales systems have also increased the capability of the functionality of computers in the kitchen by integrating it to the EPOS system and further on to the property management systems which help in generating real time reports for view by the senior management.
The Internet has also opened new windows to the field of food production, by providing vast amounts of data on everything from experimental recipes to producers and manufacturers. Chefs can get to know of new developments in the field of cooking and can check out virtual demos of the latest cooking equipment available.
They can check online glossaries for any terms they are not familiar with. Online purchases are also now possible for kitchen equipment and ingredients.
Information on varied subjects like coffee, wine, chocolate and shrimps are available online. Besides, information regarding any of these topics, also included are tips, how to use them, recipes etc.
Thus, computers in the foods production department can have varied uses and, it is time that chefs get used to the modern technology and start applying it to their profession for better productivity and up-to-date knowledge, rather than get scared and stay away.
