Overview

For many people, the mere mention of seafood can conjure up images of succulent fish cooked to juicy perfection, served with delicate sauces. Or perhaps peeling the shell off crayfish and prawns before devouring them. For others, seafood is eaten only occasionally as an alternative to other preferred foods. Some even reject it outright, for religious reasons or because they do not enjoy the flavours or textures. Others still, suffer severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) and must avoid even the smallest traces in their diet.

In other words, while seafood is extremely popular, it is not for everybody.

Love it or hate it, seafood plays a major role in menus and cuisine styles all over the world. Many restaurants are dedicated solely to the preparation and service of seafood, while others simply include a range of seafood choices to balance and complement the overall menu. Seafood in its many forms can be found virtually anywhere food is served. This could be at a fine dining restaurant, simple café, factory canteen or a pub out in central Australia.

Because of the relative high cost and delicate nature of seafood, you need to be able to select, portion, prepare, cook, serve and store it to a high standard to reduce wastage and control food costs.

Following the principles and techniques contained in this resource will not only assist with avoiding food contamination, but also extend your culinary repertoire and extend the menu offerings available to your customers.

There is a lot to learn in order to develop your expertise, but isn’t that one of the things that attracted you to professional cookery in the first place?

In this unit you will learn how to:

• Select and store seafood
• Prepare and cook fish and shellfish
• Present fish and shellfish.