SC - HELP!!!!!

[Weiszbrod, Barbara A]

Weiszbrod, Barbara A wrote:

> This brings up a question.  What does everyone think about asking our
> cooks to get a Food Managers Certificate.  The name varies state to
> state, but what I am talking about is the basic food handlers class.  It
> seems like it was not very expensive, if memory serves, and is a half
> day class.  Maybe not all the cooks, but maybe at least one in a local
> group?

Been suggesting it for years. And yes, even if not all the cooks actually have
the certification, it is both useful for training and insurance purposes for at
least one member of each group, or one person on site, to have it. I recall my
certification took something like 4 mornings to acquire, and cost perhaps 100
dollars. For me it was worth it for professional reasons.

> Let me tell you a story.  In my first year in the SCA I was employed at
> a restaurant in New York.  The day of our event a young couple called to
> ask me why the pot of pork casserole (for lack of a better term) was
> bubbling with no heat under it.  It turns out they had cooked it
> Thursday night, left it on the stove to cook over night, cooked it some
> more Friday and again left it on the stove (they said their fridge
> wasn't big enough).  I told them to toss it.  Anything creating that
> much gas on its own was just scary to me.  They took it to the event
> anyway, and when I got there the head cook was about to serve it.

Ah, meat beer. If we're not careful, this is going to degenerate into a Horror
Story thread, which can be amusing, but I don't know if that was the original
intent. Suffice it to say a cook well-known throughout most of the SCA brought
a previously-cooked pot of pea soup to an event in the East, warm from the
previous night's cooking. It spent the day in the trunk of a dark-colored car,
in the hot sunshine, and did rather resemble bubbly green beer. I believe it
was served, but I'm not sure; I got out of there.

> I was able to dissuade her from that, but imagine if I hadn't?  We make
> a big deal about safety on the field, but we actually stand to hurt far
> more people with a feast prepared by someone that just isn't used to
> handling that quantity of food in a safe manner.
>
> Any thoughts?

Funny how most of us won't think twice about throwing away other types of
ruined food, like burned roasts or something. I wonder if the idea is that no
one will really get sick, and no one will notice the stuff was bubbling? Could
it be some kind of pride issue?

Just a comment or two more on the food-handler's or sanitation certification:
I've found that there are many cooks who feel doing the job is difficult enough
without somebody making it harder. My feeling is that if you're not prepared to
do the job to the satisfaction, confidence, and benefit of others, then you
probably shouldn't be doing it. I _have_ been told that I was unreasonable to
expect things like disinfectant to be used at certain times, thermometers to be
used for any purpose other than determining the doneness of meats, etc.
Ultimately the consensus of quite a few cooks I dealt with is that that stuff
is okay for professionals, but I shouldn't make waves in this department, and
no one was bound to "obey" my "rules" if they didn't feel like it. Not that I
ever indicated otherwise, of course.

On the other hand, for what it's worth, I believe the SCA won't ever mandate
that cooks do acquire some kind of minimal certification, because they would
not want to be seen as responsible for the actions of a cook. Not until some
court says they _are_ responsible, that is. If the BOD demands we are
certified, it is sort of tacit approval of the actions of those cooks who _are_
so certified, which could be interpreted by some as meaning the SCA Inc. is
liable in every case of ptomaine or what-have-you.

In case anyone is wondering, the above paragraph is based on a conversation I
had with a recent chairman of the B.O.D., on that subject...

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com


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