[Sca-cooks] professional cooks-- reality check wanted

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Olwen the Odd:
>>Hi Guys... can i get some feedback on how much staff and prep time a 'cold
>>buffet for 800' would require for a professional? I'm talking fruit,
>>cheese, meat (or meat pasties), pickles, bread/pastry, etc. nothing fancy.
>>
>>-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
>
>In reality a professional caterer would buy presliced or cubed 
>cheese, pre-prepped (peeled, cubed) fresh fruit, bread, individual 
>butters or jellies, pasteries and frozen meat pies and a tub of 
>pickles or olives.  If they didn't have to haul and set up their own 
>tables then set up would take the amount of cook time for the 
>pasties plus about an hour or less for table decoration (cloth, 
>napkin, plastic ware, etc.) and opening bags and containers. 
>Probably two to three hours tops, inclusive.
>Olwen

I'm sure there are professional caterers who do that, but I've never 
actually seen one myself. I suppose it comes down to how else they 
spend their time when not working on that particular job, and whether 
the extra money laid out for the more expensive pre-prepped items 
equalled the savings in staff salaries.

I remember seeing an interesting cheese-cubing machine for sale on 
eBay a year or so ago, and thinking Eisental would be a good home for 
it...

Adamantius