Making Cooking a Snap with Frozen Foods

Professional Cookery Teacher Dale Lyman often starts his day by pulling a bag of berries out of his freezer to make a healthy smoothie before heading into work at William Angliss Institute. After almost 40 years in commercial kitchens, including fine dining restaurants, Dale is a convert when it comes to the benefits of using frozen produce.

‘The majority of the industry uses a fair bit of frozen food,’ Dale says. ‘A mate of mine had a pub up in Stawell and they'd buy their lamb shanks already made so all he had to do is heat them up, serve them with a mash and put some garnish and green veg on it. He knows the cost. He knows the labour. It's an easy option.’

Dale was only 12 when he realised he wanted to be a chef. Five years later, he snared an apprenticeship at a Two Hat restaurant before making the move into fine dining. After a stint overseas, he worked at Florentino and Adelphi before taking a position at food and hospitality training provider William Angliss Institute, to pass on the knowledge he’d gleaned behind the stove. Dale now runs the Angliss Bistro as well as teaching everything from soup stocks and sauces to desserts - and the benefits of appropriately using frozen food, including quality control, consistency, convenience and savings.

Quality

Fresh is definitely not always the best option in the kitchen, according to Dale. 'We'd all love to take our little wicker market basket to the Vic Market and buy our seafood, but the reality is we don’t know how long it's been sitting there or how long it took to get there, whilst anything deep sea is pretty well snap frozen at sea. The same with vegetables, they are picked when they are at their best. They are usually processed pretty close to the farms so, when you open up your packet of peas or broad beans or corn, they're pretty well at their peak,' Dale says.

'My wife says opening up a fresh avocado is like having a first date; you’re not quite sure what it's like until you get into it, but when you buy frozen you know you’re going to get the specs you want.'

Consistency

Frozen produce is consistent, Dale says. ‘Particularly with seafood; all the prawns are graded, the scallops are graded, so you're going to get what you want, when you want it. Storage is easy. You keep it in the freezer until you pull it out for that day and it's virtually as fresh as it was coming out of the ocean.’

Convenience

Whilst people talk about the benefits of eating in season, the reality is customers want to indulge in their favourite foods all year round. 'If you've got avocado smash on the menu then using frozen avocado is going to be cost effective and convenient.' Frozen produce has an extended shelf-life, so it is invaluable for eateries that need to cope with peaks and troughs in custom.

'Your local cafe or pub doesn't know on a Thursday night if they're going to do 50 or 150 meals, so having frozen food in the freezer is a good option rather than stocking up your cool rooms with fresh fruit and veg when you don’t know if you're going to use it.'

Savings

Frozen product can also help with time, labour, storage space and cost factors. 'In a commercial kitchen, if you're going to make 100 green pea, mint and fetta fritters, you're probably not going to buy five kilos of fresh peas and pod them and then blanch them and then puree them and mash them with your mint and your feta,’ Dale says. ‘You’re going to need and want frozen peas.' Buying pre-peeled fruit and vegetables also makes calculating meal sizes easier. 'With some ready-made products, portion control is done for you so all you have to do is open it up and defrost it - and away you go.'

Dale's Pea Mint and Feta Fritter

SERVES 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups Edgell green garden peas

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• 80 grams feta cheese

• 1 spring onion, finely sliced

• 1/8 bunch mint leaves, finely shredded

• 1 lemon zest, finely grated

• salt and white ground pepper to taste

• 60grams self-raising flour

• 40ml olive oil

Method

Defrost peas and roughly mash with a fork. Stir through the eggs, cheese, spring onion, flour, mint, and lemon zest, salt and pepper until well combined. Heat oil in a non-stick fry pan over a low heat. Place pea fritters into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side.