Clean of infection but not of flavour

Two hundred years ago, cookery books told us that we had to hang game in its feathers for at least three weeks, that maggots were good and that the smell, albeit unpleasant, was natural and good for flavour. It's a sad fact that today's methods of catering mean that we sanitise first and think of flavour second.

Now we must purchase our game pre-packed, from a supplier in a refrigerated van, wearing a white coat and a hat. He will have a due diligence contract in his folder and will be able to tell us that the game in question will have been in turn sourced from a supplier who will have gone through the same process.

We are required to please the inspector first and the customer's palate second. Customers want to know that the kitchens where their food is prepared are clean and hygienic. They do not want the grubby fingers and wooden preparation tables of the Middle Ages, and rightly so.

But I believe that there has to be some form of poetic licence if we are to avoid the cardboard steaks and the insipid juices that the catering industry now calls sauces and soups simply because their hands and creative spirits are being held to ransom.

Those who dig in their own gardens for vegetables five minutes before they cook will understand the fundamentals of taste. Those who scrape the burnt remains of the Sunday roast tin and blend it with unrefined butter will agree. We have become scared to eat what is right and good and natural about food.

Training organisations are being forced to produce an army of cooks who know that, in theory, a properly simmered stock will produce a delicious gravy or jus. But, in the real world, will they be allowed to exercise that theory or will it fade to the memories that secure other long-lost skills?

This method of cooking can only be done if the cook manages to break down the stock into containers that will cool in a short period of time within a blast-chiller device. They are taught that meat will benefit from hanging in a cold room for an extended period of time, but it's a no-no if the kitchen does not have a completely separate area for the work that goes into dissecting it.

Few colleges can afford to pay for the necessary updated equipment that is required to cater to the whims of these bureaucrats who dictate the rules but relinquish the responsibility for squeezing those who are working towards achieving those goals.

If any other craft were to become the subject of such heavy-handed scrutiny, it would be choked to death.

The craft of taste and pleasure is being turned into a function rather than an experience, and simply because catering schools have to teach students that the first point of any meal is that it is safe to eat, and never mind that it fails to resemble what it should.

Everybody should be taught about food safety, not just the specific few. How many food poisoning incidents could have been prevented simply because a homeowner did not store raw and cooked products in the correct manner in their own fridge? Yet frequently the blame is put on the restaurant, and of course the copious amounts of alcohol consumed and the incorrectly stored meat at home in the fridge had nothing to do with it.

Colleges and catering establishments should be allowed the benefit of a tax break or grant for improving the safety of the product in our training and production kitchens. The authorities should also implement a training programme for the general public in the hazards of ignoring food safety. Food safety training is everyone's problem.

The catering professional should not be left alone holding up a due diligence contract and a hygiene certificate. Maybe when the basic needs are understood by all, then we real professionals will be able to get on with creating great food with tasteand pleasure foremost in our thoughts.

James Grimes is a freelance catering tutor and instructor at various training centres in Ireland. He is also executive chef of Clancy's of Cork

Average costs to colleges and businesses

• A stand-alone blast-chiller device that will meet requirements for a busy kitchen will cost in excess of IR£4,000 (£3,016).

• A fully segregated area and fridges for meat/fish/vegetable production will require a minimum of IR£12,000 (£9,048) depending on size and output.

• An external Hazard Analysis Consultant who will produce a plan for your kitchen will cost a minimum of IR£1,000 (£754) depending on size.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 27 April - 3 May 2000