Letters

Oliver's efforts should be admired and encouraged

A postbag full of letters about the TV documentary series Jamie's Kitchen this week, with more to follow next week. What's your view?

I must take issue with David Foskett's negative attitude to Jamie's Kitchen (Caterer, 28 November, page 18).

I believe that someone like Jamie Oliver, using his TV presence to promote the industry, provides far more of a boost to recruitment than months of traditional campaigns and initiatives.

It is regrettable that large numbers of students from industry courses such as those provided by Thames Valley University still choose alternative careers after graduation, which underlines the difficulties of attracting the young into our industry and persuading them to stay. Surely efforts such as Jamie Oliver's should be supported and encouraged, even if it they do not appeal to the more traditional elements.

GEORGE ROBERTSON, Cruise Division, Retail, Leisure & Commercial, Berkeley Scott Group.

I agree wholeheartedly with David Foskett's sentiments on the state of training in some colleges. A couple of years ago I worked with a young student. He was an enthusiastic and good-natured lad, but he had not even been trained in basic knife skills at college and so was constantly cutting himself, and when he chopped food, much of it went on the floor and was trailed into the dining room.

The best training comes from working with the best, and I was fortunate to work with some very experienced people in good, old-fashioned service, both front and back of house. Nothing beats it.

MALCOLM DUNN, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria.

We thought it might be interesting to ask chefs who spend every working day in the kitchen to give their feedback on Jamie's Kitchen, so we did a straw poll of chefs who contacted our office this morning.

Interestingly, not one mentioned the bad language or the fact that lecturers cuddled the students. However, they did mention the hard work Jamie put in. He showed that to be a good chef you need passion, and you need to care about every aspect of cooking.

One chef said: "Showing what it's really like in a kitchen demonstrates just how hard it is to be a chef. You need commitment." Another said: "Jamie has done something very brave. It is very difficult to recruit good chefs nowadays. I think the future is a matter of growing your own chefs."

And our permanent chef recruitment consultant, Claire Monjack, said: "I think it is very easy for people to sit back and criticise Jamie. However, I do think this documentary has shown people just how passionate he is."

NICOLA PLATT, Managing Director, The Mayday Group, London.

Although I admire the fact that Jamie Oliver is taking the trouble and time (with the help of TV producers) to give youngsters an opportunity, but I don't think age is on his side.

Like many others in this industry, I had to spend a few years' hard slog at catering college, and many more years gaining experience, and so I lost my cool when I saw Jamie take some fillet steaks ("bosh") and whack them in poaching water ("splash").

Is this the correct approach? Whatever happened to a bit of classic training first?

GARETH DAVIES, the Snail at Stone Street, Sevenoaks, Kent.

Is outsourcing the answer?

Marie-B‚atrice Lallemand, general manager of the Hilton London Metropole, advocates outsourcing (Caterer, 5 December, page 4).

I have just returned from a week at a five-star South African golfing hotel which has outsourced its food and beverage operation.

It was a brilliant hotel in many ways, but in the evening you never saw the same staff in the restaurant. Whenever even a small group arrived in the restaurant, the service seemed to go to pieces. Staff were totally demotivated because they were not part of the team.

Lallemand, who thinks outsourcing is so good, should tell us who sets the standards and portion sizes. Who monitors standards? Who sets and changes prices? To whom do you complain? How do you build staff loyalty? How do you get staff to sell more?

Many customers are worried about hotel security these days. How do you monitor staff when you don't employ them yourself? I don't want someone cleaning my bedroom who has not been vetted in some way.

On paper, outsourcing looks good for the hotel. In practice, it's not so good for customers and repeat business. Surely it is management abdicating their reason for being there.

MELVYN GREENE, a customer, by e-mail.

Documentary series appeal

TalkBack Productions, the company whose TV programmes include Would Like To Meet, Jamie's Kitchen, and They Think It's All Over, is making a new documentary series, and is looking for a catering team that has potential, but is being held back by team differences. It could be personality clashes, different goals or lack of commitment from some members.

The programme will be challenging and rewarding. If any readers are interested, please get in touch.

ROSIE HINCHLIFFE, TalkBack Productions, London. Tel: 020 7861 8099, e-mail: rosie.hinchliffe@talkback.co.uk.