The Uppercut

How can you improve ergonomics in the kitchen with simple means? We asked Peggie Ulle, President of the consultancy firm Storköksbyrån.

“Start by removing everything that isn’t used. The kitchen is not a storage space."

We make food preparation easy

For us, ergonomics is a natural and important element in our product development. A HALLDE machine is built for fast and smooth processing. It is easy to put in place, move and clean – even in the toughest of kitchen environments.

A typical example of this is the angled design of our vegetable preparation machines that gives the correct working position. Other examples are the integrated handles that make the machines easy to move and position, and the clever controls that make processing easier.

Autumn is the season of trade fairs. HALLDE will participate in several of them and we hope you take the opportunity to check out our products “hands on”. Read more about where you can meet us at www.hallde.com

Welcome to our stand at HOST 2007 in Milan!

Jan Sigurdh, President

However, the best solution is to plan things thoroughly from the ground up. Storköksbyrån helps restaurants and industrial kitchens with pre-studies, cost estimates, project management and inspections. This covers newly-built as well as existing kitchens. And the objective is to improve hygiene and the working environment. One common cause of problems is that the kitchen is no longer suitable for the operations carried out in it.

“The kitchen can either be too large or too small. Or the equipment and worktops are in the wrong place. What the facility was originally built for no longer applies. This is why flexibility is important when designing a kitchen. Working heights should be adjustable and it should be possible to work in different places.”

Peggie says that awareness of ergonomic factors is high in the restaurant and catering industry.

“Many have good aids for improved ergonomics. Unfortunately it can be difficult to get employees to actually use them. People often “forget” about them in order to achieve a quicker result. So it is important to make sure that such aids are the most easily accessible alternative.”

Peggie points out that Storköksbyrån is neutral with regard to choice of supplier.

“But Hallde is a well-known brand both for us and our customers. They have succeeded very well when it come to ergonomics; the machines are easy to position at the right height and can also be used in a mobile way and moved from one place to another.”

Satisfied chef John Leitch tells us more:
“The machine is very easy to use. It cuts through beetroot, garlic and other vegetables so effectively that the job is done in no time. Furthermore the RG-350 is easy to take apart for cleaning so this is another job that takes very little time.”

It is no surprise, then, that the RG-350 is appreciated at Qantas Inflight Catering. Something we are pleased
and proud to hear.

Berkel manufactures and markets cutters and blenders via a network of some thousand distributors. The primary target group for the CC line is made up of restaurants with small kitchens and small institutions.

We have spoken with Brian Kadel, Director of Marketing for ITW Food Machines in the USA.

“The trend in North America is towards smaller machines for professional use and machines with many functions. The need for this type of machine is great,” he told us.

CC-line
CC-32 and CC-34 are handy tabletop machines for the smaller kitchen and work as both a vegetable preparation machines and vertical cutter, depending on which accessories are used. The compact design means they are easy to get out and put away as needed. This is important in a kitchen with limited space. Click for more information.

True to tradition, HALLDE was present at the Swedish Interfood trade fair. The theme was organic products and the fair had many small companies as exhibitors. Our products for smaller catering establishments – such as the RG-50 and CC-34 – attracted a great deal of interest. The centre of attention, however, was the Soft Dicing range with cutting tools for dicing soft and difficult fruits and vegetables.

Attendance records were broken at this year’s Fine Food fair in Australia. Over 750 companies showed the latest within food, beverages and equipment. We showed our entire range, with special focus on vegetable preparation machine RG-300 and our small vertical cutter VCB-32.

The PIR trade fair in Moscow is one of Russia’s most important exhibitions for restaurants, hotels and industrial kitchens. We were present together with our local distributor MBR. For our part the exhibition was successful, with plenty of visitors to our stand during the product demonstrations.

A real battle of the heavyweights

When autumn comes it is time for the pumpkin harvest. The variety that mainly springs up in the fields is the classic orange pumpkin. Yet there are many different and some can weigh up to 100 kg or even more.

Giant pumpkin
This variety includes the classic “Halloween pumpkin” used in pies and as the material for making lanterns and decorations.

Cucurbita moschata
Can vary in appearance: Butternut squash looks like a large pear while Muscot is similar to a clementine with distinct segments. Cucurbita moschata has a thick orange pulp with a rich flavour, which means it is known as a culinary pumpkin. It is used pickled, braised, in pies or soups, etc.

Zucchini
Yes, it’s true. Zucchini, squash or courgette (its proper name) is an unripe pumpkin. If you let it mature it becomes a pumpkin.

Finally: remember to save the pips when you prepare a pumpkin. They make tasty and nutritional snacks when oven toasted with a little salt.

Prawn and Pumpkin soup

Do like this:
Cut the pumpkin pulp to pieces. Peel and chop shallots. Lightly fry the shallots and pumpkin in butter. Pour over vegetable stock and cream. Boil for 15 minutes.

Blend or sieve the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the prawns.

Peel and crush the garlic. Stir egg yolk, garlic and mustard together. Let the oil drip in while stiring. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup hot or cold with the mayonnaise.