It is an experienced chef who has taken over management of the canteen. Lars Andersen has spent his entire professional life working in the restaurant business both as waiter, chef and head chef at large conference hotels. He comes to ITU after having spent ten years teaching at a restaurant school. It is, however, a first time for him running a canteen.
I plan to cook a vegetarian dish every day. It should not just be fried vegetables but an actual dish full of taste.
Canteen Manager Lars Andersen
First of all, I plan to cook a vegetarian dish every day. It should not just be fried vegetables but an actual dish full of taste. It could for instance be green risotto with broccoli and peas or beef stroganoff with halloumi instead of beef. We are also trying to make more interesting salads and I have already had some positive feedback.
What is your idea of great food?
Great food is full of taste and has all five basic tastes represented. They are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. The food should also cover a range of textures such as crispiness and creaminess. And this goes for both meat dishes and vegetarian dishes. It is a bit more challenging with the vegetarian dishes as meat is full of umami, but you can achieve it by using for instance a lot of herbs that can bring some of those flavours to a dish.
What challenges have you met so far?
The budget is tight. I have a lot of ideas that I simply cannot afford. Another issue is that some customers pay for less than they take. For instance, they pay for a small sandwich while actually taking a big one. Or they grab a beverage and “forget” to pay for it. I stood upstairs the other day watching for ten minutes and I saw six people doing something like this. The loss makes it even more difficult for me to afford ingredients to cook good food.
There is a rumour that you are a vegetarian yourself?
That is not true, but I don’t eat a lot of meat – maybe only twice a month. I like the challenge of creating great and tasteful dishes build around vegetables instead of meat which has been the norm for many years. However, there will always be a meat dish offered in the canteen too. After all, I want to give people what they want and I have heard that a lot of people want meat.
Written November 22, by Marlene Mee Ahrens