Garde Manger in Institutional Cooking

Institutional cooking is food service for large groups of repeat customers, as in college cafeterias or hospital service. As the people who live or work in institutions have become more sophisticated and food-conscious, the operations that prepare and serve their food are finding it necessary to meet the demand for fresher, tastier, and more contemporary food. Institutional feeders must offer a large variety of food choices. They may utilize a menu cycle, a sequence of menus that changes daily over an established number of days before reverting to the first menu and beginning the cycle again.