Choosing Food for an Audience and Purpose

From a brief to a menu

In Unit 3 you plan, prepare, cook and present dishes for a given audience and purpose, and you have to justify what you chose. The specification lists many factors that affect food choices, from cultural influences and religious beliefs to sensory qualities, shelf life, seasonality, cost, physical activity, life stage, special diets, emerging trends and the benefits of local Welsh food. Knowing the list is the easy half. The skill the assessment rewards is reading a brief and seeing which two or three of those factors it makes decisive, then choosing dishes that meet them and saying why. A lunch club for older adults on small pensions, a stall selling cakes made days in advance, and a post-match meal for a rugby team all call on different factors. A justification that only says a dish is tasty or easy to make answers none of them. This module practises spotting the decisive factors and turning each choice into a reason a marker can see.

Five factors in the specification

These five are on the specification list and come up often in practical briefs. Learn what each one means before you weigh them.

Match each brief to what decides it

Which justification earns credit?

A student plans Welsh lamb cawl for older adults at a winter community lunch. Which justification would a marker reward?

• Cawl is soft and easy to eat, warming in winter, and uses Welsh lamb and leeks reared and grown nearby
• I like cawl and it is easy for me to make
• Cawl is a well-known Welsh dish
• Cawl has lots of nutrients in it

Naming a factor against using it

Most plans mention the right factors. The marks go to the ones that use them, and the difference shows in every sentence.

Find the weak justifications

Six sentences from a plan for a vegetable chilli at a school event for vegan teenagers. Tap the TWO that would not earn credit.

• I chose a vegetable chilli because the brief asks for a filling main that vegan teenagers will enjoy.
• It is a really nice dish.
• Beans and lentils give protein without any animal products, which a vegan diet has to plan for.
• The chilli keeps for two days in the fridge, so it can be made ahead of the event.
• Lots of people like spicy food these days.
• Tinned tomatoes and dried beans keep the cost low for a school event.

From brief to justified choice

Put these planning steps in the order that makes each one possible.

• Read the brief and underline the audience and the purpose
• Pick the two or three factors the brief makes decisive
• Shortlist dishes that meet those factors
• Choose, checking you have the skills and the time to make them well
• Write a justification linking each choice to its factor

The case for local Welsh food

The specification names the benefits of using locally sourced Welsh food, and a brief that mentions a local event, a cafe promoting Welsh produce or a seasonal menu invites you to use them. Food grown or reared nearby spends less time travelling, so it can reach you fresher. Bought in season, it is often at its best for flavour and can be cheaper. Buying from Welsh farmers and producers keeps money in local businesses and communities, and it is easier to know where the food came from and how it was produced. Wales has well-known produce to draw on: Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef both carry protected status, and dairy, leeks and other vegetables are grown widely. Some of what people choose is also changing, which is what the specification means by emerging trends: more people eating plant-based meals, cutting down on meat or sugar, or caring where their food comes from. A good justification uses only the benefits that matter for this brief, rather than listing them all.

Build a justification

Choose the option in each gap to build a justification a marker would reward.

The food choices run

Five quick decisions about factors, seasons and local food. Three lives.

A present for a grandparent

Choosing a birthday present for a grandparent is not about what you would want for yourself. You think about what they enjoy, what they will actually use, and what you can afford, and you rule out anything that would not suit them however good it looks in the shop. When you hand it over, telling them you thought of them because they love their garden means far more than telling them it was on offer. A present lands well when every part of it can be traced back to the person it is for, and a present chosen for the giver rarely does.

Complete the planning rules

In the practical, you read the _____ to find the audience and purpose. You then _____ each dish by linking it to a factor that matters for that audience. Food bought in _____ is often at its best and cheaper. Buying _____ Welsh produce supports nearby farmers and producers.

Strong reasons for a nursery menu

A nursery wants a lunch dish for children aged three and four. Choose the THREE strongest reasons for a choice.

• Soft textures and mild flavours suit young children
• Small portions match small appetites
• Bright colours make the food appealing to children
• Strong chilli heat makes the dish exciting
• Whole nuts add a satisfying crunch
• It is quick for the cook to make

Planning for a cafe brief

Your practical brief is to plan two dishes for a cafe that wants to promote Welsh produce to visitors. Work through three decisions.

• You have a shortlist of dishes and must keep two. Which pair do you choose?
• A tester says the tart is too rich for some visitors, and you have time for one change. What do you do?
• You are writing one paragraph to justify each dish. What goes in it?

Justify a lunch club main

A community centre runs a monthly lunch club for older adults, many of whom live alone on small pensions. Choose one main dish for the menu and justify your choice, using the factors that affect food choice.

• The dish, and who it is for
• Two or three factors this audience makes decisive
• How the dish meets each factor, with a reason
• One way the dish uses local or seasonal produce
• One change you might make, and why