Food Preparation

Course Description

HMV0100 – Food Preparation is a Postsecondary Adult Vocational (PSAV) clock-hour course in the Hospitality and Tourism program area, aligned with the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) Curriculum Framework for Commercial Foods and Culinary Arts (CIP 12.0508). The course is the foundational module for students entering Florida's culinary, food production, and food service career pathways, providing the entry-level skills and food-safety knowledge required for kitchen work in restaurants, institutional foodservice, hotels, and catering operations.

Students develop competencies in commercial kitchen safety, food sanitation, knife skills, basic cooking methods (dry-heat, moist-heat, combination), recipe interpretation and conversion, weights and measures, basic culinary terminology, and the production of stocks, sauces, soups, vegetables, starches, and proteins at an entry level. Coursework integrates classroom instruction with substantial hands-on production lab time in a teaching kitchen.

This course is offered at approximately 36 Florida technical colleges and is the gateway to Florida's PSAV Commercial Foods, Culinary Arts, Catering, and Restaurant Operations programs. Successful program completion supports preparation for the ServSafe Food Handler/Manager certification and the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Certified Fundamentals Cook (CFC) credential.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply food safety and sanitation principles consistent with the FDA Food Code and Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Division of Hotels and Restaurants requirements, including HACCP principles, time/temperature controls, cross-contamination prevention, and proper handwashing.
• Demonstrate commercial kitchen safety, including safe knife handling, equipment safety, fire prevention, lifting and ergonomics, slip prevention, and burn/cut prevention.
• Demonstrate professional knife skills, including proper grip, knife selection, and basic cuts (julienne, brunoise, dice, mince, chiffonade, batonnet).
• Identify and properly use commercial kitchen equipment, including ranges, ovens, fryers, grills, mixers, slicers, food processors, and small wares.
• Apply weights, measures, and recipe conversion, including U.S. customary and metric units, recipe yield adjustment, and cost-per-portion calculations.
• Apply fundamental cooking methods: dry-heat (sautéing, pan-frying, deep-frying, broiling, grilling, roasting, baking), moist-heat (boiling, simmering, poaching, steaming), and combination (braising, stewing).
• Prepare basic stocks and sauces, including white stock, brown stock, fish/vegetable stocks, and the mother sauces (béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato, hollandaise).
• Prepare basic soups, including clear soups (broths, consommés), thick soups (cream soups, purées), and bisques.
• Prepare vegetables, starches, and grains using appropriate cooking methods and seasoning techniques.
• Prepare proteins (poultry, beef, pork, seafood, eggs) using appropriate cooking methods and food-safety practices.
• Apply professional culinary terminology and kitchen brigade system organization.
• Demonstrate employability skills, including time management, mise en place, teamwork, communication, and personal hygiene/professional appearance.

Optional Outcomes

• Earn industry certifications such as ServSafe Food Handler or ServSafe Food Manager.
• Apply basic baking principles, including the function of common baking ingredients and basic quick breads, yeast breads, and pastries.
• Apply basic plating and presentation techniques.
• Apply nutrition and dietary accommodation concepts (allergens, religious restrictions, common dietary needs).
• Recognize international and regional cuisine styles at an awareness level.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• The Foodservice Profession in Florida: Industry overview; types of foodservice operations (independent restaurants, chains, hotels, institutional, catering, contract); the Florida hospitality and tourism economy; career paths and the kitchen brigade system.
• Food Safety and Sanitation: Foodborne illness causes (biological, chemical, physical hazards); the FDA Food Code; Florida Food Service Inspection requirements; HACCP overview; time/temperature control for safety (TCS) foods; the temperature danger zone; cooling and reheating; cross-contamination prevention; cleaning vs. sanitizing.
• Personal Hygiene: Handwashing procedures; appropriate work attire; reporting illness; restrictions and exclusions for food handlers.
• Kitchen Safety: Cuts and burns; safe knife handling; equipment safety; lifting; slips, trips, falls; fire safety and Class K extinguishers; first aid awareness.
• Knife Skills: Knife types and selection; knife grip and rocking motion; honing and sharpening; classical cuts (julienne, brunoise, small/medium/large dice, mince, chiffonade, batonnet, paysanne); knife maintenance and storage.
• Kitchen Equipment: Ranges, ovens (convection, deck, combi), fryers, grills, broilers, salamanders, steam-jacketed kettles, tilt skillets, planetary mixers, slicers, food processors, small wares; care, cleaning, and safe operation.
• Weights, Measures, and Recipe Use: Standard recipe components; U.S. customary and metric units; conversions; recipe yield adjustment; recipe costing and food cost percentage; portion control.
• Mise en Place: Translation and concept; pre-service preparation; organizing the workstation; flow of work in commercial production.
• Cooking Methods: Heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation); dry-heat methods (sauté, pan-fry, deep-fry, grill, broil, roast, bake); moist-heat methods (boil, simmer, poach, steam); combination methods (braise, stew); appropriate matching of method to ingredient.
• Stocks and Sauces: White and brown stocks; fish and vegetable stocks; principles of stock-making; mother sauces (béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato, hollandaise) and small sauces derived from them; thickening agents (roux, slurry, beurre manié, liaison, reduction).
• Soups: Clear soups (broth, consommé); thick soups (cream, purée); bisques and chowders; international soup examples.
• Vegetables and Starches: Identification of common vegetables; appropriate cooking methods for vegetable categories; potato cookery (boiled, mashed, baked, roasted, French-fried); rice and grain cookery; pasta cookery.
• Proteins: Poultry fabrication and cooking; beef and pork cuts and basic cookery; seafood selection and basic cookery; egg cookery (boiled, poached, scrambled, omelet); food-safety internal temperatures.
• Salads and Salad Dressings: Salad greens and components; vinaigrette and emulsified dressings; salad construction and presentation.
• Professional Behavior and Employability: Punctuality; teamwork; communication; following directions; mise en place discipline; personal grooming and uniform.

Optional Topics

• Basic Baking and Pastry: Function of baking ingredients; quick breads; yeast breads; basic pastries (pâte brisée, pâte sucrée).
• Plating and Presentation: Plate composition; color and contrast; height and structure; garnishes; service-line plating speed.
• Nutrition and Dietary Accommodation: Macronutrients; common allergens (Big 9); religious dietary requirements (kosher, halal, Hindu, Jain); vegetarian and vegan accommodation; gluten-free preparation.
• Regional and International Cuisine: Florida cuisine; classical French foundations; Italian, Latin American, Caribbean, Asian, and Mediterranean influences.
• Sustainability and Local Sourcing: Farm-to-table; reducing food waste; sustainable seafood (Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch).

Resources & Tools

• Common Texts: On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (Labensky/Hause/Martel), The Professional Chef (Culinary Institute of America), Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary Arts (NRAEF), ServSafe Coursebook (National Restaurant Association)
• Lab Equipment: Commercial kitchen with ranges, ovens, fryers, grills, mixers; commercial knives and small wares; teaching dining room or service line for clinic-style production exercises
• Reference Standards: FDA Food Code (current edition); Florida DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants requirements; ServSafe certification standards (National Restaurant Association); American Culinary Federation Education Foundation accreditation standards
• Online and Multimedia Resources: ChefSteps, Rouxbe Cooking School, Culinary Institute of America video resources, Stella Culinary School (free podcast and curriculum)
• Professional Organizations: American Culinary Federation (ACF) — Florida has multiple ACF chapters across the state; National Restaurant Association; Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA); World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS)

Career Pathways

HMV0100 supports entry into a wide range of culinary and food service careers:

• Line Cook / Prep Cook (SOC 35-2014) — Entry-level back-of-house role in restaurants and institutional kitchens.
• Cook, Restaurant (SOC 35-2014) — Production cook in full-service restaurants.
• Cook, Institution and Cafeteria (SOC 35-2012) — Schools, hospitals, corporate dining, military.
• Cook, Short Order (SOC 35-2015) — Diners, breakfast houses, quick-service.
• Catering Cook / Banquet Cook — Hotels, conference centers, off-site catering.
• Cruise Line and Resort Cook — Florida's substantial cruise industry (Port Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades) and resort sector employ large culinary teams.
• Career Progression: With experience and advanced training: sous chef, chef de cuisine, executive chef, food and beverage director.

Florida's hospitality and tourism economy — encompassing restaurants, hotels, resorts, theme parks, and cruise lines — sustains exceptionally strong demand for culinary professionals. Major employers include Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, the major cruise lines, large hotel brands (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton), and Florida's diverse independent restaurant scene.

Special Information

Certification Preparation

HMV0100 content directly supports the following industry credentials:

• ServSafe Food Handler — Foundational food-safety credential; many programs include certification testing.
• ServSafe Food Manager (ServSafe Manager Certification, SMC) — Required for at least one Person in Charge at every Florida foodservice establishment per Florida DBPR rules; many programs include or prepare students for this exam.
• American Culinary Federation Certified Fundamentals Cook (CFC) — Entry-level ACF credential available to those completing 75 hours of related coursework plus 150 hours of work experience.
• National ProStart Certificate of Achievement — Available to students entering through high school ProStart programs articulating into PSAV.

Position in the Program Sequence

HMV0100 is typically the first course in Florida's PSAV Commercial Foods, Culinary Arts, or Restaurant Operations program sequence. Hours invested count toward total program completion (typical programs range from 600 to 1,500 hours depending on specialization). Students continue into more advanced courses covering baking, garde manger, à la carte production, banquet/catering, food/beverage cost control, and supervised externship.

Articulation

Many Florida technical colleges' PSAV culinary programs articulate into Florida college Culinary Management or Hospitality and Tourism Management A.S. degree programs. Students should consult the receiving institution for specific articulation credit awards. Some students continue into bachelor's degrees in Hospitality Management at institutions such as UCF, FIU, USF, FSU, and Florida Gulf Coast University.

Workplace Considerations

Commercial kitchen work is physically demanding (long hours standing, heat exposure, repetitive motion, heavy lifting) and often involves nights, weekends, and holidays. Programs introduce students to these realities and to professional practices supporting long-term career sustainability.