50 -— Wednesday, February 13, 1991 - North Shore News FOOD. erving it right Paid servers must now complete course in order to serve alcohol IF YOUR organization is planning a special occasion this year, you may be required to complete a course in respon- sible beverage serving if you intend to offer alcohol. ee NEWS photo Mike Wakolieid SERVING ALCOHOL may not be as simple as p-eviously thought. Legal guidelines do not neces- sarily differentiate between volunteer and professicnal servers. : By Peggy Trendell-Whittaker News Reporter Here's an example: The local men’s service club is hosting a beer garden at the community day celebration. In order to obtain the necessary Special Occasion Licence, the person representing the club — the licensee — must pass a correspondence course call- ed Serving It Right, administered by the non-profit Hospitality In- dustry Education Advisory Com- mittee (HIEAC). The licensee course costs $48 and approximately three weeks between the time you apply for your permit and the time of the event is required in order for its completion and processing. The course, which has an “open-book”” exam that can be completed at home, became man- datory for licensees on Jan. 1 of this year. And as of April 1, any paid servers at the event must have completed a $28 servers’ course as well. So whereas volunteers at the community day beer garden do not have to take Serving It Right, professional caterers or servers at any such events must do so. According to Tony Wood, HIEAC’s managing director, it is the responsibility of the licensee — the men’s service club in our example — to ensure that paid staff have completed the cor- respondence course. Information packages are avail- able in liquor stores, and Wood says he wili do everything he can to accommodate people who have left the course till the last minute because they weren't aware that it was required. “We're trying to make it as human as possible,’’ he says, noting that the course has already received a great deal of positive feedback from people in the hos- pitality industry who have taken it. Topics covered include the legal responsibilities of hosts towards guests who have drunk too much, 4é The law may not recognize any difference between a volunteer and a paid server when it comes to responsibility in the service of beverage alcohol. ¥# — Serving It Right the effects of alcohol upon the body, how to recognize and deal with intoxicated people and the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch’s operating and enforce- ment poticies. While volunteers at service club functions are not currently re- quired to take the servers’ course, HIEAC encourages them to do so. “The law may not recognize any difference between a volunteer and a paid server when it comes to responsibility in the service of beverage alcohol, °’ states a Serv- ing It Right information sheet. “Apart from the legal issuc. you do not wish to contribute to any problems of your patrons which might be avoided.”’ For more information about the licensee and server training courses, call HIEAC at 298-8889. Find out how to be a better chocolate nut THERE’S SOMETHING about chocolates that makes them almosi irresistible. They’re capricious, seduc- tively smooth, and over- whelmingly pleasing. TEE Inquisitive Gook ANNE SUE GARDINER WILSON Yet, the beginning of chocolate is as far remosed from the finish- ed product as teapienl plantations are from the enticing windows of sandy shops, for the essence of chocolate lies in the bitter cacoa bean. The transformation from cocoa to chocolate involves many chem- ical changes. Changes begin as the cocoa beans ferment in piles. The heat generated mellows their un- pleasant taste, activates enzymes that are responsible for chocalate Maver, and prevents the beans from sprouting. Once the beans turn brown in the centre, and have dried so they won't spoil, they're exported fram West Africa or Central and South America to the chocolate manu- facturers of Europe and North Ayes Neat conics ousting, ane of the most importa pen esse oy creating quality chocolate, Roasting Uimes and ientperature are meticulousty monitored as dif ferent pracessors seck particular Navors and aromas, Chocolite manufacturers blend various coco beans, much as cof: Tee beans are mixed. to produce a Whole range of llavors. And they wuad their secrets carerally. Generally, low roasting temperatures yield beans with a mild flavor and color, while high temperatures produce stronger NMavors and darker colors. Bit- terness mellows and rich brown color develops. Beans for cocoa are always more heavily roasted than those destined for chocolate. After roasting, the nib or meat of the bean is easily removed from the brittle shell. The nibs are heated and vround to a thick paste, called chocolate liquor. After refining comes conching. a slow kneading of ihe heated paste to allow volatife acids and moisture to escape. Covoa butter and added emulsifiers coat the chocolate par- ticle. giving chocolate its special sgouthress and pleasing fase. ine coOd bean is now truly chocolate, ready for the fishing provesses of tempering and shap- ing. Interesungly, cocoa butter has no special taste of its own, ine stead, at's the imporiani veliivhe which captures and) carries the chocoktte Mlivor. Because cocoa bulter melts at a few steerees below body wtaperature, the finest chocolates dissotve Sawls in the mouth. Fha- vors linger. European chocolatiers pride themselves oon fine chocolate. Thick, luxurious tops and bottoms of Ghovolates are molded sepurut- ely, then filled with fairy simple centres and jomed, Americans tend fe cinphitsaize the centres. Jn the process called enrobing, rows of centres are squirted “ith melted chocofate as they whisk alone a moving belt. Or fuxurious fillings are iadividu- i dipped in chocolate, melted so paves sen opulent? coating. The opersisient popularity of chocolate is proof that che com- ples journey of the cocoa bean is well worth the effort.