High Tech Kitchen Prepares Food For Malaysian Pilgrims

From Hafizah Kamaruddin MAKKAH, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Tabung Haji (TH or the Malaysian hajj pilgrims fund board), in a move to ensure food served for its haj pilgirms is prepared under hygenic conditions, has appointed the Al-Husam Catering which operates a high techology kitchen, as its new catering service. Food and Beverage Operations Manager for Haj, Adly Mohamed said Al Husam, a Saudi-based company operating in hospitality management, was one of five catering service companies here which TH had contracted to supply food for its haj pilgrims this year. He said for the initial stage, Al-Husam supplied food to 3,500 haj pilgrims staying at Al Bisyarah Mawaddah and Rehab Al Janadiriyyah, although its modern and high technology central kitchen could supply food for 40,000 people daily. In ensuring the cooked food was to the liking of Malaysian pilgrims, the company engaged three Malaysian chefs headed by Rozaimi Abdul Rahim, to assist them in the preparation for lunch and dinner for the haj pilgrims, he told the Malaysian media during a visit to the Al Husam kitchen at Al-Zaher District here Wednesday. He said TH also supplied dried ingredients, as curry and chilli powder, to ensure the food supplied was authentic Malaysian. "The food for lunch was prepared very early in the morning, with work beginning at 2am before cooking starts, two hours later. To ensure the food is always warm, the food is placed in a sanitised food warmer. "Packing starts at 7am, using a non-toxic black container which has three separate compartments and sealed by machine to ensure the food did not mix. "The food is then sent to the hotels and placed in a food warmer of 68-72 degree celsius to ensure it is always warm," he added. He said with the use of high mechanised equipment, the company can pack 4,000 packed food in an hour with less manpower, compared to manually which could only prepare 1,000 food packets for the same period of time, with about 20 people. He said to ensure the food fulfilled standards imposed by TH, his unit carried out frequent checks on food preparation, adding it also carried out a survey among the pilgrims to get feedback on the food served. Meanwhile, Al Husam executive chef Montaser Masaud said the kitchen was Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certified and covered an area of 6,000 square metre. --BERNAMA