EP0241453A1

EP0241453A1 - Preparation of sauces

Info

Publication number: EP0241453A1
Application number: EP85904981A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Luc Fonteneau; Jean-Pierre Germon
Original assignee: Fleury Michon SA
Current assignee: Fleury Michon SA
Priority date: 1985-10-10
Filing date: 1985-10-10
Publication date: 1987-10-21
Also published as: WO1987002224A1

Abstract

Des procédés de préparation de compositions comestibles de sauces et d'assaisonnements qui comprennent, comme ingrédient essentiel, une combinaison d'amidon de riz et de farine de caroube, destinée à donner des compositions ayant des caractéristiques souhaitables de consistance, d'onctuosité et de stabilité. Un procédé de préparation de produits alimentaires déjà cuits, emballés, du type viande en sauce ou poisson en sauce, à l'aide des compositions formulées de sauces ou d'assaisonnements est aussi décrit.Methods of preparing edible compositions of sauces and seasonings which comprise, as an essential ingredient, a combination of rice starch and locust bean flour, intended to give compositions having desirable characteristics of consistency, smoothness and stability. A process for the preparation of already cooked, packaged food products, of the meat in sauce or fish in sauce type, using the formulated compositions of sauces or seasonings is also described.

Description

Preparation of sauces.

Field of the invention

The invention relates generally to the formulation of new sauces and seasoning compositions. More specifically, it relates to sauces and seasonings made from meat or fish foods, using wine or another liquid base and containing a new combination of natural ingredients giving consistency, smoothness and suitable stability. These sauces and seasonings can be packaged separately and thus sold for use by the customer so that they embellish the meat or fish dishes prepared in a manner which does not give sauce or seasoning, for example the grilled meats, or they can be used for the preparation of packaged ready-to-eat food products, previously cooked with meat or fish in sauce or with a. seasoning, in individual portions or for several persons, which can be stored for long periods in refrigerated form and which can be easily and easily reheated before being finally served. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of such food products. Prior art

For many years, specialists in food preparation and in particular in the formulation of sauces and seasonings, especially intended for packaged food products, ready to eat, based on meat or fish in sauce or seasoned, have sought to prepare sauces and seasonings with certain desirable properties. They also sought to solve or prevent the appearance of certain particular problems arising during the preparation and during the storage of the products using these compositions.

Such sauces and seasonings have advantageously properties of consistency, smoothness, resistance to thermal shock and stability during storage. Resistance to thermal shock is shown by the conservation of consistency during temperature variations, which can correspond to a transition from hot to cold and then to hot during preparation, storage and final service. Stability is measured by the conservation of an aesthetic appearance and by the lack of appearance of the phenomenon such as the formation of a layer of fat and the formation of a gel in the combined and packaged food product based on meat in sauce, during preparation and for long periods during the storage phase.

Usually, modified starches, gelatin and gums such as carrageenan extract have been some of the ingredients used as thickeners.

Thus, patent US ^'Patent No. 3,598,614 discloses the use of a mixed starch, blended starch .additionné gelatin or a- mixture of agar and gelatin, as thickening agent of a liquid soy sauce. Mixed starches, one of which must contain amylopectin and the other of which is both ylose and amylopectin, are represented by a mixture of "starchy" rice starch. "or" waxy "corn starch with tapioca, corn, potato or" common "rice starches. Glutinous rice starch is also commonly called "waxy" or "sweet" rice "flour". When the starch mixture is used as a thickening agent, the soy sauce having the final consistency contains approximately 3 to 15% by weight of the starch mixture consisting of approximately 25 to 50% of the ingredient containing amylopectin. and from 75 to 50% approximately of the ingredient containing amylose and amylopectin. When mixed starch is used as a thickening agent, it is thus evident that a high proportion of this mixture must be used to obtain the desired consistency. 3 so that the thickened sauce according to the invention adheres to the food on which it is applied and does not drip.

Likewise, U.S. Patent No. 3,266,908 describes a process for the preparation of sauces or seasoning compositions in poultry in which rice flour is used as a thickening agent. The products of this invention, however, contain a significant percentage of poultry meat itself or poultry by-products, and they can be packaged as a dry powder which can be reconstituted later with water or milk, in the form of a frozen semi-liquid or canned seasoning.

United States Patent No. 3,681,094 requires the use of gelatin in the seasoning mixture so that it has a semi-rigid rubbery consistency necessary for supporting the food in solid phase according to the packaging process of this invention. The use of thickening agents alone, however, is not enough to give the characteristic smoothness or smoothness of sauces prepared by great chefs. In addition, the consistency of these sauces varies greatly with temperature. This lack of thermal stability and resistance to thermally created shocks usually causes thermal decomposition or aesthetic variations which are an unfavorable factor for acceptability by the consumer.

The food processing industry has also recognized the existence of other conditions causing physical and chemical variations which may exist during the preparation and / or storage phases of such food products similar to meat in sauce. For example, the industry has sought to solve these problems by incorporating various adjuvants or preservatives into the product so that these changes can occur very little or not at all. Thus, for example, US Pat. No. 3,843,815 describes the use of an acidic adjuvant in a meat product in sauce, intended to prevent the formation of gelatin in the seasoning during its preparation and to prevent subsequent gelation of the seasoning in the container during storage. The gelation is caused by the collagen in the food which has cooked and which combines with the humidity of the seasoning. Weak acids such as phosphoric, citric, succinic, tartaric, fumaric, adipic, acetic and lactic acids can be used to prevent this problem from occurring, but care must be taken so that the concentration of l The acid used is limited so that a significant reduction in the pH of the product is avoided since it could cause other undesirable side effects on taste and / or aesthetics.

Likewise, the. U.S. Patent No. 3,836,685 describes the use of a filler in the meat portion of a packaged meat product in sauce, so that fat cannot migrate from meat when heating the contents, so that the formation of a "layer of fat" on the surface of the contents during cooling after cooking is avoided.

In summary, it can be considered that the use of thickening agents already known alone is not sufficient to obtain prepared sauces and seasonings having all the desired qualities, and the use of particular additives intended to solve various problems which arise in the preparation and storage of food products which contain such compositions, is at best an expedient which often complicates matters by solving a problem with the appearance of other problems.

The ideal composition of a sauce or seasoning- It is that which gives the desired results with the minimum of ingredients which are not essential to the taste aspects of the product. In addition, it is preferable that these ingredients are "natural" rather than synthetic chemical adjuvants.

We have found that new mixtures of two "natural" ingredients, namely rice starch and locust bean flour, when incorporated into the formulations of sauces and seasonings, yield the highest quality compositions, possessing all the desirable taste and aesthetic characteristics and not posing any of the preparation and / or storage problems commonly encountered.

We have also developed a process for preparing food products using these compositions. So far, no one has been able to develop an integrated and simplified process for preparing both the food and the sauce. Thus, U.S. Patent No. 3,597,228 describes a process for preparing pre-cooked pieces of poultry which can be packaged in a reheatable container with any of a variety of sauces, these sauces to be either prepared separately is obtained from another source, already premixed and ready to use, so that they are incorporated into the methods of realizing products which require it. The cooking process described in this invention is furthermore a complex two-step process implementing both heating operations by microwaves and in hot oil. The second cooking step of this invention is necessary for the cooked food to have the desired aesthetic qualities, in particular a "browned" appearance as it is obtained during conventional cooking and which cannot be obtained by the sole microwave cooking.

On the contrary, in the food preparation process according to the invention, we can perform a integrated overall process in which the new sauce compositions according to the invention can be prepared and used with cooked meat or fish parts for the formation of meat or fish products in sauce, convenient, packaged, reheatable and having the highest culinary quality. This process is advantageous in that it allows the simultaneous preparation of both the food and the sauce in separate stages but which can be integrated, so that the operation is increased and any dependence by compared to external sources of sauce supply is eliminated. The efficiency of our process is further increased by the fact that the food cooking operation is simplified in the form of a single step using a conventional cooking device, also giving in this way products having a desirable aesthetic appearance. Statement of the invention

The sauces and seasonings (hereinafter called "sauces") according to the formulas of the invention contain, as essential ingredients, a combination of natural rice starch and natural carob flour which give these sauces, as we we have discovered the desirable properties of consistency, smoothness and resistance to thermal shock, without gelatin or other thickening agents. are necessary. The "natural" rice starch used according to the invention is prepared by grinding in the form of a fine white powder of husked and degermed white rice. This rice starch differs from "glutinous" or "waxy" rice starches which are obtained after further processing of the rice.

The discovery that the use of combinations of natural rice starch and locust bean flour in the formulation of sauce compositions form such sauces with desirable properties has made it possible to prepare meat or meat based food products. fish in sauce or seasoned (hereinafter called "meat in sauce") using these sauces. Surprisingly, the use of these sauce compositions in these products eliminates other problems which have been recognized in the preparation of these products, without the need for other adjuvants or special processing steps.

The process for preparing packaged precooked food products of the type of meat in sauce according to the invention surprisingly solves the problems of preparation and storage posed to industry without the incorporation of adjuvant or preservative being necessary in the product, as is usually done. This is due to the fact that the use of sauce compositions containing new combinations of rice starch and carob flour seem to prevent the appearance of the physical and chemical conditions which cause these problems.

In addition, the use of such sauces containing ingredients in the preparation of such food products allows the adoption of certain successive packaging steps considered unusable in practice until now by other inventors because of the problems. which • arose later during the storage and / or reheating phase.

Thus, according to the process for preparing food products of the invention, a packaged food product of the meat type in sauce can be prepared, the solid phase of the food being able to be placed in the container before addition of the sauce. This directly removes the perceived restriction described in US Patent _No. 3,681,094.

According to the invention, it has been found that the preparation of a packaged food product in which the food in solid phase is placed in the container first, then the sauce and the seasoning are added to it, gives a product which does not is not attractive from an aesthetic point of view. The food products according to the invention are not precooked but are cooked for final use only after packaging. We observed that, during cooking, the seasoning remained on the upper side of the meat and tended to burn or to boil out. The cooking juices from the meat have flowed to the lower part of the dish, as has been observed, and are not mixed well enough with the rest of the seasoning in the upper part. In addition, the existence of seasoning at the top of the meat prevented it from browning during cooking. In this invention, these problems have been resolved by reversing the packaging sequence, the seasoning being introduced into the container before the food in solid phase. This in turn requires, according to the apparent novelty of this invention, the essential use of gelatin in the seasoning so that a gelled and relatively firm layer of seasoning is formed at the top so that the food in solid phase can be supported.

The process of our invention does not present such restrictions in the packaging and does not require the use of gelatin. ^" The packaging sequence of food and sauce is not essential and can be carried out in any order. This flexibility is a considerable industrial advantage of this process.

The preferred embodiment of the process for preparing packaged meat products in sauce according to the invention comprises a "food then sauce" packaging sequence, distinguishing it from less flexible processes having the opposite sequence, which are also necessary. This flexibility can be attributed essentially to the nature and composition of the sauces and seasonings used and to the prior cooking step used in the other process. Thus, the difficulties previously encountered by specialists have been satisfactorily eliminated by us, without recourse to the use of gelatin, with its effects on the aesthetic and taste characteristics of the sauce and without the drawback of packaging. due to the need to put the sauce phase or seasoning to a semi-rigid rubbery state before adding the solid phase food.

We have not encountered any problem of expulsion of sauce by boiling or roasting in cases where the sauce is added to the food since only relatively low temperatures are necessary for reheating the product according to the invention, compared to those necessary for the complete cooking of the food, as must be done in other processes when it is packaged raw and / or only partially cooked. In addition, as the food is easily cooked according to our invention, it is browned and thus has the aesthetic attributes of cooked and uncooked food before packaging. Finally, as the sauces according to our invention are completely mixed until their final consistency before packaging, including mixing with the cooking juices of the food, and can resist variations in consistency due to thermal variations, problems of improper or incomplete mixing of the sauce ingredients in the container do not exist.

The food products prepared according to the process of the invention and using the new combination of rice starch and carob flour as essential ingredients for the portion of the product in sauce, are ideally suited to large-scale industrial or institutional organizations such as that airlines, catering services, restaurants, hospitals and schools, when many meals need to be stored with a small footprint, prepared quickly and served with minimal effort and the inconvenience of frequent and recurrent.

These products are obviously also well suited as prepared foods for use at home.

The food products according to the invention have a number of desirable attributes such as great flexibility for storage conditions, since they can be refrigerated for long periods retaining the stability of the sauces, a small footprint and convenience of storage in combined trays forming containers and serving trays, which can be easily stacked or shelved and sealed, they do not require any preparation or direct handling of the apart from reheating the container, reheating can be done quickly and conveniently in minimal time, since the food is already cooked, and it gives great flexibility and a wide variety of menus, with a wide range of meats and of fish in the form of entries in sauce or seasoned which can be thus prepared. Another advantage of the food products according to the invention and an improvement over the products already created, is the aesthetic appearance of the final packaged product. The food is arranged in a very clean and attractive way for the eye in the serving tray-tray and moreover, given its precooked state, it is already browned and has the visual characteristics of a completely prepared meal. , ready to be served. The serving tray containers, made of plastic, can be embellished with decorations giving the appearance of a serving plate so that the aesthetic appearance of the product for the consumer is further improved. This contrasts greatly with the _^ method for packing and presentation many packaged food products from the meat-type sauce, previously created, including those described in United States Patent Patent No. 3,132,029, wherein the food is packed in a flat plastic bag. Although these products may have the desirable convenience characteristic, they are usually only of a common variety and consumers tend to view them only as common foods, so often they at least unconsciously consider whether they consume less than a meal prepared in a restaurant or cooked at home. The aesthetic presentation of food products according to the invention on the other hand increases the wide variety of dishes, many of which are exotic, which can be prepared according to our invention. . We have prepared around a hundred varieties of dishes with the corresponding sauces, according to our process. Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows the relationship between the viscosity of the sauce and the pH for various concentrations of locust bean meal.

FIG. 2 represents the sequence in time of the steps of a method for preparing sauces according to the invention, when the steps are carried out in the container for preparing sauces. FIG. 3 represents the sequence of steps of an integrated process for the preparation of all prepared and packaged food products of the meat-in-sauce type. Ways to realize the invention

In tests of various ingredients during the preparation of sauces and seasonings with the desired attributes of consistency and smoothness, it has been observed that natural rice starch is an excellent ingredient as the main thickening agent. Rice starch can absorb large amounts of liquid, this property being directly responsible for its usefulness as a thickening agent. In addition, rice starch has excellent emulsifying properties, making it particularly useful for the preparation of sauces and seasonings since this property allows it to interact physically with the fat used in the formulation, thus forming a sauce or seasoning of uniform consistency resistant to separation of the constituents. Thanks to the preparation of various sauces and seasonings in a wide range of pH values, it has been observed that rice starch is the only ingredient which does not show a change in properties when the pH changes, especially in the acid range. The formulation and preparation of various sauces across a range of pH values has made it possible to develop a correlation between the optimal weight percentage of rice starch to be used in a given recipe and the pH. When the acidity increases, an increase in the amount of rice starch used is necessary.

Thus, in the case of a red wine sauce having a pH equal to 6, the rice starch constitutes optimally 1.7% of the weight of the composition as a whole whereas, in the case of a sauce of pork tongue having a pH of 4.5, the rice starch is brought optimally to 2.1% by weight of the overall composition.

Trials of ingredients intended to form sauces having the desired properties have likewise shown that carob flour is an excellent ingredient for a suitable bonding of all the ingredients of the sauce, giving them considerable properties of oncosity and of consistency in a wide range of temperatures.

Our tests have shown the existence of a correlation between the viscosity of a sauce at a given pH and the weight percentage of carob flour used optimally for a given sauce recipe as a function of its pH. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the viscosity of the sauce and ^'the pH for carob flour concentrations of 0.5 and 0.88% by weight of the compo¬ sition total sauce. Among all the ingredients and combinations tested, the use of rice starch and carob flour in primordial combination as described according to the invention gave the most satisfactory sauces, as has been found.

Finally, during tests of formulations of sauces and seasonings containing liquid ingredients, especially cooking juices of meat or fish, with various degrees of water hardness, it was observed that there was a correlation inverse between the viscosity of the final sauce and the hardness of the water. Thus, when the hardness of the water increases, the viscosity of the composition decreases. In this way, softened water is preferably used in the preparation of the sauces and seasonings according to the invention. The sauces according to the invention are prepared during a multi-step operation. FIG. 2 illustrates the sequence over time - of the processing steps in this process, when the steps are performed in the sauce preparation container. A certain quantity of solid fat such as lard or butter is first melted in a cooking container. Alternatively, a fat such as a thick cream which is liquid at room temperature can be used. Mixtures of fats can also be used. The selection of fat to use is determined by the nature of the sauce to be prepared. The fat constitutes 1.5 to 2.5% by weight of the total sauce composition depending on the particular sauce prepared.

The preparation of the sauce is preferably carried out in a cooking device of the "jacketed cauldron" type comprising a double-walled container forming an internal space for cooking and mixing the ingredients, surrounded on the sides and on the bottom by an external space. closed in which can be injected a heating fluid such as water vapor. Such a device is desirable because it allows a good temperature adjustment and prevents overcooking of delicate sauces which can occur when the sauces must be prepared in a container which is directly in contact with an open flame. , the wrong temperature setting and irregular heating can easily form "hot spots" in the wall of the container which conduct too much heat to the contents. Other devices allowing precise temperature regulation can however also be used and the preparation of sauces is not limited to such containers of the type of jacketed kettles. The fat is heated to a temperature of around 120 ° C. The rice starch is then added to the hot fat so that the overall ratio of starch to fat is about 50/50 by weight. Rice starch also constitutes 1.5 to 2.5% by weight of the total composition of the sauce depending on the particular sauce prepared. The mixture of starch and fat is cooked for a few minutes, from 2 to 8 and preferably 3 to 5 minutes, always around 120 ° C.

At this time, the liquid cooking fluid which settles from the. separate cooking of meat or fish is added to the sauce base. This liquid is composed either of hot oil or water depending on the cooking process of the food (i.e. stir-fry or boiled respectively), and it also contains the juices of cooking meat or fish and pieces of vegetables, if necessary, to add flavor. Alternatively, when the particular sauce prepared does not require meat or fish materials or, in addition, when the recipe requires it, other liquids, in particular wine, vinegar or juices extracted from vegetables such as mushrooms, can be added to the base of the sauce. The total liquid phase materials added at this time form 70 to 90% by weight of the total composition of the sauce depending on the sauce prepared. The temperature of the cooking ingredients is, -, then reduced to around 100 ° C.

During this phase of the sauce preparation, the rice starch expands by absorption of the liquids from the materials introduced in the liquid phase, so that the sauce thickens.

The mixture is brought to a boil, and the remaining ingredients of the composition of the sauce, consisting of aromatics and spices and carob flour, are added. Carob flour constitutes 0.3 to 1.0% by weight of the total composition of the sauce depending on the sauce prepared. The spices and spices also constitute the unspecified quantity such as the total of all ingredients is 100%. The final mixture can then cook at a temperature between 90 and 100 ° C, preferably between 95 and 100 ° C, for an additional period. The total cooking time, from the addition of the decanted liquid phase from the cooking operation of food and / or other liquids, until the addition of the remaining ingredients and the end of cooking , is between 10 and 30 minutes depending on the nature of the sauce prepared.

When the cooking is finished, the final sauce in the cooking container is vigorously mixed, for example with an electric mixer for several minutes, between 2 and 5 minutes, depending on the nature of the sauce, so that all the ingredients are mixed homogeneously and that the binder consisting of carob flour is distributed regularly.

Finished sauces, around 80 ° C, are pumped out of the preparation container to ^• sauce dosing machines and, when prepared as part of a packaged food product all prepared with meat in sauce of the integrated type, as described below, they are used for the operation of distributing sauces or, in a variant, the sauces can be packaged separately for example to be sold at retail. The separately wrapped sauce must be pasteurized by implementing a processing step described in more detail below.

The food products according to this invention, using sauces prepared as described above, are prepared according to the process which follows in several stages. Figure 3 shows the sequence of processing steps.

The raw solid food ingredients of the dish to be prepared, for example meat or fish or vegetables, are obtained in bulk in the fresh or frozen state. Preferably, raw materials are used and fresh to obtain the highest culinary quality final food products. Frozen raw materials can also be used, however, and they provide prepared meals of acceptable quality.

When raw and fresh materials are used, these are initially prepared by cleaning, washing and, if necessary, removing excess fat, bones and undesirable or inedible parts such as stems or leaves. Alternatively, when using frozen raw materials, the initial preparation includes thawing the ingredients.

The raw solid food ingredients, ready for further processing, are then cut into smaller pieces or sections before being cooked. These smaller pieces have uniform dimensions and weights.

The cooking of the raw food is carried out by implementing conventional thermal processes, either by cooking in boiling water or sauteed in hot oil. The pieces or sections of meat or fish are placed in a suitable cooking container containing water or oil, according to the cooking method adopted. Small pieces of vegetables such as onions and / or carrots can be removed to improve the taste.

The food is then cooked until the desired preparation is obtained. Cooking in a stir-fry form in hot oil is carried out at a temperature of the order of 180 ° C. Cooking in boiling water is carried out at a temperature of around 100 ° C. The cooking times, which depend on the process and the nature of the dish prepared, are between 7 minutes and 2 hours.

When the cooking is finished, the cooked meat or fish is separated from the liquid phase. The remaining liquid phase consists of water or oil forming the cooking fluid which now contains the cooking juices of meat or fish. The liquid also contains vegetables that may have been added. This liquid is used for the preparation of sauces, as described above.

The cooked meat or fish, having no moisture around it, is transferred into containers which also have the role of constituting a dish for reheating and a serving tray. We have found that high density polyethylene is an excellent material for making these containers although other heat resistant plastics or other materials may be used. Based on the measured weight "after curing" small pieces or sections of meat or fish, the containers can be ^'filled with the known weight of food, so that they constitute individual portions or portions for many people. We have prepared both single serving trays and eight serving containers, but there are no restrictions on the range of sizes that can be packaged.

The packed containers containing the solid food are then placed in a sauce dosing machine in which the sauce is added to the container. The sauce added to the container is at a temperature of about 80 ° C. It is desirable that the sauce covers the food and flows around it in the container and is distributed evenly.

The sauce dosing machine is filled with the sauce suitable for the dish being prepared from the sauce preparation container. The dosing machine is of a type known in the food processing industry and is readily available commercially.

Such machines are intended to uniformly distribute a previously measured quantity of content, through a spout or opening of small diameter, by depressing a button, releasing a lever or other similar action. These machines can also be easily adapted for use in an automatic filling line. Although having found that in most cases the preferred sequence included placing portions of solid food in the containers first and then adding the measured amount of sauce, the scope of the process of the invention as previously stated is not limited to this procedure. Alternatively, under certain circumstances, it may be desirable to reverse the sequence and distribute the sauce first into the containers and then place the meat or fish parts. The first method is preferable when the sauce has a low to medium viscosity so that the sauce is not sprayed as during the later addition of the solid food. This prevents the creation of a stained and unattractive final package. The other method is better suited to cases where the sauce used is thick and has a high viscosity. Such sauces are more resistant to the impact of solid foods placed later in the container and are less likely to be thrown and soil the package. Final garnish ingredients such as cooked bacon, cooked mushrooms, etc. can then possibly be added.

The containers filled with food and sauce are then placed in a combined packaging-sealing and vacuuming machine. The containers are placed in the machine chamber and are first covered with a plastic film. This can be dispensed by a continuous roller and cut from it. The film is heat sealed on the plastic container at around 150 ° C.

We have found that a preferred material for coating the container is a film of plastic material with two layers comprising an inward facing layer formed of polyamide bonded to an outward facing layer and consisting of a polyethylene. medium density. Such a film constitutes an ideal barrier against the passage of air and moisture between the contents container and outside.

The machine chamber is then closed and the air is removed from the containers by pumping through a small opening in the containers. These are put at reduced pressure in the chamber, between 400 and 600 torr (millimeters of mercury). When the desired vacuum conditions have been reached, the small container openings are mechanically welded so that air cannot re-enter the containers. The creation of a depression in the containers facilitates the retardation of oxidation and the reduction of the formation of food waste during storage. The wrap-seal and vacuum machine is of a type commonly used in the food processing industry. These machines are readily available on the market.

The hermetically sealed and sealed containers are then sent to a pasteurization unit. They are then. heated. under carefully regulated temperature conditions so that the package and its contents are sterilized. Bacteria that may be on the outside of the package as well as in the food and which can cause food to spoil are thermally destroyed. The packages are pasteurized by immersion in a hot water bath. The temperature of the bath and the duration of the pasteurization operation are precisely regulated. Conditions are also a function of the type of pasteurized food. Conditions have been optimized for a wide range of edible dishes. The temperature range of the hot water bath is between about 90 and 106 ° C. The corresponding temperatures reached in the food itself are between 80 and 95 ° C respectively. The range of pasteurization times is between 30 minutes and 2 hours. These conditions are severe enough that all bacteria that affect the condition of the food content are destroyed. It is important that the pas- teurization is suitable so that the bacteria are destroyed without the temperatures reached being too high and being maintained for too long because the food already cooked could be overcooked and its appearance and / or taste could be deteriorated.

After the end of pasteurization, the hot water bath placed in the assembly is evacuated and replaced by a cold water bath so that the temperature of the packages of containers is lowered, in a preliminary stage of refrigeration. The cold water bath, at approximately 150 ° C., is kept for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The temperature of the food is reduced to around 30 ° C.

The cooled containers are then removed from the pasteurization unit and transmitted to a cooled chamber maintained at approximately 0 ° C., so that they are stored in refrigerated form. The packets produced reach a temperature of around 4 ° C in this refrigerated storage.

^• The packages finally produced are distributed to the industrial or institutional user or to the retailer by refrigerated transport at a temperature not exceeding 7 ° C.

The "storage time" of the final product, from storage in a refrigerated room to final consumption, is around 4 weeks for fish dishes and around 8 weeks for meat dishes.

The packets produced can be reheated so that they are ultimately served by the institutional or industrial user or by the retail consumer either by immersion in hot water, at 100 ° C, or by heating by microwaves. The food can also be reheated in a conventional oven to at least 250 ° C. This other method can be used with the food in the packaging tray, but only when the container used is not made of plastic or a plastic having sufficient thermal resistance. Food products packed in conventional high density polyethylene containers cannot be reheated in the oven.

Reheating times depend on the process used and the size of the portion. In an individual portion, the reheating time is 10 minutes in boiling water and 3 minutes for microwave heating. In a package of 8 servings, the reheating time is for example 30 minutes for boiling water and 20 minutes for heating by microwaves.

The process for preparing food products according to the invention easily adapts to continuous or discontinuous manufacturing. A continuous, fully automatic processing procedure can be easily implemented so that a large number of elementary food products, which may be necessary for large-scale industrial users, are formed. EXAMPLES

The following examples illustrate several embodiments of the various aspects of this invention. It should be noted that the scope of the invention is not however limited to these examples. Example 1

A food and a sauce for about 100 portions of beef bourguignon were prepared, with the following ingredients, in the quantities and percentages indicated.

Cooking food Beef (raw, in cubes of 54 g each) 17,000 kilograms Water 12,000 liters red wine 8,000 liters

0.275 kilogram tomato

The beef was browned in lard in a frying pan and then simmered at boiling temperature for 2 hours in water and wine with tomato.

After cooking, the meat was removed from the liquids and the tomato. The liquids have been decanted so that they are used for the preparation of the sauce.

Preparation of the sauce About 20 kilograms of sauce were prepared using lard and decanted liquids from cooking the meat.

Ingredient% by weight

Lard 1, 733

Rice starch 1,733

Cooking juices, water and red wine 80.607. Vegetables 4,210

Herbs and spices 11,222

Carob flour - 0.495

. - 100,000

The sauce was prepared according to the method of the invention as described in more detail in the description.

Packaging of the product Individual portions of a meat food product in bourguignon beef sauce were packed as follows:

Cooked beef, 3 pieces 0.085 kilogram.

0.135 kilogram sauce

0.010 kilogram pieces of bacon

Mushrooms 0.010 kilograms Total net food weight ____ 0.240 kilograms

EURO BQ 26 containers were used for packaging the product. The containers were pasteurized at 106 ° C for 2 hours. Example 2 A food and a sauce for about 100 portions of Bordeaux stew of chicken were prepared with the following ingredients, in the amounts and percentages indicated.

Cooking the food Chicken legs and wings 20,000 kilograms (about 190 grams each, cut into two pieces from boneless chicken carcasses of about 1 kilo¬ gram). The chicken pieces were browned with lard in a frying pan and then cooked in boiling water for 15 minutes. The pieces were then drained and cooked with the rest of the chicken carcasses for 1 hour.

Preparation of the sauce About 13 kilograms of sauce were prepared using lard and decanted liquids from cooking the meat. Ingredient% by weight

Lard 1,602

Rice starch 1, 602-

Cooking juices 38,712

Red wine 38,712 Vegetables 3,476

• Herbs and spices 15,362

Carob flour 0, 534

100,000 •. The sauce has been prepared according to the method of the invention as described in more detail in the description.

Product packaging Individual portions of Bordeaux style chicken stew, a meat-based food product in sauce, were packaged as follows:

Cooked chicken, 1 wing and 1 leg 0.135 kg

Sauce 0.125 kg

0.200 kg pieces of bacon

Mushrooms 0.200 kilograms Total net weight of food 0.300 kilograms

DYNO 522 containers were used for product packaging.

The packages were pasteurized at 106 ° C for 1 hour. Example 3

Recipe for a white butter sauce not using the cooking juices of separately cooked meat or fish. About 100 liters of sauce were prepared by the following operations using the ingredients used in the specified quantities.

Preparation of a "reduction" Ingredients Quantity (liters)

White wine 6,500

White vinegar 3,250

Shallots (cut into 6 mm pieces) 4,540 Butter 1, 760 16,050

The whole mixture was cooked to a reduction of 7.355 liters.

Composition of the sauce

Ingredient Quantity (liters) "Reduction" 7.355

Butter (1 part). - 2,140

Rice starch 1,300

Heavy cream 65,630

^• Water 12.540 ^'Butter ^(Part 2) 9,460

Carob flour 0.360

Table salt 0.940

White pepper 0.130

99.855 Preparation procedure

1) - Lightly brown the shallots in the butter; moisten with white vinegar and reduce.

2) - Drain the shallots in a colander.

3) - Prepare separately the rice starch and butter mixture comprising the rice starch and the first part of the butter for the sauce.

4) - Add the water, thickened crème fraîche and the drained liquid of the shallots.

5) - Add salt and pepper. 6) - Stir in the second part of the butter for the sauce at full boil and mix.

7) - Add the carob flour while mixing.

8) - Add shallots, mix with a whisk. The sauce was packed in individual portions of 0.240 kilograms using EURO BQ 26 containers and in multiple portions of 2.250 kilograms using DYNO 501 or MONO BPE 250 containers. The packages were pasteurized to 90 ° C during

40 minutes.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method of preparing a sauce or seasoning composition which comprises: heating about 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of a fat to about 120 ° C, adding about 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of rice starch to the fat heated so that a first mixture is formed, cooking the first mixture at 120 ° C., - the addition of approximately 70 to 90 parts in weight of at least one liquid such as water, oil, cooking juices, fish juices, wine, vinegar or vegetable juice, to the first mixture so that a second mixture is formed, the swelling of rice starch. by contact with the liquid so that the second thickened mixture, heating the second mixture thickened ébulli¬ tion, addition of about 0.3 to 1 part by weight ^'of locust bean gum and from about 4 to 26 , 7 parts by weight of at least one flavor or spice so that a third mixture is formed, cooking the third mixture for a time sufficient for the desired sauce or seasoning to be obtained, and mixing the sauce or seasoning so that a homogeneous composition is obtained.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the fat and rice starch are present in equal amounts.

3. Method according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the first mixture is cooked for 2 to 8 minutes approximately.

4. Method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein at least two of the liquids are added to the first mixture.

5. Method according to any one of the claims cations 1 to 4, in which the liquid comprises a part of aromatics or spices, while the rest of aromatics or spices is added with carob flour in the second mixture to 1 boil.

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising reducing the temperature of the second mixture to about 100 ° C after the addition of the liquid.

7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which the total cooking time from the moment when the liquid is added until the moment when the desired sauce or seasoning is obtained is about 10 to 30 minutes.

8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the mixing of the sauce or the seasoning is ensured by an electric mixing device.

9. A method of preparing a packaged food product, which comprises: the preparation of at least one raw food ingredient of meat, fish ^" or vegetables, by cleaning and then removing the inedible or undesirable parts of the food ingredient, cutting the food ingredient to one or more predetermined dimensions, cooking the ingredient - "food to the desired degree in a fluid based on water or oil, decanting the fluid based on water or oil so that the cooking juices of the cooked food ingredient are recovered, the preparation of a sauce or seasoning by: adding about 70 to 90 parts by weight of the cooking juices to a first mixture of approximately 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of a fat and approximately 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of rice starch after cooking the first mixture at 120 ° C. so that 'a second mixture is formed, swelling of rice starch on contact 28 with the liquid so that the second mixture thickens, heating the second mixture thickened to boiling, addition of approximately 0.3 to 1 part by weight of carob flour and from approximately 4 to 26.7 parts in weight of at least one flavor or spice so that a third mixture is formed, cooking the third mixture for a time sufficient for a desired sauce or seasoning to be obtained, and mixing the sauce or seasoning so that 'a homogeneous composition is obtained, the arrangement of predetermined weighed parts of the food ingredient cooked in a package or container, the addition of a predetermined quantity of the sauce or the seasoning to the container, the tight seal of the package or container so that a tightly packaged food product is formed, the pasteurization of the product so that any bacteria are destroyed, and the storage of the product cooled under refrigerated conditions erected until further heating and service.

10. A method of preparing a packaged food product, which comprises: the preparation of at least one raw food ingredient of meat, fish or vegetables, by cleaning and then removing the inedible or undesirable parts of the food ingredient, cutting the food ingredient to one or more predetermined dimensions, cooking the food ingredient to the desired degree in a water or oil-based fluid, decanting the water-based fludie or oil so that the cooking juices are recovered from the ingredient cooked food, preparing a sauce or seasoning by: adding about 70 to 90 parts by weight of the cooking juices to a first mixture of about 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of a fat and about 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight of rice starch after cooking the first mixture at 120 ° C so that a second mixture is formed, swelling of the rice starch on contact with the liquid so that the second mixture thickens, heating of the second mixture thickened with boiling, addition of approximately 0.3 to 1 part by weight of carob flour and from approximately 4 to 26.7 parts by weight of at least minus one flavoring or spice so that a third mixture is formed, cooking the third mixture for sufficient time for a desired sauce or seasoning to be obtained, and mixing the sauce or seasoning so that homogeneous composition is obtained, the addition of a predetermined amount of the sauce or seasoning in the reci pient, the provision of predetermined weighed portions of the food ingredient cooked in a package or container, the sealed closure of the package or container so that a food product packaged in a sealed manner is formed, the pasteurization of the product so that bacteria be destroyed, and the storage of the product cooled under refrigerated conditions until further heating and service.

11. Method according to one of claims 9 and 10, wherein the ingredients ^of food are obtained frozen and is thawed prior preparation.

12. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, in which the food ingredient is cooked by being sautéed in hot oil at approximately 180 ° C., by simmering in boiling water at approximately 100 ° C. or by a combination of such cookings.

13. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, in which the food ingredient is cooked for 7 minutes to 2 hours.

14. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, in which the food ingredient is packaged in plastic containers based on high density polyethylene covered by heat-sealing a two-layer plastic film comprising a layer of a polyamide bonded to a layer of a polyethylene of medium density, the face of the polyamide of the film facing the food ingredient. -

15. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, in which the packages or containers are hermetically sealed under a vacuum of between 400 and 600 torr (millimeters of mercury).

16. Method according to one. any of claims 9 to 15, in which the pasteurization step comprises immersing sealed packages or containers in a hot water bath at a temperature between 90 and 106 ° C and for a time between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

17. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, in which the packaged products are stored while being refrigerated at a temperature between 0 and 7 ° C for a time between 4 and 8 weeks.

18. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 17, in which the packaged products are reheated by immersion in boiling water or by heating by microwaves.

19. Method according to any one of claims 9 to 18, in which all the processing steps are completely automated in a continuous production chain.

20. A method of improving the consistency, smoothness and uniformity of a sauce or seasoning composition which comprises: adding rice starch to the composition in an amount sufficient for it plays the role of a main thickening agent, and the addition of carob flour to the composition in an amount sufficient for it to play the role of a binding agent, the relative amounts of rice starch and carob flour being such that the weight ratio of rice starch to carob flour is between 2.5 / 1 and 5/1 approximately.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the amount of rice starch is between about 1.5 and 2.5% by weight of the overall composition, and the amount of carob flour is between about 0.3 and 1% of the weight of the overall composition.