Meals have three roles in Navy life: (1) to support physical health and fitness, (2) to build morale, and (3) to provide an occasion for socializing.

Holiday or Special Event Menus

Special meals for holidays or special meal celebrations (in GMs either afloat or ashore) provide opportunities for festivity among the crew. A well-planned special meal adds interest and creates real enthusiasm among the MSs and crew.

PREPARATION.- Creative menus may be planned using foods traditionally associated with the holiday. Research through the AFRS and the Navy Food Service, NAVSUP P-476, files should supply new ideas.

Fi ure 7-10 is a calendar listing special occasions generally celebrated. It is included for a handy reference.

The meal patterns suggested for breakfast, lunch, and dinner may be changed for holiday or specialty meals to include some extras for the celebration. Well-planned special meals will add interest and enthusiasm among cooks and patrons. They can be as simple or elaborate as time, personnel, and cost permit.

PRINTING.- Some GMs may have fancy menus printed for their entire cycle menu or for special events or holidays. The printed menu gives a kind of flavor of its own to special meals.  These menus need not be elaborate to be attractive. They can be simply produced using a graphics program on a computer or you can have them produced professionally through the supply system.

Usually if menus are to be printed professionally, they are either going to be used permanently for a cycle menu or for holiday menus repeating from year to year.

Brunch Menus

A brunch is neither breakfast nor lunch. Brunch is something of each of these meals, yet it has its own special identity. The distinguishing features of brunch are time of service and the special-occasion, leisurely atmosphere that can accompany a brunch meal. The brunch meal is usually served between breakfast and lunch time, generally on weekends and holidays.

Brunch menus need not be elaborate to be attractive and satisfying. A number of menu items maybe added to a heavy breakfast meal to make a brunch meal. These

Figure 7-10.-Calendar of special holidays and religious days.

may be extra ranging from first course to heavy entees to special types of cakes to complete the meal.

Imagination is the major key to successful brunch menus. Select luncheon entrees with staving power that combine easily and appetizingly with breakfast foods.

Above all, avoid overtaxing the cooking and serving facilities and personnel by planning menus that, for example, require too much oven space. Cooked-toorder foods are especially appropriate for brunch meals.

WARDROOM MENUS

As a senior MS assigned to a private mess you may hold the position of wardroom supervisor. Because of your knowledge and experience with foodservice and nutrition, the responsibility may rest with you to prepare and submit a nutritionally balanced cycle menu to the mess caterer for review. The mess caterer will then review the menu and submit it to the mess president for approval.

The same factors that affect the choice of foods used for the GM menu are used by the menu plainer to plan a private mess menu. The wardroom menu must also meet Navy nutritional requirements. As with the patrons of a GM, the preferences of wardroom mess members should be surveyed and considered in the menu-planning stage. The wardroom menu also should be limited to the supplies that are available. The menu should not be costly. Also there should be a moderation of high- and low-cost meals to keep the menu within the operating limits of the mess.