This study focuses on the expectations of restaurant managers and perceived attributes of halal certification in Malaysia. Halal certification at restaurants represents the understanding that foods is served according to Islamic dietary laws. Halal means permitted or lawful or fit for consumption. As well as its importance in Muslim countries, the demand for halal food is growing internationally as a result of increasing trade, tourism and globalization. Therefore, halal certification is seen as an important aspect in both the Malaysian and the international restaurant and hospitality industries. Halal certification in an eating premises means that both the restaurants, as well as the entire food supply chain, conform to Islamic dietary rules which do not tolerate contamination by haram (prohibited) materials. Research for this thesis was undertaken by both a mail survey and interviews with restaurant managers. For the survey, a systematic sampling method was applied whereby every fourth restaurant was selected from a list of all restaurants in Malaysia provided by the Companies Commission. A mail survey to 2080 restaurants was administered throughout Malaysia in July 2009. The number of completed and returned questionnaires was 643, indicating a 31% response rate. Data was then entered into a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for further analysis. The response rate was considered reasonable given the nature of the study and its limitations. In addition, 33 interviews with restaurant managers were conducted in five locations. The results indicate that restaurant managers have high expectations towards halal certification although there are different expectations between Muslim and non-Muslim respondents with respect to attributes such as food safety, hygiene, food quality, marketing aspects and certification issues. It is also gathered that there are significant differences between them with respect to market signals, Islamic attributes, marketing benefits, cost of compliance and local awareness. This thesis concludes that halal certification does yield some benefits in terms of market signals, Islamic attributes and marketing factors while there are also certain issues on cost and compliance that need to be addressed by related local authorities. The findings also indicate that halal restaurant food may have a broader appeal beyond religion and also contributes to Malaysia’s positioning as a tourism destination and a hub for the global halal market.

The purpose of this study is to determine the personal values systems of senior restaurant managers and what differences there are among the following values; gender, marital status, level of education, country awarding the highest degree, major field of study, income and size of organization.

La découpe de viandes et le filetage de poisson, destinés aux rois et aux nobles dans les siècles passés et, plus récemment, aux clients de la restauration traditionnelle, font partie de l’histoire de la gastronomie, au même titre que l’histoire de la cuisine. Ces pratiques, considérées comme une technique ou une science, voire, par certains, comme un art, bien que déjà présentes sous une forme ritualisée dans bien des textes mythologiques et des légendes fondatrices, ont connu plusieurs évolutions historiques. Dès le Moyen Âge, la pratique de la découpe des viandes et poissons auprès des élites s’est éloignée des techniques de la boucherie pour revêtir une dimension artistique. À partir de la Renaissance et jusqu’au XVIIIème siècle, les volailles et autres viandes sont filetées par les écuyers tranchants, véritables spécialistes qui effectuent des gestes empreints d’élégance, tel celui qui consiste à découper les viandes à la volée, maintenues en l’air en haut d’une fourchette. À partir du XVIIIème siècle, la découpe doit s’adapter aux changements sociaux : à la fin de l’Ancien Régime, en France, elle connaît une première grande évolution à la suite de changements radicaux dans la manière de concevoir la cuisine, puis avec l’apparition du service à la russe et la mise en valeur des rôts (pièces rôties) au centre du repas, évolution bientôt suivie par d’autres, en grande partie influencées par Marie-Antoine Carême puis Urbain Dubois et Emile Bernard. Plusieurs transformations sociales, culturelles et professionnelles auront aussi leur importance : la popularisation des sports d’hiver va marquer le déclin du poste de maître d’hôtel ; la loi Godart (juillet 1933) relative au contrôle et à la répartition des pourboires, va cristalliser le fameux conflit cuisine-salle ; par ailleurs, les « commandements de la nouvelle cuisine » prônés par Christian Millau et Henri Gault (1973) imposent la généralisation du service à l’assiette et rendent l’ancienne science du maître d’hôtel obsolète. Mais les pratiques de la découpe sont également présentes dans le foyer familial. De nombreux écrits sur les usages domestiques décrivent la manière de fileter viandes et poissons. Les pères de famille, dits amphitryons, possèdent et transmettent ce savoir-faire à l’occasion des réunions familiales. Traditionnellement, si la mère de famille officie en cuisine, le père de famille gère, en plus des boissons, les découpes de volailles et gigots. Mais, depuis la moitié du XXème siècle, ces usages sont en déclin. Malgré tout, l’art de la découpe a survécu sous forme de technique, dans certains restaurants et dans les écoles hôtelières, où il fait l’objet de débats houleux entre enseignants et professionnels, qui rejouent, à leur manière, la querelle des Anciens et des Modernes. La restauration française, actuellement en difficulté et en recherche de repères, a sans doute beaucoup à gagner de ces travaux sur les découpes et filetages devant les clients. En ce début du XXIème siècle, elle peut y retrouver une authenticité ancrée sur des racines profondes. / The carving tableside of meats, fishes and fruits, dedicated to kings and nobility in past centuries and demonstrated today in some traditional restaurants, is part of the history of gastronomy, as well as food history. Regarded as a technic or a science, or even as an art, this practice already present in a ritualized form in many mythological texts and founding legends, has undergone major changes in history. From the Middle Ages, it has moved away from the butchery techniques to get an artistic dimension. Since the Renaissance era to the eighteenth century, poultry and other meats are carved by real specialists called carving horsemen, who perform gestures imbued with elegance, like the « flying cut » (cutting the meat held in the air on top of a fork). From the eighteenth century, the cut must adapt to social changes at the end of the Old Regime in France, the first major carving art revolution follows radical changes in the way of designing food platers by chefs, then with the appearance of the russian service largely influenced by Marie-Antoine Carême and Urbain Dubois. The roast becomes the center of the meal. Subsequently, several social, cultural and professional changes will take place in the carving history : the popularization of winter sports that will mark the decline of carving station, the Godart law (July 1933), that legislates control of the distribution of tips and will crystallize the famous kitchen/waiting struggle, and finally the « commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine » led by Christian Millau and Henri Gault (1973) which impose the generalization of the plated service and render obsolete the ancient science of the maitre d’. But cutting practices is also found in the family home. Extensive litterature demonstrate how to thread meat and fish for domestic use. Fathers, called amphitryons in France, possess and transmit this knowledge during family gatherings. Traditionally, if the housewife officiates in the kitchen, the father manages, in addition to drinks, the cuts of poultry and legs of lamb. But since the mid-twentieth century, we must recognize that these uses are declining. Still, the art of cutting survived in the technical way, in some restaurants and hospitality schools, where it is subject of heated debate between teachers and professionals, replaying in their own way the quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. French restaurants, currently in great difficulty and in search of direction, have probably much to gain from a reflection on the return of threads and cut in front of customers. It would find, in our view, deep roots authenticity in this beginning of the 21st century.