The California Raisin Marketing Board’s (CRMB) fifth-annual America’s Best Raisin Bread Contest is now open, and all industry professionals and student bakers are encouraged to enter their most mouthwatering masterpieces in one or all of the three categories of this competition: Artisan, Commercial and Breakfast. All eligible contestants are:

• Bakers and research & development staff of commercial baking companies
• Craft bakers and retail shop owners/managers
• Certified baking teachers
• Students in accredited baking programs
• Bakery technicians at bakery supply wholesalers, flour milling companies and other allied bakery ingredient suppliers
• 18 years or older

Entries are accepted through July 15, 2012. Contest application, rules and additional details are available at www.loveyourraisins.com. The contest features two divisions, professional and student.

“This competition celebrates the creativity of both seasoned professionals and rising stars in the baking world, while highlighting the versatility of California Raisins as a flavor-packed ingredient,” says Larry Blagg, senior vice president of marketing for the CRMB. “The contest is an ideal way to showcase the endless varieties of delicious bread products that can be made from world-renowned California Raisins.”

Preliminary contest judging will take place in August. A total of 36 finalists will receive a complimentary trip to the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan., October 11-13, 2012, where they will bake their formulas before a panel of distinguished judges from both the artisan and commercial baking industries. A total of 12 winners—nine in the professional division and three in student division—will be selected.

Winners will be selected based on their formula’s taste, appearance, originality and value. The California Raisin Marketing Board seeks to encourage the use of healthy ingredients. Formulas that feature 100% whole grains and/or gluten-free ingredients will be awarded in each division.

In addition to industry-wide recognition, winning bakers will receive a five-day California educational vacation with visits to The Culinary Institute of America and Yosemite National Park.

Photo: Luminita Cirstea was a recent co-grand-prize winner in “America’s Best Raisin Bread Contest” thanks to her entry, Raisin Rye Bread.

Focused on excellence in culinary education at all levels, Le Cordon Bleu (LCB) College of Culinary Arts is now offering a Certified Master Chef Preparation Program for full-time faculty and academic staff. This new program prepares qualified LCB employees to sit for the Certified Master Chef (CMC) exam—the industry’s highest level of achievement. Not only will the program provide an opportunity for staff to expand their skill set, but those who successfully complete the program will be able to gain recognition for their achievements from the American Culinary Federation.

“Le Cordon Bleu is dedicated to offering the highest level of support and development for our staff,” said Edward Leonard, CMC, vice president and corporate executive chef of Le Cordon Bleu. “The program will help our staff master their craft and demonstrate their vast industry experience and credentials to our students.”

The CMC certification is the most rigorous professional certification granted to U.S. chefs, requiring 130 hours of instruction, menu preparation and timed cooking tests leading up to an eight-day exam. Certified Master Chefs must possess advanced professional culinary skills, kitchen safety and sanitation knowledge and have mastered cooking techniques.

The Institute of Culinary Arts at Robert Morris University held its fifth-annual symposium for culinary students, educators and hospitality professionals on April 13, 2012, at the main RMU campus in downtown Chicago. Titled The Five Taste Senses, the conference focused on the culinary approach to food through the five taste senses of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami—a Japanese term meaning “pleasant savory taste.”

The symposium began with keynote speaker Chef Cleetus Friedman, owner of City Provisions, Chicago’s green, locally focused catering company and recipient of the coveted Sustain Illinois 2009 Award. After opening remarks, the symposium opened with three tracks that included the following sessions:

Mary Margaret McCamic, instructor of wine and communication studies at the Morrisville, N.C., campus of The Chef’s Academy (www.thechefsacademy.com), the Culinary Division of Harrison College, recently was awarded the prestigious Wines of Australia Scholarship.

The overall top-scoring graduates of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s (WSET) Diploma of Wine and Spirits (DWS) program of study in five markets—Canada, United States, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Ireland—are awarded the scholarship by Wines of Australia. McCamic completed her DWS studies, the highest level offered through WSET, last September and, based upon her overall results, was the nation’s top scorer to earn the designation as Wines of Australia’s 2011 United States representative.

McCamic is among nine scholarship recipients worldwide who gained a unique insight into the Australian wine industry with an eight-day study excursion last month. Prior to receiving the competitive award, McCamic earned her bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing and her master’s degree in teaching from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As she was settling into her career as a high-school English teacher, McCamic developed a passion for wine, leading her to study at New York’s International Wine Center in Manhattan, where she completed her WSET wine courses, one of the most challenging courses of wine study in the United States.

Alfonso Contrisciani, CMC, recently joined the Hocking College McClenaghan Center for Hospitality Training in Nelsonville, Ohio. Contrisciani has 32 years of culinary experience, including orchestrating several presidential dinners in Washington, D.C., as well as President Obama’s Inaugural Balls, and has been featured on Food Network.

He teaches savory, baking and pastry and meat-, poultry- and fish-fabrication classes at Hocking, and will serve as director of Continuing Education and Contract Food Service.

“Hocking College culinary program currently has all the elements key to training the chefs and hospitality operators of tomorrow,” Contrisciani said. “Located in the center of Ohio's agricultural district, the students have all the necessary sources of local and regionally produced fresh products to learn their craft.”

Chef David Kramer, associate professor of culinary arts at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., is one of six chefs and foodservice professionals nationwide to win a 2012 United Fresh Produce Excellence in Foodservice Award. Nominated by Chicago-based Testa Produce, Inc., Kramer won in the Business in Industry & Colleges category. The awards program, created by the United Fresh Produce Association and sponsored by PRO*ACT, honors chefs and their companies for innovative and influential use of produce in the culinary arts.

The winners were selected from nearly 120 nominations submitted by produce companies and foodservice operations across North America. A panel of produce and foodservice-industry leaders reviewed each nominee’s demonstrated incorporation of fresh produce into menu development, use of protocols for correct storage and handling of produce, leadership in produce-related community service, and special events and recognition by their company and industry peers.