A team of five students enrolled in the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts’ associate and baccalaureate programs on beat three other teams to win the 2015 National Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl on Aug. 1 at the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) National Convention & Show at the Orlando (Fla.) World Center Marriott.

Their success reclaims the title and is the third win for a Kendall College team in the last six years of this national competition. Earlier this year in Indianapolis, the Kendall team swept the annual regional competition for a sixth consecutive year to qualify for the national final.

The Kendall College team, consisting of Alex Gabrielson (captain; Pella, Iowa), Michael Lanzerotte (Bloomington, Ill.), Emily Mankus (Lincolnshire, Ill.), Nelia Salvi (Madison, Wis.) and Alex Szabo (Prescott, Ariz.), competed against student teams from professional foodservice-training programs at schools in Riverhead, N.Y., Savannah, Ga., and Kirkland, Wash., representing the ACF’s Northeast, Southeast and Western Regions, respectively. Culinary student Mike Kubiesa (Elmhurst, Ill.) served as a second alternate on Kendall’s team.

If you think you can’t teach sauces within a 50-minute context, you absolutely can, says Chef Weiner. But first, you need to prep … yourself.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Sauces can greatly elevate a dish. A poached egg is nothing special. Take that poached egg and put it in a muffin and add a slice of ham and you have a breakfast sandwich served throughout the country at countless fast-food places. Place that poached egg on top of an English muffin with a slice of ham and add hollandaise sauce, and you have something wonderful.

The Gold Medal Classroom The official ezine for CAFE November 2015 issue

Becoming unique, contemporary and benchmark setting defines a brand. Here’s a checklist to determine if your program is forward thinking or merely churning out graduates. Start by asking yourself, “How is my program perceived in the marketplace?”

Learning to act sustainably requires a mindset change, and long-term thinking must replace short-term thinking. Teaching why sustainability is so important now and in the future will arm your graduates with the power to make sound ecological decisions.

Telling people to be the best they can be allows them to quit striving whenever they want. To be the best in your field, however, one must always strive for the next level. This is the generations-long American Dream that we, as teachers, offer our students.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

I would like to dedicate this article to my two mentors and instructors for my California Teaching Credential: Susan Clark and the recently passed Lee Clark.

In this article I would like to revisit two previously published articles.

The first article is “Assessing Culinary Math Skills,” September 2011. This article has received more than 3,500 hits, and is one of the most popular articles that I have written. It is a culinary-math assessment test that I believe should be utilized by all instructors within the first week of a student starting your class.

Sadly, I have noticed that in the four years since I first wrote this assessment, scores are dropping. Today, I had a new student ask me how to triple the first ingredient in a recipe. The first ingredient was “one cup of water.”

According to Mintel research, more than half of U.S. consumers think organic labeling is simply an excuse to charge more, and more than a third regard “organic” as a marketing term with no real value or definition.

Organics would seem tailor-made for shoppers seeking foods and beverages that are healthier for them, their families and the planet, but new research from Mintel reveals that Americans appear confused about the benefits of organics, with many perceiving the organic label as nothing more than an excuse to sell products at a premium.

Overall, the biggest selling point for organics is the perception that the products are healthier (72%)—much more so than any environmental or ethical reason. In fact, only 29% of consumers recognize that organic products are highly regulated, and 51% agree that labeling something as organic is an excuse to charge more. While sales of organic products are on the rise, actual consumer penetration has plateaued.

Organics Are Healthy, Right?
Overall, 72% of U.S. consumers purchase organic food and/or beverages for health or nutrition reasons, while slightly fewer (69%) factor environmental or ethical reasons in their purchase decision.

When looking specifically at female shoppers, this consumer group appears to choose products that avoid certain characteristics: 43% purchase them because they do not contain unnecessary ingredients or chemicals, and the same percentage do so to avoid food made with pesticides.

For 17 years, Worlds of Flavor in Napa Valley has been considered by the industry to be America’s most influential professional forum on world cuisines, food cultures and flavor trends. This year’s event didn’t disappoint.

The trend to Asian tastes and techniques has been growing exponentially in the United States for years. It never came together with such enthusiasm and promise as it did at the 17^th Worlds of Flavor® International Conference and Festival, held in April on the Greystone campus of The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley in front of an audience of more than 700 culinary, foodservice and hospitality professionals.

“The vastly varied cuisines of Asia are deeply rooted in traditions that have evolved over millennia,” said Greg Drescher, vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at the CIA. “Today, American chefs are embracing and experimenting with what once was considered exotic. These foods and flavors are poised to continue their ascendance and become ever-bigger players in our national dining scene, whether it is in small independent restaurants, high-volume operations, food trucks or university cafés.”

Versatile Idaho^® Potatoes provide the canvas as culinarians get creative.

For a dish of humble Canadian origin, poutine—a savory amalgam of crispy French fries gilded with cheese curds, beef gravy and an optional egg—has quickly established a substantial presence on American menus.

A distinctive variation on loaded fries and an American quick-service favorite, poutines of all stripes are popping up in fast-food and casual-dining operations across the country, much to the delight and enjoyment of customers who enjoy their fries with a side of creativity.

Whether served as an appetizer or entrée, poutine is a popular dish that starts with a menu basic—crisp Idaho^® potato French fries—and can absorb other standard menu ingredients with aplomb and style. For example, surplus short-rib orders make a rich, meaty gravy. Cheeses salvaged from salad and appetizer orders melt atop sizzling fries to offer an intriguing new flavor profile.

Finally, we’ve talked fries, but why stop there? Idaho hash browns, tots and country potatoes also provide an excellent foundation for a signature poutine.