Maple Leaf Farms is calling for entries for the 2013 Discover Duck Recipe Contest now through June 7, 2013. Open to professional chefs and culinary students, the 2013 contest features more prizes than ever with awards for each of the top five finalists in the professional chef and culinary student categories.

This year’s contest challenges entrants to create an amazing duck appetizer or small plate recipes that can be shared by two to four people. Recipe entries must include a Maple Leaf Farms duck product and will be judged according to originality, flavor, accuracy of the recipe and innovative use of duck products. Professional and student chef recipes will be judged in separate categories, each with their own cash prizes.

The big traveling trophy is back again at Technology Center of DuPage (TCD) in Addison. On Feb. 23, TCD’s high-school culinary team pulled off a repeat state championship win at the 12th Annual Illinois ProStart Invitational, hosted by the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (IRAEF). TCD team members include Julia Matiradonna, Zachary Molokie (both from Carol Stream), Jared Dollinger of Glen Ellyn and Benjamin Kitchen of Wheaton. All are high-school seniors and second-year students in TCD’s Culinary, Pastry Arts & Hospitality Management program. As state ProStart champs, the TCD team now has the honor of representing Illinois at the National ProStart Invitational, April 19-21, in Baltimore, Md.

The Utah State Senate and House of Representatives recognized students and faculty from Salt Lake Community College's Culinary Arts Program in two ceremonies at the State Capitol building. Culinary-arts students were introduced by Senator Karen Mayne and honored on the floor of the Utah Senate; House Majority Whip Gregory Hughes recognized students in attendance in the Utah House of Representatives’ chamber.

“The recognition Salt Lake Community College Culinary Arts students and faculty received today was well earned and much appreciated,” SLCC Vice President of Government and Community Relations Tim Sheehan said. “It’s clear that those working on the Hill are very appreciative of the services provided. It was nice to see our students formally recognized for their work to provide an important service and to further their education.”

The steps to making decadent chocolates are many and varied: from harvesting the pods to designing tempting packaging that belies its rich, melt-in-your-mouth appeal. Every other year, the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) hosts its Recognition of Excellence ceremony to award individuals and businesses that have contributed to this diverse community of chocolate makers.

On January 19, 2013, Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer received the FCIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in cofounding The French Pastry School of Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago and mentoring future generations of chocolatiers. Other honorees at the San Francisco ceremony included Santiago Peralta for Outstanding Fine Chocolate Maker; Andal Balu for Innovation in Fine Chocolate Products; and Mary Jo Stojak for Outstanding Service to the Industry.

The FCIA is a nonprofit organization founded by a group of chocolate professionals who wished to support the art of fine chocolate making by encouraging innovation, quality and best practices. They accomplish this through offering educational opportunities, effectively communicating values of artisan chocolate making and recognizing those who embody the highest standards. Recipients of these awards are nominated by peers from the chocolate industry and voted on by members of FCIA’s international organization.

The Kentucky Restaurant Association has named Sullivan University National Center for Hospitality Studies graduate Kendall Knies the 2013 Culinary Student of the Year. The 2013 Restaurateur’s Gala and awards ceremony took place on Jan. 21 at the Brown Hotel. Knies is a native of Celestine, Ind., and a 2012 graduate of the Baking and Pastry Arts program at Sullivan. She is currently employed at The Bakery at Sullivan University. Knies was one of four Sullivan students who recently participated in the IKA World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, where she earned a diploma.

The Kentucky Restaurant Association is a nonprofit organization run by its almost 1,000 members. The association is involved in a range of activities such as student scholarships, legislation and expos. State headquarters are located in Louisville. The organization honors the success of one culinary professional in each category of restaurateur, manager, supplier, employee, chapter member and student at its annual gala.

Le Cordon Bleu graduates 13,000 students a year. As this author reveals, the biggest change among U.S. schools involves teaching interpersonal skills so that successful grads know what’s going on all over the business.

By Tristan Navera

Whether they be aspiring young cooks or experienced and refined restaurateurs, people involved in the profession today are finding that working in a restaurant has drastically different demands than it did five or ten years ago. To the faculty at Le Cordon Bleu, the largest international hospitality institution in the world, these changes mean formal culinary education is more helpful than ever.

Back to Basics
Culinary education has always been essential for its teaching of ground-level cooking skills, says Chef Edward Leonard, Certified Master Chef, Le Cordon Bleu vice president of culinary education and corporate chef for Le Cordon Bleu North America.

In celebration of The Bocuse Restaurant opening in February at The Culinary Institute of America, Paul Bocuse made a special trip from Lyon, France, for the star-studded inaugural dinner cooked by CIA students.

Culinary luminaries such as Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Charlie Palmer, David Burke, Michel Richard, Jerome Bocuse and the restaurant's namesake, famed Chef Paul Bocuse (named Chef of the Century by the CIA in 2011), gathered at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., on Feb. 15 to celebrate The Bocuse Restaurant’s inaugural dinner. In addition to the restaurant opening, attendees also celebrated Paul Bocuse’s 87th birthday, his decorated career and his incomparable contributions to culinary education throughout his lifetime.

The U.S. renaissance in charcuterie coupled with diners’ love of sausage makes housemade sausages a customer-satisfying, brand-building notion.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC

More and more chefs at U.S. restaurants, hotels and clubs are wowing diners with interesting sausage inspirations that perfectly balance savory, sweet, spicy and smoky. Americans’ ever-increasing desire for good sausage is why culinary students enrolled at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago learn sausage-making during their first year of study.

Indeed, today’s sausages—as links, patties and crumbles—can showcase any ground meat combined with sufficient animal fat and any combination of a vast array of seasonings and other flavoring ingredients.

Thanks largely to chefs’ sausage inventiveness, the homemade-sausage trend is also propelled in part by growing consumer interest in enjoying fresh, locally grown and raised ingredients. European and other heritage sausages are enjoying a renaissance, too.

Good news for graduates this year is that foodservice in healthcare and B&I is projected to expand, says Technomic.

Even though most of the focus in the foodservice industry is on major restaurant chains, the noncommercial sector is also a thriving realm for foodservice. Noncommercial operations accounted for 34% of total U.S. foodservice sales in 2012, garnering more than $200 billion in sales (retail sales equivalent).

In 2013, Technomic expects the strongest (nominal) growth in the healthcare (4.5%) and business & industry (4.0%) segments. As a whole, noncommercial foodservice operations are forecast to grow 3.7%, representing many and varied opportunities for suppliers to the industry.

More popular than chocolate and potato chips, snacking occasions bearing fruit are growing.

Fresh fruit is not only the top snack food consumed in America, it is also one of the fastest growing, according to new snacking research from Port Washington, N.Y.-based The NPD Group, a global information company.  NPD’s recently released “Snacking in America” report finds that growing concerns about health and eating right are contributors to the increasing popularity of fruit as a snack.