A lesson plan.

By Mary Petersen and Ronald S. Wolf, CCC, CCE

This lesson plan focuses on the history of and cultural influences on Indian cuisine, the topography and climate that affect food production and preparation, key ingredients and foods, cooking methods and common equipment, a focus on culinary regions, and dietary restrictions as dictated by various religions, among other aspects. A handout as an MS Word document is available for download and copying.

By Bruce Kraig, Ph.D.

This lesson plan teaches history through American regional foodways, as influenced and reflected by geography, ecology and cultural ecology, economics, social science, anthropology and language. The lesson plan, which contains many illustrative recipes, may be downloaded as a PowerPoint presentation from this page.

A teaching module

By Ron Wolf, CCC, CCE, MA, and Mary Petersen, MS

This lesson plan examines the cuisines of three Southeast Asian nations—Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia—and their contributions to global cuisine. The lesson lists learning objectives, describes history and topography as they shape cuisine, and discusses ingredients, cooking methods and regional influences.

A lesson plan for secondary foodservice students

By Shirley P. Rauh

Shirley P. Rauh, FACS chair at Lutheran High School South in St. Louis, submitted the following Lesson Plan as a “teaching tip” entry in the 2007 CAFÉ Scholarship program that awarded four winners grants toward registration at a CAFÉ workshop or the Leadership Conference this summer.

Students in Rauh’s gourmet course have taken Foods and Nutrition as a prerequisite. The course description includes creativity in presentation through garde manger, herbs and spices, and the five mother sauces. The textbook used is Johnson & Wales University’s Culinary Essentials (Glencoe/McGraw Hill, 2002).

A lesson plan on American lamb leg, presented at the 2007 CAFÉ Leadership Conference

By Mark M. DeNittis- Courtesy of the American Lamb Board

This comprehensive lesson plan provides a basic understanding of American lamb, with a particular focus on the leg, from farm to plate. Topics include product acquisition, leg cuts and fabrication, safe handling and sanitation, best applied cooking techniques and methods, nutrition, and ideal flavors to marry with American lamb, as well as discussion questions.

Mark M. DeNittis is a chef instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, and he delivered this lesson plan as a workshop to educators attending the 2007 CAFÉ Leadership Conference at Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz., in June. The lesson plan is suitable for student cooks, and the 11-page Word document is easy to output and copy for distribution. See the end of the document for additional sources of information on American lamb.

Presented by Avocados from Mexico

Courtesy of the National Mango Board

Contrary to popular belief, the mango is available any time of year, and the Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board (NMB) has made it its mission to educate U.S. consumers on selection and preparation of the world’s most consumed fruit. Since 1995, mango consumption has increased by 100% in the United States (U.S. Outlook Report 2004). Approximately only 30% of U.S. households consume mangos today, however.

This Lesson Plan instructs on a basic technique for slicing a mango in a decorative pattern, delivered by Allen Susser, chef/owner of famed Chef Allen’s in Aventura, Fla., and author of such books as The Great Mango Book (Ten Speed Press, 2001) and Allen Susser’s New World Cuisine (Broadway, 1995). Included are two differently formatted charts highlighting mango varieties and their seasonalities.

Presented by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Since 2001, cheese was the No. 1 ingredient added to the menus of the top 200 restaurant chains in the appetizers, entrees, salads and sandwiches categories. Attached as a PowerPoint presentation is a complete lesson plan on teaching the menu power of cheese, particularly those cheeses made in Wisconsin, from the standpoints of flavor, identification, grading, menu trends and marketing. The lesson plan is easily customizable with the removal or addition of slides to fit your needs.

PowerPoint File (5MB)

By Patrick Martin and Brian Mattingly, CEC, CCE
Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America

This lesson plan was delivered to a standing-room-only audience of culinarians and students at the American Culinary Federation’s 2006 National Convention in Philadelphia in July by Patrick Martin, vice president of culinary-education development for Le Cordon Bleu International based in Paris, and Brian Mattingly, CEC, CCE, executive chef of California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Martin also serves as international ambassador for Le Cordon Bleu.

Presented by United Egg Producers

Download the Lesson Plan

Synopsis of PowerPoint presentation: Animal agriculture is under fire. Do animal-rights activists speak for everyone? This Lesson Plan addresses the points of view and actions of egg producers and opponents of cage eggs concerning the production of eggs in cage, cage-free, organic and free-range systems.