By Sharon Olson

A recent survey of Culinology® students in their 20s and early 30s underscores interest in innovative, green and healthy cooking. What does it all mean for tomorrow’s menus?

Soon-to-be culinary professionals identified as part of Generation Y—the menu-makers of tomorrow—are starting to influence dining trends, from the use of molecular gastronomy to the increasing incorporation of artisan, farmstead and locally produced ingredients.

By Harry J. Crane

The president of the Research Chefs Association encourages creative and science-minded students to explore Culinology®.

Your students may have a deep love for the culinary arts, and many may also have a desire to explore careers outside of foodservice. The growing area of food research and development (R&D) offers opportunities for those who want to expand their careers into this niche. Exploring the discipline of Culinology®—the blending of culinary arts and food science—is the first step toward becoming a research chef.

By Victor J. McNulty

To the ACCSC’s Instructor of the Year, a bad student is any good teacher’s job. The trick is to inspire the uninspired.

Gordon Ramsay aside, the days of screaming chefs ruling with an iron fist over the kitchen kingdom has pretty much ended, in the U.S., anyway. We now live in a litigious/PC society where such behavior can get you into hot water, pun intended. If the chef should raise his or her voice, throw an item or mention an employee’s questionable upbringing, the ensuing results would not be worth the momentary satisfaction.

Most people are not motivated negatively, or at least not motivated to please their aggressor. They may even be driven to quit, steal, complain to a superior, vandalize, contact agencies like the Department of Labor and the Better Business Bureau, fist-fight or the crème de la crème (pun fully intended) of contacting the dreaded harassment lawyer. I’ve seen all the above.

By Peggy Ryan

Transcripts of the acceptance speech of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ 2009 Educator of the Year.

If you had told me in 1989 that I would be named Educator of the Year by WCR in 2009, I would have been completely flabbergasted.

In 1989 I was the chef and owner of a popular and well-regarded regional Italian restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, Va Pensiero.

By Jeff Bricker, CEC, M.Ad.Ed., Ivy Tech Community College

Collaboration is the ticket to successful short-term study-abroad trips.

What happens when a group of Midwestern culinary/pastry students (some of whom have never left their home state) travel to Europe for a two-week study-abroad experience?

Does this sound like a lead-in to a television reality show? Well, this scenario is real, all right, and the results can sometimes be as interesting as popular television reality shows! But great things really happen every summer when a group of culinary/pastry students and faculty chaperones from Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana continue a 20-year tradition of international travel that takes them to France, Italy, Germany or Spain.

The short-term study-abroad trips are a real immersion in the cuisine and culture of the European regions and are loaded with daily excursions to fresh-food markets, vineyards, cheese producers, oyster farmers and many of the artisan food crafters that make the international culinary experience come alive to the students. Also included are classes in the culinary schools of the regions that add an academic element to the international experience. Daily excursions enhance the educational experience with visits to important historical sites that add to students’ cultural awareness, as well.