Just as Americans’ love affair with beef reignited in the 1990s, butter is coming back in a big way

Although butter has been vilified for decades as a “bad” fat best to be avoided, recent studies reveal that its negative profile was undeserved. That’s good news for anyone who cooks (and eats), because butter relies on a whopping 120+ unique compounds for its silky, incomparable flavor.

“There simply is no substitute for butter in cooking,” says Chef Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC, vice president of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago and the Laureate Universities International Center for Culinary Excellence. “Not only does the pure, sweet-cream taste of butter complement and enhance the flavor of dishes, but butter provides a smooth and creamy texture that is especially important in sauces.”

Indeed, the days of banishing butter from the back of the house are ending, Koetke says. Because, just as Americans’ love affair with beef reignited in the 1990s, butter is coming BACK—and in a big way.

This group’s need for powerful nutrition, flavorful food, comfort and indulgence, and speed and convenience are driving their food choices.

As incoming college freshmen packed their bags for school this fall, many said goodbye not only to family members, but also to existing eating habits. Thanks to innovative campus foodservice, adventurous global-cuisine restaurants and the influence of new acquaintances, impressionable students are exposed to new foods that quickly turn into favorites. They develop new eating habits and expectations that will stick with them long after graduation, impacting the food industry for decades to come, according to the recently released “Collegiate Gen Y Eating: Culinary Trend Mapping Report” by market research publisher Packaged Facts and San Francisco-based strategic food-and-beverage-innovation agency CCD Innovation.

In the height of the sweltering summer, some seasonal, fruity favorites have fared well, while others are falling from favor.

If you want to know what cocktails people are ordering in bars and restaurants, you don’t need to look any further than an episode of “Mad Men.”Classic cocktails are mixing things up on the drink menu this year. According to new research from Mintel Menu Insights, cocktails that are described as “classic” on menus have increased by a whopping 76% since 2009. Popular retro drink, the Manhattan, has seen a 35% increase on menus since 2009, while the Gimlet is up 63%, Sazerac is up 57% and the Side Car has jumped 50%*.

“Bartenders and cocktail geeks are taking a very academic approach to mixing drinks, and many are learning the history and the evolution of iconic cocktails,” says Kathy Hayden, senior foodservice analyst at Mintel. “This approach combines with better ingredients, some nostalgia for a time when people had time to enjoy cocktails and cocktail parties and widespread interest in ‘cocktail culture’ to boost interest in the classics.”

Among survey respondents who have ordered a drink at bars/nightclubs, 54% ordered a beer in the last three months, making it the most widely accepted alcoholic beverage. Cocktails also have a high incidence of use, however, with 44% of people saying they’ve ordered one in the same timeframe. A new cocktail claim making its debut on menus is “skinny.” In 2009, there were zero reports of the skinny claim and in Q2 2012, Mintel Menu Insights tracked 110 items boasting this descriptor.

Two effective strategies to consider are blogging and discovering, or instant research.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we talked about expanding our connections to colleagues, industry partners and other professionals. This month, we will start the first of three columns on ways that students connect using social media, beginning with using social media in our classrooms.

Social Media
There are lots of ways to look at social media and a myriad of definitions available. After all, our students use a range of software programs to communicate, contact and contribute to discussions. They use Google, Google Alerts and YouTube for research purposes; they have RSS feeds and Mashups; they also thrive on a lot of time with Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr and Foursquare, among many others.

Myriad resources for training DVDs, posters, booklets and even free guest lecturers are there for the taking.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing to keep it out of a fruit salad.”

Texted to me by my daughter at college on October 25, 2011.

It’s been a year since my daughter texted me that quote, and it still amazes me how often the difference between knowledge and wisdom hits me between the eyes. One recent example was at CAFÉ’s Leadership Conference this past June in San Antonio, while I was leading a roundtable discussion on the 50-Minute Classroom. One member of the group posed the question of what outside resources were available (for free) that she could use in her classroom. Two members of our group were representatives of the Idaho Potato Commission. They said that they would be happy to provide her with booklets, charts, displays for her classroom all about potatoes, and would even arrange a guest speaker.

The City of San Diego opens a much-wanted Public Market.

By Candy Wallace

Talk the talk about providing outlets for citywide farmers’ markets so residents can source healthy food and eat fresh AND go one step further and walk the walk by starting a public market. VERY BIG DEAL!!

The City of San Diego just received a delicious gift that will impact not only the food community itself, but all of the residents who take advantage of the newly opened San Diego Public Market.

Did you know that a whopping 95% of all wild salmon is harvested in Alaska? From black cod to king crab to sockeye salmon, here’s a primer on Alaska’s sustainable finfish and shellfish for the classroom.

Courtesy of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

Since admittance into the Union as the 49th state in 1959, Alaska has served as a model of fisheries management around the globe. One reason for this is that Alaska remains the lone state in the nation with a constitutional mandate stipulating all fish “be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” Effective, precise management ensures Alaska’s fisheries are productive, sustainable, clean and healthy—as mandated by the Alaska state government.

Wild-caught Alaska salmon, whitefish varieties and shellfish mature at a natural pace, and swim freely in the pristine waters off Alaska's rugged 34,000-mile coastline. Alaska harvests more than 56% of all seafood caught in the United States, and if it were a country, Alaska would rank ninth in the world for seafood production. Alaska pollock is the largest food fishery in the world, and 95% of all wild salmon is harvested in Alaska.

L'Academie de Cuisine, the original cooking school in the Washington, D.C., recently expanded its reach in partnership with The Hill School on Capitol Hill to hold recreational cooking classes in its new cultural center. The historical building is the Old Naval Hospital, a landmark of the Capitol Hill neighborhood that has been transformed into Hill Center, a vibrant, campus-like hub for cultural enrichment, lifelong learning and civic engagement. Chef and L’Academie founder François Dionot kicked off cooking classes on June 9 with a mouthwatering spring menu.

Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) in Louisville, Ky., honored Chef Paul Virant of Chicago’s Perennial Virant with the prestigious Distinguished Visiting Chef award on Aug. 9. As recipient of the award, Virant presented on-campus cooking demonstrations in addition to a question-and-answer session held exclusively for Sullivan University students. He also signed copies of his book, The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux.

Designed to connect today’s aspiring culinarians with industry leaders, the Distinguished Visiting Chef series has been recognizing three top chefs annually since its inception in 1988. Virant was the 52nd recipient of the award, joining an impressive roster of chefs that includes Bob Kinkead, Emeril Lagasse, Louis Osteen, Rick Tramonto and Marcel Desaulniers.

Virant is the chef and owner of Michelin-star restaurant Vie in Western Springs, Ill., and Perennial Virant in Chicago. His philosophy of local, seasonal eating stems from his childhood spent on his family’s farm in Missouri. He credits his grandmothers, both avid canners, for instilling in him a reverence for local ingredients and serving as the inspiring force behind his becoming a chef.

New England Culinary Institute alumnus Shawn Gawle has been named as a “Best New Pastry Chef 2012” by Food & Wine magazine.

Gawle graduated NECI in 1999 with an AOS degree in Culinary Arts. “For Shawn to have created such an impressive niche in the baking and pastry world with a culinary-arts background demonstrates how imagination, creativity and fearlessness—coupled with knowledge of ‘the basics’—can create unlimited possibilities,” says Fran Voigt, NECI founder and CEO. “Shawn will no doubt have many more culinary successes in what will surely be a long and illustrious career.”

Food & Wine attributed Gawle’s success to his combining “modernist and classic techniques to create thoughtful, elegant, French-inflected desserts that often highlight Asian ingredients, like yuzu and cardamom.”

Formally trained as a savory cook, Gawle has spent years working in some of America’s most highly regarded kitchens with world-renowned chefs from Chicago to Philadelphia and New York City. His mastery of classic French technique has freed him to channel his creativity and push boundaries with his desserts. Gawle has been serving as pastry chef at New York’s first-class restaurant, Corton, since 2010. This most recent award from Food & Wine is the latest of his many accolades.