A primer on cutting onions

Onions are a mainstay in many recipes for the layers of flavor and texture they impart. Thus, the Greeley, Colo.-based National Onion Association has developed steps on how best to cut an onion and how to reduce tearing. The step-by-step sheet shows how to dice onions or how to cut onions wedges or rings. For more information or to receive a copy, visit www.onions-usa.org or send an e-mail to kreddin@onions-usa.org.

How much do you know about sustainability?

The National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF) has launched the Conserve Scholarship, which tests students pursuing careers in the foodservice industry on their knowledge of environmental sustainability.

Participating college students can register with the Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation and take online multiple choice quizzes on sustainability drawn from information found on the NRA's Conserve: Solutions for Sustainability Web site. The quiz is open through April 26, and 10 $500 scholarships will be awarded to the students with the highest scores.

For more information, visit conserve.restaurant.org.

Foodservice industry sees a surge amid tough times

Amid continued layoffs and budget cuts, more and more people are seeking careers in the food industry, according to a Monday story on MSNBC's Web site. The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) saw 20,000 inquiries for enrollment last year, up more than 12 percent from the previous year.

Culinary Institute of America students
(photo courtesy of Anne Rettig/CIA)

Additionally, the restaurant industry alone is expected to add 1.8 million positions over the next 10 years, boosting the industry’s workforce by 14 percent to 14.8 million people in 2019. Still, the 2008 jobless rate among food preparation and related occupations was 9.5 percent (compared to last year's overall national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent), so additional competition in the industry may force aspiring cooks and chefs to seek jobs outside of restaurant kitchens.

Luckily, the opportunities abound, from personal chef positions in people’s homes, to cooking behind-the-scenes at supermarkets, which are offering more prepared food for time-crunched consumers, says Irena Chalmers in the article. Irena Chalmers says in the article. Chalmers, a CET and Chef Magazine columnist, is also the author of Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers. Non-cooking jobs include nutritional expert jobs and food safety jobs, Chalmers adds.

To read the story in its entirety, click here; to see the video, click here.

Registration opens for CIA's Worlds of Flavor festival

General registration has opened for the 12th annual Worlds of Flavor Conference & Festival, to be held November 12 to 14 at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone campus in Napa Valley, Calif.

This year's theme is Frontiers of Flavor: World Street Food, World Comfort Food, which reflects today's embrace of informal dining and food amid pressure to cut costs and tighten budgets in a global recession. More than 60 culinary experts will present, including street food vendors; market cooks; barbecue masters; grandmothers; fine-dining chefs inspired by street and comfort foods; cookbook authors; and street food chroniclers from Mediterranean, Asian, Latin and American food cultures.

For more information, visit www.ciaprochef.com/wof2009.

Charlie Trotter donates $15,000 to ACFEF for new scholarships

Charlie Trotter, chef/owner of Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, announced a $15,000 donation to the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF) on behalf of the Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation at the ACF Central Regional Conference on Feb. 23. These funds, in addition to the $25,000 donation from the Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation last July, will be used to create eight $5,000 scholarships for culinary students.


ACFEF has changed its scholarships program, and it now reviews applications on a point scale. Grade point average, culinary competition participation, volunteer work, ACF involvement, essays and references are reviewed by the American Academy of Chefs Scholarship Review committee.

Trotter requests that students who receive scholarships contact him after they complete culinary school and are looking for externships or jobs. Deadline to apply for 2009 scholarships is May 1. More information on the scholarship is available at www.acfchefs.org.

Ferran Adrià shares his passion with CIA community

Ferran Adrià—chef and co-owner of Spain's famed El Bulli, which has been deemed "best restaurant in the world" four times in the last six years by England's Restaurant magazine—recently spent a day with students at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y.

On the morning of Wednesday, March 25, about 1,100 students came to hear Adrià speak about his culinary background and cooking philosophy. The 90-minute presentation included an opportunity for students to ask questions of the man who is widely considered the best and most innovative chef in the world today.

In the afternoon, Adrià's cooking style—which he calls "deconstructivist"—was on full display as he showed how he develops recipes with unexpected contrasts in flavor, temperature and texture. The two-hour demonstration was a treat for the more than 1,300 students and faculty attending, as Adrià rarely cooks away from elBulli and his test kitchen in Barcelona.

The following day, Adrià received the college's Augie Award as Chef of the Year during the annual CIA Leadership Awards dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

Chef Ferran Adrià talks with CIA students (Photos: CIA/Keith Ferris)

Four female students honored at WFF conference

The National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF), Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) and Wendy's International Inc. awarded the Reaching Your Dreams Scholarship to four female students at the WFF's Annual Leadership and Development Conference held March 15 in Dallas.

The four University of North Texas students--Keitha Farrow, Kelley Krost, Melissa Portocarrero and Hannah Snowden--each received $2,500 to help finance their education in a restaurant and foodservice course of study.

(l to r) Bill Hyde, vice chairman, NRAEF Board of Trustees; Hannah Snowden, student; Melissa Portocarrero, student; Kelley Krost, student; Keitha Farrow, student; Frances Wright, vice president, corporate human resources, Wendy's International Inc.; and Carlton Curtis, treasurer, NRAEF Board of Trustees

The annual Reaching Your Dreams Scholarship, created in honor of Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, is presented to four female college students enrolled in a restaurant or foodservice-related program who excel academically and express an interest in continuing their education in the industry.