Building Scholarships for Service benefit dinner

Lexington College, an accredited, not-for-profit women’s college in Chicago offering bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in hospitality management, recently hosted “Building Scholarships for Service,” a Fall benefit dinner honoring the McCaskey family, the Chicago Bears Football Club and Bears Care. The event was held on Tuesday, November 11 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. Rita Cuddihy, senior vice president, Chief Operating Office, Central Region of Marriott International chaired the event, which raised over $250,000 in scholarship funds for a diverse group of students, including some first-generation women studying to earn a degree in hospitality management.

The event celebrated Mrs. Edward McCaskey, who represented the McCaksey family, the Chicago Bears Football Club and Bears Care. Lexington acknowledged the McCaksey family's exemplary leadership in the community and their continued support of the College and its students through scholarships over the past decade. Mrs. McCaskey was awarded the Lexington Award for Excellence.

Pictured (l to r): Natalie Martinez, general assignment reporter of NBC Channel 5 and the evening's master of ceremonies; Rita Cuddihy of Marriott International; Mrs. Edward McCaskey of the McCaskey family, the Chicago Bears Football Club and Bears Care; and Susan Mangels, Lexington president. (Photo by: George Poulos)

Culinary Immersion program at CIA lets guests get hands‐on with Electrolux equipment

Electrolux Professional and The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) hosted another Culinary Immersion program on October 29 and 30, 2008 for a group of top kitchen designers, consultants and foodservice operators at the CIA’s main campus in Hyde Park, N.Y. The two‐day program included presentations and demonstrations on Electrolux Professional foodservice equipment in conjunction with a hands‐on, world‐class culinary experience guided by Chef David Bruno, assistant professor of Culinary Arts at CIA Hyde Park.

Event attendees represented an interesting blend of companies and organizations including ROI Food Service Design, Saratoga Restaurant Supply, Boston College, Sysco Food Services of Albany, University of Albany and designers from Studio E Design Group. The program began with a company overview and then the group moved into the CIA Skills Kitchen, where Electrolux Executive Chef Sean Lucas conducted cooking demonstrations using a number of Electrolux products, including the air‐o‐steam combi oven, the Pressure Braising Pan, the Induction Wok and the Libero Point.

“I learned a lot about Electrolux Professional as a company that I was not aware of,” said Joseph Canzoneri, a consultant and President of Canzoneri Development Group Inc. “I was impressed by the amount they put back into research and development and how far they have gone to ensure their equipment is as eco‐friendly as possible.”

Later in the day, the attendees worked with the air‐o‐chill blast chiller, the Thermaline S90 modular cooking range and the SMART Refrigeration line each used on site throughout the CIA’s facilities. Electrolux representatives also discussed how the company’s many service programs, such as the Electrolux Platinum Star Service Warranty and Certified Chef Network, allow for the prevention of equipment problems.

Day one of the program concluded with a group dinner at the CIA’s Ristorante Caterina de' Medici located on campus in the beautiful Colavita Center for Italian Food and Wine. On the second day, the attendees returned to the CIA main kitchen, where they were divided into teams. Each team enjoyed a hands‐on experience with the Electrolux products, preparing his or her own Mediterranean cuisine with guidance from Chef Bruno. “It was an excellent program that provided invaluable experience by letting us actually use the equipment to see firsthand how it lives up to its claims,” said Canzoneri.

Happy Turkey Day!

The editors of Chef Educator Today and CET Online Tool Kit wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Online Tool Kit will return Monday, Dec. 1.

International Cuisine breaks new ground

Social, political and religious shifts in culture directly affect the food we eat today—both at home and while dining out. To better prepare their culinary students for this ever-changing marketplace, culinary educators have begun teaching courses that survey the world's cuisines and their evolutions—and to this cause, Chef Jeremy MacVeigh contributes a new ground-breaking cookbook.

Delmar, a part of Cengage Learning, recently announced the publication of International Cuisine, a landmark work featuring rich insight and highly practical coverage of the world's major cuisines. Extensively researched and lavishly illustrated, it fills the gap between culinary books and culinary reality in today's diverse kitchens. Each chapter is clearly organized and provides detailed information on historical background, unique components, culinary terminology, common ingredients, techniques and recipes.

"Jeremy MacVeigh's clear and precise research into the cuisines of the world shows the importance of regional cuisines in today's culinary world ... A must-read for every culinarian," says Frederic "Fritz" Sonnenschmidt, certified master chef (CMC), culinary dean emeritus of The Culinary Institute of America, and celebrated author of several textbooks on classic techniques, most noticeably in the areas of garde manger and charcuterie.

Companion instructor's materials for International Cuisine are provided in print and online versions. The Instructor's Manual (ISBN: 978-1418049652) to International Cuisine serves as a valuable resource, providing review and test questions, a course outline, teaching tips and guidelines, objectives and key terms. A companion Web site provides PowerPoint slides and additional recipes for each chapter, as well as an electronic copy of the Instructor's Manual.

MacVeigh, a respected instructor of international cuisines and other core subjects at Professional Culinary Institute in San Jose, Calif., is a former executive chef with extensive commercial-cooking experience. He earned his undergraduate degree in food science before graduating from Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore. In 2007, he was named Instructor of the Year by BrightStar Education Group.

FIA reaches out to three hospitality programs

Foodservice Institute of America (FIA) members recently visited three hospitality programs—the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University and the International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Pleasantville, N.J.—to introduce FIA to students, staff and faculty, and to offer insights into the opportunities in the industry.

Addressing a large crowd at each school, professional members of FIA discussed the diversity of the hospitality/foodservice industry and shared personal stories about developing leadership in such areas as technology, sales, distribution and consulting. The presentation of these careers only scratched the surface of the potential futures waiting for students who are working towards various degrees, the FIA members said.

Dr. Gong-Soog Hong, department chair for Consumer Sciences at the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University, felt that FIA's mission was a mirror image of his department's own mission and the overall mission of the University. FIA and Ohio State will be developing an opportunity to conduct an on campus symposium in 2010.

FIA also will be engaging in translational research that is meaningful for the industry in the next year and partnering with these three programs is a first step. Student membership in FIA is free to those enrolled in a related program. If a program would like to have FIA members speak to classes, faculty and/or staff, call their offices at 609.645.3131 or e-mail Executive Director Marsha Diamond at marsha@fia-us.org.

Chef-instructor at the Art Institute of Atlanta wins Ocean Spray's Ultimate Cranberry Recipe Contest

Chef Justin Ward—a member of the culinary faculty at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Atlanta, as well as the owner of Leapfrog Restaurant Solutions and chef/owner of Hungry Monkey Catering—was the $25,000 foodservice-category winner of Ocean Spray's Ultimate Cranberry Recipe Contest. Ward's winning original recipe was pork tenderloin with cranberry molé and cranberry salsa.

The winners were announced on October 7 at a private cocktail party that coincided with the debut of Ocean Spray's 2008 "Bogs Across America" tour in New York City, where about 2,000 pounds of cranberries were on display in a free-standing urban bog.

"Ocean Spray originally launched the Ultimate Cranberry Recipe Contest to celebrate the versatility of the cranberry year-round," said Larry Martin, vice president of marketing at Ocean Spray. "This year, contestants found even more creative ways to use the cranberry in their dishes. The originality and impressive variety of the recipes submitted showcased the talents of our home cooks and professional chefs and bartenders across the country and the wide range of uses for the fruit's unique flavor."

USDA grant finances cost-benefit assessment of HACCP

Dr. Amit Sharma, assistant professor of hospitality management at Penn State University, received a grant of $555,819 over three years from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a cost-benefit assessment model of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) implementation in commercial foodservice operations.

The HACCP preventative food safety program was developed nearly 30 years ago for astronauts and applies to the canned food industry, seafood, juice, milk, and meat and poultry processing plants. Sharma's project will conduct research in casual dining restaurants, grocery stores and gas station food outlets. A total of 12 organizations will participate through their various units in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The central outcome of the project will be to develop a model that helps managers evaluate the costs of investing in HACCP implementation versus its potential benefits. It will also lead to the development of training modules for management and consumers.

"Given the importance of food safety and HACCP for foodservice organizations and the novel approach of this research, its outcomes will help to fill a critical gap in foodservice management and consumer decision-making," Sharma says.