South Seattle Community College student wins USA Pears competition

Nicole Mau, a student at South Seattle Community College in Seattle, Wash., took first place in the Pear Bureau Northwest's first U.S. student culinary competition on June 18 at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore.

(from l to r), first place winner Nicole Mau, South Seattle Community College; second place winner Andrea Howard, Florida Culinary Institute; third place winner Dallas Hinsley, Texas Culinary Institute

Mau's Red Anjou pear frite, a composition of lightly fried rice pudding molded into a pear shape, filled with pear compote served with pear sorbet won her a $2,500 scholarship. Andrea Howard, a student at the Florida Culinary Institute, took second place and won $1,500 with her pear risotto and pear poached in red wine. And Dallas Hinesly, a student at the Texas Culinary Institute, took third place to win $500 with her sweet potato and pear gnocchi with grilled pork and a Balsamic pear glaze.

City Tech and Woodhull Hospital collaborate on cookbook

Faculty and students at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) and doctors from Woodhull North Brooklyn Health Network have collaborated to create a new cookbook, Cooked to Perfection: Cherished Family Recipes That Are Good for You. The book, which is available through the City Tech Bookstore, features old family recipes donated by clients of 11 North Brooklyn senior centers.

The hospital selected 80 recipes from the many submitted by the seniors, and then passed them along to Robert Minolfo, a nutritionist and City Tech adjunct professor. “Robert reworked the recipes, omitting many of the fats and limiting the ingredients to more nutritious substitutes,” City Tech professor Claire Stewart said in a recent press release.

“Being given the responsibility of reinterpreting these recipes was an honor,” Stewart continued. “Nicole Gajadhar and Sandra Lowe-Stuart--the hospitality management students who tested the recipes with me--shared the goal of respecting their traditions. We carefully measured each item, added seasonings, corrected the amounts, and made the instructions more user-friendly and easier to read. Altogether, we ended up with a nice selection of different ethnic dishes--mostly Spanish, Polish and Jewish.”

After testing the recipes last summer, the hospitality management team passed them on to professor MaryAnn Biehl of City Tech’s advertising design and graphic arts department so that she and her Design Team class could create a design concept for the book.

While the idea for the book was originally hatched by Woodhull North Brooklyn Health Network as a means of teaching dietary lessons to diabetic and elderly patients, it is having a much larger reach. Six local restaurants have agreed to add the dishes to their menus. For example, Chimu's Peruvian Cuisine, located at 482 Union Avenue, serves the cookbook's Stuffed Red Snapper recipe.

(l to r) Claire Stewart, professor of hospitality management, City Tech; Scott Mason, assistant commissioner, Bureau of Senior Centers, New York City Department for the Aging; Narcisa Ruiz, director, Diana Jones Senior Center; Tillie Tarantino, director, Swinging Sixties Senior Center; Sabrina Ramos, director of operations and special projects, New York City Department for the Aging; Iris Jimenez-Hernandez, senior vice president, Woodhull North Brooklyn Health Network; Barbara Grumet, dean, school of professional studies, City Tech; Brenda Johnson, director, Willoughby Senior Center, City Tech students Sandra Lowe-Stuart and Nicole Gajadhar, and Wajciech Mleczko, director, Polish Slavic Senior Center

Monroe College to host 4th annual A Chef's Legacy dinner

The Monroe College School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts on July 20 will host A Chef's Legacy: The 4th Annual Craig Rutman Memorial Scholarship Dinner. This year, the 2003-2006 New York Culinary Team who won the gold at the Italian National Championship will prepare the meal, led by team captain chef Frank Costantino, CEC, CCE, AAC, dean of the School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts. Monroe culinary and hospitality students will help prepare food, plan and manage the event.

A Chef's Legacy honors the memory of chef Craig Rutman, Monroe's first director of culinary arts. The event raises funds for Monroe College students who will be participating in the school's study abroad program in Italy.

The suggested donation for the event is $200 for sponsors and $100 for individuals. For more information, contact Carol Genese at cgenese@monroecollege.edu.

Students earn college funds for serving seniors

ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, the parent company of 19 continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the United States, recently awarded $149,400 in culinary service scholarships to 404 high school students for serving meals to residents in their local retirement communities. The students servers earned vouchers ranging from $300 to $500 for serving meals to residents of one of CCRCs in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama or Florida during the last scholarship period.

Students age 14 and up can qualify for ACTS culinary service scholarships. They work a specified number of hours during a 16-week scholarship period and receive an hourly wage in addition to the scholarship vouchers.

ACTS Retirement-Life Communities is a nonprofit aging services organization that serves nearly 8,000 older adults in six states. For more information, visit www.actsretirement.com.

The School of Hospitality Business at MSU receives Distinguished Service Award

The School of Hospitality Business At Michigan State University (MSU) recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the Hospitality High School (HHS) of Washington, DC, at its graduation ceremony June 6.

Originally founded as Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School, the first four-year public charter high school in the nation devoted to preparing students for careers in both the restaurant and hotel industries, HHS has for eight years sent more than half a dozen of its graduates to MSU to study in The School. Aided by a generous $550,000 scholarship endowment from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, The School has been able to assist these students financially, as well as with one-on-one mentoring, career services, and outstanding academic advising. The record of success for HHS students who come to The School is extraordinary, according to a press statement.

Director of The School's Student and Industry Resources Center (SIRC) Authella Collins-Hawks was present to accept the award from HHS Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Spigler, who noted that Hawks and the faculty and staff of The School have "worked tirelessly to assure our students feel that MSU is their home away from home, and to ensure their success."

Hawks acknowledged the long and fruitful partnership between the Marriott Foundation, HHS, and The School, and introduced a graduate of HHS in the audience who is now a very active senior in The School, Alvin Brown (BA '10). In addition, she informed the gathering that the very first HHS student to graduate from The School, Victor Quintanilla (BA '08), is now working in management in the historic Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

Noting that 100 percent of HHS graduating class plans to go on to college, Hawks wished them the fortitude to overcome any obstacles they might face and the true wisdom that comes from lifelong learning. She reminded the graduates, too, that while the field of hospitality is a business, it can also "be a way of life; one that encompasses service, sacrifice, caring and a sense of welcome."

CIA podcast features leader in fine Italian cuisine

Scott Conant, a top name among chefs of Italian cuisine in New York City, talks about his career in the newest "Insight from the Inside" podcast from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). "Insight from the Inside" is a series of chats with CIA graduates who have exciting jobs in the food world.

During the 11-minute podcast, the 1992 CIA graduate shares highlights of his professional life, from the mentors who guided his career to earning a James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant in America with L'Impero in 2003. Chef Conant is now the owner of Scarpetta in New York City and Miami Beach, Fla., and the author of two cookbooks, New Italian Cooking and Bold Italian.

What stands out in Conant's memory about his days at the CIA was the professional approach among his classmates and realizing he wasn't the only 18-year-old passionate about food. "There was such a passion that every student had. I always had it, but here it was par for the course," Conant recalled. "Every discussion was about food. Everything was about how to get yourself better; focusing on technique; how to be a professional chef."

Conant recorded the podcast while on campus to judge student presentations from the Marketing and Promoting Food course in the CIA's bachelor's degree program.

To hear the interview with Conant or receive future podcasts, visit www.ciachef.edu/podcasts.

Chalmers' Food Jobs named world's best at Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

At the 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers, by Irena Chalmers, was named the Best Book in the World for Food Professionals out of competing books from 17 countries.

In her book, Chalmers, a friend of FENI and a Chef Educator Today and Chef Magazine columnist, Culinary Institute of America instructor and foodservice industry expert, profiles a range of food sector jobs available aside from that of restaurant chef including food photographer, bed and breakfast owner, specialty food retailer, nutritionist, kitchen designer and food writer, to name a few.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were held July 1 at La Comédie-Française in Paris, next to Louvre. The United States, United Kingdom, Spain and France took home the highest number of awards this year. For more information, visit www.cookbookfair.com.