The Secchia Institute presents leadership award to APPCA's Wallace

First-year GRCC culinary-arts students flank APPCA's Candy Wallace (holding her Leadership Award) and chef-instructor Audrey Heckwolf, who will teach the new personal/private-chef elective that launches at The Secchia Institute in Grand Rapids in January 2010.

Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of the American Personal & Private Chef Association (APPCA), was honored by The Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), Grand Rapids, Mich., with the culinary-arts program's 2009 Leadership Award on Nov. 9.

The award, which acknowledges Wallace's pioneering contributions to identifying, building and promoting the emerging career paths of personal and private chef, was founded by GRCC's Hospitality Education Department in 1990 as the Distinguished Fellow Award. Past recipients include television cooking personalities and authors Martin Yan and Graham Kerr as well as foodservice-industry luminaries and celebrity chefs from abroad.

Wallace visited The Secchia Institute to deliver an overview on career opportunities for aspiring personal and private chefs to approximately 100 culinary-arts students. The presentation coincided with the institute's unveiling of a new elective focusing on personal and private cooking and business operations for interested students pursuing an associate degree in culinary arts and culinary management.

"It was important to us to recognize Chef Wallace for her life's work in developing comprehensive training materials for those who want to pursue the career paths of personal and private chef," says Randy Sahajdack, director of The Secchia Institute. "We are witnessing tremendous interest among both students who are considering a profession in food as well as established professionals in other fields who desire a life change. I'm amazed at how much meaningful, helpful information has been created by Chef Wallace that we will not have to create, ourselves, to meet growing demand. She is truly the leader in this emerging industry."

The new, seven-week personal/private-chef elective to be offered in the final quarter of the degree program launches with the January 2010 term. The course will be taught by chef-instructor Audrey Heckwolf, who was a private chef for a prominent Grand Rapids family for more than six years before joining GRCC in 2006 as assistant professor for advanced tableservice through the school's public fine-dining restaurant, The Heritage. In her current role, Heckwolf oversees evening service for the award-winning restaurant and teaches service to students enrolled in GRCC's culinary- and hospitality-degree programs offered through The Secchia Institute.

Much of the elective's instruction will come from The Professional Personal Chef: the Business of Doing Business as a Personal Chef (John Wiley & Sons, 2008), the first definitive textbook for prospective personal chefs, written by Wallace and chef-instructor Gregory C. Forte, CEC, CCE, of Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, Fla. Secchia Institute graduates who have successfully completed the elective will receive a certificate from APPCA and be eligible for full membership in the organization, affording them access to a wealth of business-building resources that include proprietary Personal Chef Office business-management software and online community forums linking successful personal and private chefs nationwide. Additionally, for graduates who launch personal-chef businesses, APPCA will promote them through its online Find a Personal Chef function.

Wallace founded the American Personal Chef Association in 1996 as the first significant national effort to recognize the impact of personal chefs on Americans' evolving lifestyles and to provide career and management training to those who aspire to become personal chefs with their own businesses. She forged the positioning of personal chefs as culinary professionals, culminating in 2002 with a formal partnership with the American Culinary Federation to award certification to qualified personal chefs. The following year, she was honored with the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2006, Wallace earned additional industry accolades by formally acknowledging the contributions of private chefs to American society and addressing their specific professional needs by restructuring her organization to become the American Personal & Private Chef Association.

Collins College Harvest Celebration 2009 to honor hospitality leaders

The Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, Calif., will host Harvest Celebration 2009 on Nov. 21 to honor three top leaders in the hospitality industry while raising money for Collins College students.

Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, will receive the Hospitality Leader of the Year Award; Steve Slater, vice president and general manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of Southern California, will be honored with the Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award; and Margaret Bailey, senior vice president of government services for Capital Hotel Management, will receive the college's Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award. Guests at the event will be able to to bid on items that directly impact students such as scholarships and classroom equipment. The event also will feature a live auction with exclusive hospitality packages.

Harvest Celebration 2009 will take place at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa. For more information, visit the Collins College Web site.

November 2009 CET digital edition online

The digital edition of the November 2009 issue of Chef Educator Today (CET) is now online through the CET Web site. This digital edition features all the same great content as the print edition, plus it includes online-exclusive articles on fruit-based desserts, spices and herbs and teaching restaurant operations, plus updated FENI Summit information.

To access the November digital edition, click the icon below.

Chef Rainone to 'share the passion' at Monroe College

(l to r) Monroe College chef Ed Moon with chef Rob Rainone

The Sharing the Passion series at Monroe College School of Hospitality and the Culinary Arts continues on Nov. 19 with Rob Rainone, executive chef of Larchmont Yacht Club, Larchmont, N.Y., presenting and cooking for culinary arts students. He will prepare braised veal cheeks served over black truffle and Parmesan polenta. Rainone, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, previously was sous chef at Roundhill Golf Club in Greenwich, Conn.; Coveleigh Club, Rye, N.Y.; and was banquet chef at caterer and event manager Abigail Kirsch, Tarrytown, N.Y.

The event will take place at 12 p.m. in the Culinary Arts Center. Sharing the Passion is a series of culinary demonstrations this fall, where accomplished chefs share their passion for cooking with the students in Monroe College's Culinary Arts Center.

A tutorial on sautéing mushrooms

by William Franklin, corporate executive chef, Nestlé Professional, and the Mushroom Council

Editor's note: This article was mentioned on page 4 of the November 2009 issue of Chef Educator Today.

Mushrooms are immensely versatile, and every chef should know how to properly sauté them. From a culinary standpoint, one could sauté mushroom varieties every day of the year and create a different dish simply by adding different herb and spice combinations and adjusting the length of the sauté. Sautéed mushrooms can transform and enhance most any dish. They make excellent toppings, garnishes, garnitures or outright protein substitutes. One of my favorite preparations is the classic duxelles. Not only does it really intensify the natural flavors of mushrooms, the finished product has a multitude of great culinary applications. Sautéed mushrooms can be "the center of plate," play a critical support role or simply serve as the background flavor notes that keep customers coming back to the same expertly crafted dish without really knowing why.

Sauté literally means "to jump" in the pan, and keeping this in mind is fundamental to doing it well. Sautéing is typically a quick process using a small amount of fat or oil over relatively high heat. If using sliced mushrooms, one should only sauté small amounts and be careful not to overload the pan. Regardless of the pan size and volume of mushrooms needed, excess steaming or stewing should be your first indication that something isn't quite right. The pan size, amount of available heat, and volume of mushrooms must be balanced if a strong and proper sauté is to be realized. For something different, you may want to try distilling sautéed mushroom and use the resulting intense liqueur in sauces and foams.

Sautéing is my favorite mushroom cooking technique because I believe it best develops their unique, rustic, woodsy notes and highlights their wonderful fifth savory taste, called umami. Basically, umami comes from amino acids, particularly glutamic acid, which is ever present in mushrooms. The reduction of moisture during the sauté highlights these savory properties. Sautéing allows us to bring out that deep, savory, brothy, rich or meaty umami taste sensation. Umami, in some applications, can counterbalance the need for salt, especially where mushrooms are either featured or are simply a minor component.

In the past years, I've noticed a foodservice trend of using mushrooms as a meat alternative. I think this trend is going to stick around because it's easy to do and always proves very satisfying for customers. As Americans become more knowledgeable about food and the number of foodies increases, consumers are also becoming more aware of how mushrooms are used in world and regional cuisines. Capable culinary craftsmen use mushrooms to their advantage. I've noticed consumers are more appreciative of mushroom flavor profiles, and how different cooking techniques can change a mushroom's "mouthfeel." I believe people are also more aware of their nutritional benefits. Mushrooms are the only vegetable or fruit containing vitamin D, and they also have lots of antioxidants.

How to sauté fresh sliced mushrooms

Step 1: Choose the correct pan for the amount of heat and size of mushroom using and select a fat or oil with a fairly high smoking point, such as clarified butter, canola oil, etc.

Step 2: Heat the pan and oil over medium-high heat, and tilt the pan away from yourself, allowing the excess oil to pool into the pan's distant edge, and then add the sliced mushrooms. This technique has saved my fingers numerous times from being burnt with splashing hot oil.

Step 3: Toss the sliced mushrooms to evenly distribute the oil, then leave it alone to sauté. Patience is key in sautéing mushrooms. You have to allow their moisture to reduce in order to properly caramelize them.

Step 4: When the mushrooms have caramelized, they will turn brown around their edges. Toss the pan again when they have reached this point.

Step 5: Add salt, if needed, with your seasonings. It's important to wait until the mushrooms are just finished so you can better judge how much salt or seasonings are needed.

Step 6: Toss the seasoned mushrooms to evenly distribute flavors. Mushrooms are finished sautéing when they have a nice, browned, caramel color.

Cultivated mushroom varieties

• Button mushroom: The most popular mushroom. They represent approximately 90 percent of mushrooms consumed in the United States. Flavor: They have a fairly mild taste and blend well with almost anything.

• Cremini: Also called baby portabellas, these are close cousins to button mushrooms. They have a light tan to rich brown cap and brown gills. Flavor: They have a deeper, earthier flavor than whites with firm flesh.

• Portabella: A matured cremini mushroom. They have tan or brown caps and measure up to 6 inches in diameter. Flavor: They have a bold, meaty texture and flavor.

• Enoki: Tiny, button-shaped caps and long, spindly stems, usually eaten raw or as a garnish. Flavor: They have a delicate sweet flavor and slightly crunchy texture.

• Oyster: Can be gray, brown, pale yellow or blue. Flavor: Oysters have a very delicate flavor and a velvety texture.

• Maitake: Appear rippling and fan-shaped, without caps. They are also called "Hen of the Woods." Flavor: Maitake have a distinctive aroma, woodsy, roasted-chicken taste and a firm, crunchy texture.

• Shiitake: Brown umbrella-shaped caps, ivory gills and curved, woody stems that should be removed. Must be cooked. Shiitake have the highest umami content. Flavor: They have an intense, rich and woodsy flavor with a meaty, chewy texture.
  

Chef William Franklin, CMC, former dean of faculty at the National Cooking Institute, is a member of American Academy of Chefs as well as The Honorable Order of the Golden Toque.

Reese Scholarship to honor former IDDBA exec

The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association has created the W.T. Reese Memorial Scholarship in honor of Willard T. (Bill) Reese, former executive director of the International Cheese & Deli Association, which was an earlier incarnation of the IDDBA. Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded each year to students in a food-related major.

Reese helped grow IDDBA from a small Wisconsin-based cheese group to a multi-national association representing cheese, dairy, deli and bakery companies. For more information about the scholarship or the IDDBA, visit www.iddba.org.

HCCC, WomenRising to hold open houses for hospitality training initiative

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) and WomenRising Inc. will hold two open houses to inform prospective participants with the Community Partnerships in Hotel Employment (CPHE) program. CPHE is a free, 16-week job training and placement initiative that is operated by HCCC and WomenRising with funding help from the Jersey City Urban Enterprise Zone program.

The program provides participants with training and placement to entry-level positions in the hospitality industry. The program has classes in introduction to hospitality, basics of customer service, front office, housekeeping, basic computers, life skills training and culinary for hospitality. Participants who successfully complete the 16-week training period will earn 10 credit hours that may be applied towards an associate degree, three industry certifications from the American Hotel and Lodging Association and hands-on experience gained through internships at area hotels. CPHE is open to women and men 18 years of age and older who hold a high school diploma or GED, are willing to work flexible hours and meet the income guidelines for low- or moderate-income households.

The open houses are scheduled for Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. and Nov. 18 at 4 p.m., at WomenRising’s headquarters in Jersey City, N.J. Attendees should bring identification, proof of residence, birth certificate, social security card and proof of income. For more information, visit www.womenrising.org.