Dumante student recipe contest winners announced

Dumante has announced the winners of its recipe contest at Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago, which took place Oct. 25. Kendall student Tyler Burns won first place in the cocktail category for her Dumante spumoni martini, which blended Dumante, vodka and pistachio gelato that was poured into a glass drizzled with chocolate and garnished with cherries and rose petals. Kristine Antonian took first place in the dessert category for her pistachio cardamom soufflé with Dumante chocolate sauce and ice cream.

(l to r) Kendall student Tyler Burns, first place winner in the cocktail category; and Kristine Antonian, first place winner in the dessert category pose with their scholarship checks.

Students were asked to submit cocktail and dessert recipes showcasing Dumante. Both first place category winners received a $750 scholarship and a $250 gift card. Second place winners won $250 and third place winners received $100.

For more information on Dumante and recipes, visit www.dumante.com.

The importance of edible gardens

by Andrew Hewson, CCC, SAIT Polytechnic

Editor's note: This article is a continuation of "Culinary ago literacy" (page 7) from Chef Educator Today's Winter 2010 issue.

The entrance to the Jackson Henuset Memorial Culinary Garden at SAIT Polytechnic

In cooking, as in life, there is a first time for everything. Great cooks and chefs draw upon their "first-time" food memories to inspire them to create. Walking through a farmers' market and seeing all the fresh seasonal items, smelling the earth on new potatoes, the fruity perfume of ripe peaches or that bright, distinctive aroma of fresh picked dill: These are the sights and smells that get the creative juices flowing in a chef's mind.

But where did this inspiration start, and where did these food memories come from? Are certain people born with a food gene that triggers when they walk through a farmers' market and inspiration hits them?

Part of our role as chefs and educators is to create an environment for those first-time food memories so our students have a baseline to build from. Certainly the priority is to provide students with a solid foundation in the skills of the trade. They need to know the language of the kitchen, how to control a knife, poach a piece of fish or braise a tough cut of meat into a succulent dish. In order to create these food memories, chef educators need to start with the building blocks, the raw materials of our trade: food.

With a growing urban population accustomed to fast-food, our students have become disconnected from their food sources. In postsecondary institutions, we need to take a lead role in not only teaching the fundamental skills of the culinary trade but in teaching what "real" food is and where it comes from.

The beginnings of educational edible gardening
In 1995, through the Chez Panisse Foundation, chef Alice Waters started The Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, Calif. This school-garden project has gone on to inspire hundreds if not thousands of similar projects across North America. It has also lead to a partnership with The Center for Ecoliteracy where they have developed curriculum resources for secondary schools to adopt when teaching children about food and the environment.

One of the goals of the Edible Schoolyard is connecting children with gardens, thus educating them as to where healthy, nutritious food comes from. By involving the students in preparing, serving and eating the food they are "awakening their senses and encouraging awareness and appreciation," according to Edible Schoolyard's mission statement.

The same benefits must also apply in a postsecondary institution that teaches aspiring cooks. Part of a cook's training is tasting what they cook in order to "awaken their senses," but in order to be aware and truly appreciate food, students must be connected to the agrarian process. That is where incorporating edible garden curriculum through culinary agro literacy comes in. (To read chef Hewson's article on culinary agro literacy, visit www.chefedtoday.com/digital.htm.)

The author and chef-instructor Simon Dunn breaking ground on the new garden at SAIT Polytechnic

Tips and resources

• Put together a team of champions who are passionate about the edible garden project to see it through the challenges of planning and approvals--culinary department faculty, culinary students, faculty and students from other departments (such as from the schools of horticulture, landscaping or construction) and community businesses who share your vision (i.e., local garden center, landscape contractor, gardening club, farmers' market, etc.).
• Turn the design and planning of the garden into a student project, and see what great space-saving and budget-friendly ideas your students can come up with.
• Check out online educational gardening resources: National Gardening Association Edible Resource Guide; Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation, by Sharon Gamson Danks (2010, New Village Press); The Edible Schoolyard resources; and Burpee's Edible Gardening page.
• No space for a traditional garden? Herbs and several types of vegetables are well-suited for container gardening. Try these resources: University of Maryland Cooperative Extension's guide to container vegetable gardening (PDF); EarthBox or other sub-irrigated planter (SIP) gardening; and talk with your local garden center experts.

In our first season of growing at the Jackson Henuset Memorial Culinary Garden at SAIT Polytechnic, we saw a tremendous positive response from the students. Those who never had a garden created their own first-time food memories while others recalled fond memories of being in a garden as a child. Students are now learning to identify food as it is growing rather than simply "picking" from a grocery store shelf.

Andrew Hewson, CCC, is a chef-instructor at the School of Hospitality and Tourism at SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Want to learn even more about edible gardening? Attend the FENI Summit Master Class!

MSU hospitality school honors J. Alexander's

The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University honored J.Alexander's Restaurant as its Industry Partner of the Year at the school's 32nd annual Career Expo on Nov. 2. J. Alexander's chairman, president and CEO Lonnie Stout II delivered the keynote address and accepted the award at this year's Career Expo.

The hospitality career fair has honored one company each year since 2002, recognizing the companies that have a close relationship with the school. The organizations actively recruit students for internships and graduate placements, provide guest speakers in the classrooms, sponsor school activities and events, help fund elective courses, and offer property tours and accommodations as well as student scholarships.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., J. Alexander's Restaurant operates 33 restaurants in 13 states. J. Alexander's recruiters have served on Career Expo professional development panels and have come to campus to meet and interview students. The company's managerial internship program has launched the careers of many hospitality business students into full-time positions.

Kendall Culinary Curiosity Exhibition launches interactive website

The Kendall College Charitable Trust on Nov. 4 unveiled an interactive website, www.culinarycuriosity.org as a companion to The Culinary Curiosity Exhibition of nearly 250 culinary, bakery and confectionery artifacts displayed throughout Kendall College.

A Culinary Curiosity Exhibition display case near the entrance at Kendall College*

The collection was donated to the Kendall College Charitable Trust by Chicago residents Melvin and Janet Mickevic. The late Melvin Mickevic, a food scientist and entrepreneur, engineered innovations in food-processing technologies and production methods. The exhibition, curated by Vicki Matranga, includes 12 themed displays throughout the college, such as "Fire and Heat," "Liquid Refreshments," "Bakers' Secrets" and "Farm to Fork." The tools in the collection range from agricultural implements and commercial equipment to items used by home cooks over many generations.

More than 130 items from the exhibition are featured on the website, along with descriptions and videos about their manufacture, origin and use, as well as the solutions they provided in the era during which they were used. For more information, visit www.culinarycuriosity.org.

*Photo courtesy of Eric Futran/Chef Shots

Student winners of America's Best Raisin Bread Contest announced

The California Raisin Marketing Board has announced the winners of its third annual America's Best Raisin Bread Contest, a competition that recognizes aspiring and working bakers for their skills. The 38 professional and student finalists who advanced to the second round prepared their breads for a panel of judges at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan., Oct. 14 to 16. The four student winners (pictured, below) are:

• Artisan Co-Grand Prize winners: Chee Her, California State University Fresno, with her Pan De Pasas; and Oprah Davidson, Ritz-Carlton/Johnson & Wales University, with her Caramelized Apples & Golden Raisin Ciabatta
• Commercial Grand Prize winner: Kacy Charlesworth, Pennsylvania College of Technology, with her Thanksgiving Raisin Bread
• Breakfast Grand Prize winner: Katrina Snelgrove, Pennsylvania College of Technology, with her Coconut Rum Raisin Bread

The winners will receive a five-day California vacation with visits to the Culinary Institute of America, Yosemite National Park and the San Joaquin Valley. For more information, visit www.calraisins.org.

Artisan Co-Grand Prize winner Chee Her

Artisan Co-Grand Prize winner Oprah Davidson

Commercial Grand Prize winner Kacy Charlesworth

Breakfast Grand Prize winner Katrina Snelgrove

EGBOK Mission to host Chicago fundraiser

Everything’s Gonna Be OK (EGBOK) Mission, an international nonprofit organization that provides educational and vocational training for young adults looking to become hospitality professionals, will host a fundraiser on Nov. 11 at Primitive in Chicago. Hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served at the event, which will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. The event also will feature a wine and art silent auction.

EGBOK Mission's current project works with underprivileged young adults in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and plans to launch a similar program in Chicago in 2011. For more information, visit www.egbokmission.org.

Bradley named CIA's board chairman

Richard Bradley, chairman of Bradley Holdings Ltd., was elected the 16th chairman of the board of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at the college's annual meeting on Oct. 14. Additionally, chef Thomas Keller and Martin Sutter were appointed to the college's Board of Trustees.


Bradley (pictured, above) has served as chairman and president of Victoria Station as well as owner-operator of 105 restaurants in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Bradley Holdings invests in venture capital transactions, commercial real estate, hotels and restaurants. Bradley succeeds Cameron Mitchell, president and founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, who served two years as CIA chairman.

Keller holds multiple three-star Michelin Guide ratings with The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and Per Se in New York City. He is also chef/owner of Ad Hoc in Yountville, Bouchon in Yountville and Las Vegas, and Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, Las Vegas, and New York City.

award-winning chef/restaurateur Thomas Keller

Sutter is a founding managing director of Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, one of the oldest and largest healthcare-focused venture capital organizations.

Martin Sutter, founding managing director of Essex Woodland Health Ventures

The CIA Board of Trustees consists of 25 highly respected leaders in the foodservice industry and business world.