The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and its faculty earned seven first-prize awards and two Best of Show honors at the 144th Salon of Culinary Art during the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York City on November 12.

The CIA earned Best of Show awards for Best Sugar Display by Joseph Utera and Best Bread Display by Hans Welker. It was the second consecutive year that both chefs earned Best of Show awards at the event at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Additional first prizes were earned for the CIA’s chocolate and confection display, as well as for its wedding cake, special occasion cake and two meat platter entries. The CIA team took a second prize in the only other category in which it competed, the four-course presentation.

“Our presence at this show is a great representation of the professionalism and talent at the CIA,” says provost Mark Erickson, CMC.

The New England Culinary Institute, Montpelier, Vt., announced Nov. 1 that its vice president of culinary operations and executive chef, Jean-Louis Gerin, has been recognized in the premiere listing of Partners and Alumni of the Culinary Research and Education Academy (CREA).

The slow-cooking revolution was launched when CREA was founded in Paris more than two decades ago by French biochemist and food lover Bruno Goussault. Since then, the school has trained chefs from some of the world’s most celebrated restaurants in the art and science of sous vide. It’s changing the way the world cooks and the definition of fine dining.

Sous vide, French for “under vacuum,” is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for longer than normal cooking times—72 hours in some cases. It requires an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55°C (131°F) to 60°C (140°F) for meats and higher for vegetables.

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas was proud to host the inaugural Marukan Cup of Culinary Excellence sponsored by the Marukan Vinegar Company in October. Teams from four Le Cordon Bleu schools participated in the competition, including a student and a chef instructor/coach from each of the Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles schools.

The winning team was Geoffrei Taylor and his coach, Chef Austin Yancey, from the Chicago campus. Geoffrei was awarded $2,250 in scholarship dollars along with the Grand Trophy appropriately named the “Marukan Cup of Culinary Excellence.” Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago will now hold the trophy until the 2013 competition.

Building on its reputation for offering a professional culinary-arts program that is forward looking from the foundations of classical technique, Kendall College officially opened the doors to its new kitchen—the Cuisine Solutions Sous-Vide Training Kitchen—on October 19. The ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication event was presided over by Kendall College President Emily Williams Knight.

The 1,300-square-foot kitchen showcase the latest in state-of-the-art sous-vide equipment, including Multivac vacuum-sealing machines and PolyScience immersion circulators. Training is delivered by skilled faculty in the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts.

Twenty-eight Monroe culinary students set off October 19 in a downpour headed upstate to Delhi, N.Y., to compete at the Annual ACF Catskills Regional Competition. When they returned to the Monroe campus they had 27 shiny medals to add to their collection, which is now toppling 300!

The top awards in the hot-food competition went to Kencito Vernon, who took home a gold medal and the honors of “Best in Show.” Laura Sanchez, a freshman, also took home a high-scoring gold medal that earned her the title “Most Improved.” Brenda Lara, Sade Aguila, Rossella Cangialosi, Stephanie Cardenas and Yocary Luna also earned gold medals.

The word “potato” conjures up different images for different chefs—and with good reason! There are more than 4,000 potato varieties worldwide with more than 100 varieties sold in the United States. So, it’s no wonder that one of the most frequently asked questions we hear from chefs is: Which potato should I use for best results?

To help you answer that question and get the most out of today’s most popular potatoes, the United States Potato Board is pleased to present our newest tool: The Perfect Potato: A Foodservice Guide to Fresh Potato Types.