New resources, recipes and menu ideas are available online for students’ use, to teach them to understand how to help consumers make informed food choices—not only during National Nutrition Month in March, but all year long.

Courtesy of the Soyfoods Council

Soyfoods have played an important role in Asian cuisines for centuries. In recent years they have become popular in Western countries because of their nutrition and health properties.

Soyfoods are excellent sources of high-quality protein and provide a healthy mix of polyunsaturated fat. In addition, independent of their nutrient content, there is very intriguing evidence indicating soyfoods reduce risk of several chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, osteoporosis and certain forms of cancer. All individuals are well advised to eat a couple of servings of soyfoods every day.

The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes announces a call for entries in two competitions: The Art Institutes Best Teen Chef Competition for high-school seniors and The Art Institutes Culinary Scholarship Competition for high-school graduates.

Entrants must submit an entry/release form, a favorite recipe and an essay, as well as transcripts. The deadline for entry is Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. To enter and view the competition rules, visit www.aicompetitions.com/culinary2013.

The Art Institutes Best Teen Chef Competition, now in its 14th year, is an opportunity for high-school seniors in the United States and Canada interested in pursuing a culinary career to experience the excitement and discipline of the industry. For the second year, the Culinary Scholarship Competition offers high-school graduates the opportunity to compete against their peers, as well.

Selected finalists will participate in a cook-off competition at each participating Art Institutes school on March 2, 2013, judged by professional chefs and culinary faculty. Entrants selected to participate in the cook-off competition receive recipes in advance and have an opportunity to take part in a pre-competition coaching session.

The first-place winner in the high-school-senior competition at each participating Art Institutes school will earn a $4,000 tuition scholarship. The second-place winner at each participating Art Institutes school will earn a $1,000 scholarship. The first-place winner in the high-school-graduate competition at each participating Art Institutes school will earn a $1,500 scholarship.

Eli Kaimeh, chef de cuisine at the world-renowned restaurant Per Se in New York City, returned to his alma mater to deliver the commencement address at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) on Dec. 20, 2012. He spoke to graduates at the college's Hyde Park, N.Y., campus about the importance of respecting the food world and each other.

Kaimeh, 34, has been heading the kitchen at Per Se for almost three years and has been with the restaurant since its opening in 2004. Per Se earned the title of Best Restaurant in America and sixth best in the world from England’s Restaurant magazine in 2012. It was also honored last year by the Continental Restaurant Awards as the Best Restaurant in North America. Per Se holds the highest possible rating of three stars in the Michelin Guide and received a rare four-star review from The New York Times.

The New England Culinary Institute’s (NECI) Baking and Pastry Department chair, Chef Michael Rhoads, was awarded a silver medal the prestigious “Salon of Culinary Art” competition held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City in November 2012.

The “Salon of Culinary Art,” organized by the Société Culinaire Philanthropique, is presented each year during the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show. The salon welcomes competitors from around the world who showcase their skills using traditional and modern techniques to present current trends in the culinary world.

“Chef Michael’s showing at this important culinary competition is a monumental win, for him and for NECI,” said Chef Jean-Louis Gerin, the school’s vice president of culinary operations and executive chef. “The competition couldn’t be harder, and Chef Michael’s silver-place trophy demonstrates his exceptional skill.”

The Société Culinaire Philanthropique is one of the oldest chefs associations in the United States. Founded in 1865, it regroups chefs, cooks, pastry chefs, bakers and butchers, including some of America's most famous chefs. This year marked the 144th Annual Salon of Culinary Art competition.

With the official opening of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts’ Cuisine Solutions Sous-Vide Training Kitchen on Oct. 19, 2012, foodservice professionals throughout the United States and around the world can register for online theoretical courses on sous vide as well as workshops with certified sous-vide instructors.

An audio recording of a presentation on sous-vide cooking by Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE, dean of Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts, is available by clicking here. Zonka spoke Aug. 1, 2012, to an enthusiastic audience on a leading trend in the foodservice and food-manufacturing industries with “Sous Vide: Why This ‘Rediscovered’ Cooking Method Might Be Right for You” at the 2012 R&D Applications Seminar in Rosemont, Ill.

Zonka’s presentation includes the history of sous vide, which traces to the late-18th century and was rediscovered by American and French engineers in the mid-1960s as an industrial food-preservation method. She further explains how cell walls of meats and vegetables are damaged by high-heat cooking, which can make foods mushy and dried out. By heating foods in an environment that approximates desired finished temperature, meats retain moisture and vegetables become firm/tender and remain intact. Because the sous-vide technique involves vacuum-sealing, seasonings and flavors penetrate foods effectively.

Zonka was invited to present at the R&D Applications Seminar because of Kendall College’s professional culinary-arts training programs and its partnership with Cuisine Solutions, Masters of Sous Vide since 1971. The partnership led to launch of the Cuisine Solutions Sous-Vide Training Kitchen and curriculum at Kendall College’s Riverworks campus. In addition to offering expert training and certification in the sous-vide process to seasoned culinary professionals through Cuisine Solutions’ education arm, the Culinary Research and Education Academy (CREA), the new kitchen and curriculum also benefit Kendall’s associate- and baccalaureate-degree culinary students.

The American Personal & Private Chef Association (APPCA) based in San Diego, Calif., recently announced official endorsement of the Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy, which launched last June by Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Triumph Higher Education Group at www.escoffieronline.com.

Modeled after prestigious culinary institutes worldwide, Escoffier Online offers a comprehensive curriculum of cooking techniques and fundamentals via an online platform that combines learning essentials into one intuitive, easy-to-use interface.

“We are pleased to endorse the Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy,” says Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of the APPCA. “This contemporary method of culinary-arts instruction is an ideal avenue for learning—not only for those entering the culinary profession, but for home cooks, as well. For would-be cooks who aspire to formal culinary-arts training, but whose life demands don’t facilitate enrollment in a traditional brick-and-mortar program, Escoffier Online offers an eminently convenient and affordable option.”

Physical structure and location are no longer as important as the ability to promote a good food product through both traditional and innovative means. Beyond pop-up restaurants, touch-screen ordering and food trucks, what’s next on the horizon?

By Douglas D. Stuchel, MAT, CHE

The restaurant business has traditionally relied on word-of-mouth advertising as a method of marketing and driving repeat business. Usually, this exchange has resulted directly from conversations between friends/acquaintances who have recently dined at a particular facility.

We are, however, rapidly becoming a society that uses such mobile applications as Urbanspoon, Foodspotting and OpenTable to guide us to restaurants based on the opinions and recommendations of people we do not know and, most likely, will never meet.

It used to be said that if you had a bad meal at a restaurant you would tell approximately 10 friends about the experience. Today, a bad online review can reach hundreds of potential customers in real time, influencing their dining decision and immediately impacting a restaurant’s bottom line.

Here are five trends and 10 accompanying flavor combinations (farro, blackberry and clove, anyone?) predicted to catalyze menu innovation this year.

Hunt Valley, Md.-based McCormick & Company recently revealed its McCormick® Flavor Forecast® 2013, now in its 13th year. The report is an annual spotlight on the emerging trends that will drive flavor innovation over the next several years.

Compiling insights from a team of McCormick chefs, sensory scientists, dietitians, trend trackers, marketing experts and food technologists in more than 100 countries over the course of a year, Flavor Forecast highlights distinctive food trends and flavors that have a common thread throughout the world.

For 2013, five trends and 10 accompanying flavor combinations are predicted to be the catalyst for menu innovations that are global and personal:

 Food-waste consciousness, “mini meals” and veganism top the list of consumer health trends that will dominate this year.

The growth of food waste consciousness, mini meals, gluten-free products and mainstream veganism top the health trends expected to make headlines in 2013, according to a second-annual forecast by a leading national research group studying health-related attitudes and behavior in America.

The Values Institute at DGWB,a social-science research entity based in Santa Ana, Calif., used observational studies to identify the top health and wellness trends that Americans are most likely to embrace in 2013. A collaboration with DGWB’s BalancedHealthy practice, serving clients in the health and wellness space, the annual list is an extension of the Institute’s work in values-based marketing and social entrepreneurialism and long-term partnership with the international research firm Iconoculture of Minneapolis.

The top five consumer health trends for 2013 will be:

This year, mixers will matter and whiskeys will wow. Also, hard ciders go up a notch, and expect the Americanized version of the German Biergarten to blossom.

Chicago-based trend-tracker Technomic tapped its analysts, consultants and experts to highlight the trends shaping the drinks business in 2013. Based on ongoing research into spirits, wine and beer volume and sales, as well as surveys, interviews and discussions involving brand marketers, on-premise and retail operators, bartenders and consumers, these insights are supported by Technomic’s extensive adult-beverage database including its Trends in Adult Beverage reports and other tools, such as MenuMonitor and the consumer-tracking Project CO-PILOT.

The major developments influencing adult-beverage choices in 2013 include: