Two students’ winning dishes featuring Mexican avocado were enjoyed by attendees of CAFÉ’s 9^th-annual Leadership Conference.

Mexico is the leading source of fresh avocados in the United States. To celebrate the versatility and goodness of Mexican avocados in foodservice, Avocados From Mexico (AFM) hosted a recipe competition among students enrolled in the two schools that served as sites for CAFÉ’s 2013 Leadership Conference in Miami, Fla., in June: Johnson & Wales University, N. Miami campus, and Miami Culinary Institute at Miami Dade College.

Dilia Capuzzo, representing Miami Culinary Institute, won with her Avocado Crème Brûlée. Her goal was to create something tropical, summery and cool to say “Miami.”

Ruben Santa-Robles, representing Johnson & Wales University, wowed judges with his Mediterranean Avocado Flatbread, which paired creamy avocado with the complementary tastes of salt from prosciutto and brine from capers.

Both dishes were served at the welcome reception on June 20, eliciting delight from conference guests. (Recipes with accompanying photos may be downloaded using the links below.)

AFM is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), formed for the purpose of advertising, promotion, public relations and research for all stakeholders of avocados from Mexico. Under agreements, MHAIA and the Mexican Avocado Producers & Packers (APEAM A.C.) have combined resources to fund and manage AFM, with the intent to provide a focused, highly effective and efficient marketing program in the United States. AFM is headquartered in Denver.

Photo:Students Dilia Capuzzo from Miami Culinary Institute and Ruben Santa-Robles from Johnson & Wales University won the recipe contest sponsored by Avocados From Mexico at CAFÉ’s 9^th-annual Leadership Conference in Miami, Fla., June 20-22.

DOWNLOAD, Avocado Crème Brûlée

DOWNLOAD, Mediterranean Avocado Flatbread

At the inaugural Menus of Change™ summit co-presented by the CIA in June, experts in foodservice, health science and social change presented information on topics relevant to what today’s health- and environmentally conscious consumers expect from corporations, foodservice operators and business leaders.

Attendees at the inaugural Menus of Change™ leadership summit, which opened June 10 in Cambridge, Mass., are examining the future of food and the challenges facing our country in terms of health, healthcare and our food systems.

Co-presented by The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Department of Nutrition, the Menus of Change program and accompanying annual report (www.menusofchange.org) provide a “GPS” for today's foodservice executives at a time when the food industry is being reshaped by concerns about obesity and healthcare costs, how food is produced and sourced, and declining global resources.

“It has been exciting to see the leaders from different sectors—foodservice, the environment, nutrition science and business—interact with such drive and commitment,” says Dr. Tim Ryan, CMC, president of the CIA. “Menus of Change is helping them find common ground at the intersection of some of the most pervasive issues that face our industry and our world, and we are setting a meaningful course of action toward solutions.”

Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar honors the diversity of South and Central America and the Caribbean by representing several regions on the menu, overseen by executive chef Joseph Tis. Although applications and flavors are authentic, the menu must have broad appeal. After all, just what does Latin food really mean?

By Lynn Schwartz

It’s hip. It’s sassy. It’s Latin. Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar is a smash hit and expanding—opening its next location in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early August.Executive chef Joseph Tis will be overseeing a menu that features an American interpretation of the vibrant flavors of Central and South America and the Latin Caribbean, with a special nod to the cuisine of Cuba.

This is nuevo Latino, a mix-and-match culinary style, which is at once familiar, exotic and diverse. But many Americans mistakenly assume that Latin means Tex-Mex, requiring Tis and the Paladar team to coax the less-adventurous diner to try something besides a chicken taco.

Introducing a New Cuisine
Latino Americans are the fastest-growing minority group in the United States. Like Latino culture and music, the flavorful foods are gaining popularity, even with those Americans who cannot pronounce pupusa, ropa vieja or chimichurri.

The awakening is similar to other cuisines that have been adopted into American mainstream culinary habits. Mexican food is now viewed as commonplace, and it was not so long ago that Chinese food only meant chop suey and fortune cookies. Paladar is among the pioneers, basing its restaurant concept on an up-and-coming and still-evolving fusion cuisine. “We create our dishes by blending and borrowing from a wide variety of traditional Latin recipes,” says Tis. “It’s our own spin.”

Paladar (the name is taken from paladares, a Cuban term for small, home-based restaurants) opened its first location in Cleveland in 2007. The owners are not of Latin descent, but are galvanized by the cuisine’s diverse flavors and creative spirit.

Recognizing and respecting differences among people is characteristic of our industry, and a reality in most workplaces. In the classroom, honoring differences also creates a positive environment where everyone is welcome and feels safe and included.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed ways to promote diversity in our classrooms, a continuing challenge for many of us, especially when it involves more than just focus on different foods, in itself a great activity. This month, we will discuss honoring and celebrating differences—moving beyond recognizing diversity to making special notice of ways in which people are distinguished, one from another.

Reasons for Honoring
There are many reasons to honor individual differences, not the least of which is making the classroom a positive environment where everyone is welcome, everyone feels safe, and everyone feels included. In addition, honoring differences is characteristic of this industry, and a reality in most kitchens, restaurants and hotels. And as a way of contributing to the growth of the profession, we need to role model accepting and honoring differences.

Several Strategies
In trying to honor differences, I practice three of four different strategies: learning and using students’ correct names, remembering and mentioning particular details of their lives, publically recognizing aspects of their lives, and organizing groups that recognize the range of differences.

From opening and staring into a hot oven until the inside temperature plummets to reasons not to overcrowd a frying pan, Chef Weiner discusses how to successfully teach some hard-to-learn rules in the culinary classroom. For one common practice among students, however, he still seeks a solution.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

In June I had the privilege of attending CAFÉ’s Leadership Conference in Miami. There are two reasons I love the conference: 1) the seminars and 2) the out-of-seminar discussions.

Let me share with you one of the out-of-seminar discussions that a group of us had at the breakfast table. The topic is particularly appropriate since many of you will be reading this at the start of your school year. What Is the Hardest Thing to Teach New Culinary Students? Here is our top 10 list:

1. Tasting
This is really two categories. Tasting as you cook, which is somewhat easy to drill into new students’ cooking routines. The other is far more difficult: getting people to taste the foods in the first place. I have many students who think I am trying to kill them by giving them a piece of beef that is cooked less than well done. Don’t even ask what they say about ceviche! I have had a little success with tough love: “This is what we are serving. If you don’t want to eat it, that’s fine.” However, if you do this better, guard your pantry and walk-in because they will try to make their own food, thinking you won’t notice.

A collegiate culinary-arts program in central Oregon and a high school in Phoenix earn top honors for exemplary practices in—and innovative teaching of—ecological sustainability.

Kendall College in Chicago and the Annapolis, Md.-based Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) presented 2013 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Awards to two culinary-arts training programs during a June 20 reception at CAFÉ’s 9^th-annual Leadership Conference for foodservice educators in Miami, Fla.

Cascade Culinary Institute (CCI) at Central Oregon Community College in Bend received this year’s award. CCI’s Jungers Culinary Center, which opened in late-2011, was built to Earth Advantage gold-certification standards. Successful management of day-to-day operations includes composting, recycling and use of green chemicals for ware washing. Additionally, CCI’s public restaurant and student training lab, Elevation, focuses on locally sourced produce, proteins, cheeses and grains.

“Even more impressive is the institute’s creation of one of the nation’s first culinary-arts certificates in sustainable food systems,” says Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC, vice president of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and the Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts, who oversaw evaluation of award entries. “Students earning the certificate learn current industry standards of sustainable restaurant practices via a pioneering curriculum that includes applied growing and raising of farm plants and animals, applied harvesting and food-preservation principles, farm-to-table and sustainable-cuisine practices, and even a 200-hour internship in farming and regional agriculture.”

Courtesy of the Idaho Potato Commission

This lesson plan for the culinary classroom focuses on an educational session presented at the 2013 CAFÉ Leadership Conference in Miami by Don Odiorne, vice-president foodservice for the Idaho Potato Commission, and Newman Miller, corporate executive chef for Bunge, at Johnson & Wales University’s N. Miami campus, June 22.

The downloadable PowerPoint reveals tips for perfectly frying Idaho Potatoes—for instance, blanching potatoes partially cooks the product, deactivates enzymes that discolor the fries, sets the texture, reduces oil absorption in frying, controls the color, decreases fry time and reduces bacterial count—as well as other applications. Additionally, the PowerPoint contains info on proper storage of Idaho potatoes, typical yields and food costs, and a comparison of oil types for frying, among other instruction. Several menu and foodservice trends are also revealed.

To augment the PowerPoint presentation, “Potato 101” at www.potato101.com is an easy-to-follow educational program and reference guide. It provides a base understanding of potatoes, starting with their history in Idaho and why the soil, water and climate combine perfectly to make their quality outstanding. Visitors to the site will also learn about the health and nutrition aspects of potatoes as well as their economical cost and versatility on menus.

DOWNLOAD, Frying Idaho Potatoes and Other Foodservice Trends

At its 13th-annual Educator of the Year Awards, Career Education Corporation (CEC) (NASDAQ: CECO) honored some of the finest instructors among its more than 6,000 faculty members nationwide for their dedication to student success.

Faculty, staff, students and administration submitted more than 600 nominations for Educator of the Year.  A group of 30 internal reviewers then assessed more than 200 nominee applications. Winners were selected in each of four categories: Academic Leadership, Community Service, Instruction and Student Success.

“We take great pride in our ability to enhance our students’ lives through education, and the quality of our faculty plays a significant role in that effort,” says Scott Steffey, president and chief executive officer of Career Education. “The instructors we’ve honored with the Educator of the Year award are an inspiration—true examples of the power an excellent teacher with passion, knowledge and real-world experience can have on a student.”

Austin Yancey, CEC, of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago, earned Educator of the Year in the Academic Leadership category. Yancey has taken his love of cooking from his grandmother’s kitchen to the heights of Alinea, one of the finest restaurants in the world, located in Chicago. There he experienced the pressures of working under a world-renowned chef with exacting standards.  He later returned to Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago—where he received his formal culinary training—to help educate future culinary professionals.  But his work has gone far beyond his classroom duties.

Yancey organized the creation of the Le Cordon Bleu Chicago Competition Club in March 2010. Over the past three years, hundreds of students have participated in the club under Yancey’s instruction, and the competition team has earned many medals in culinary events while providing invaluable training to students.  Students wanting to work in fine dining receive practical experience under the type of pressure they would face in a top-tier restaurant, but in an environment where a mistake is just a learning experience.  His commitment to students in the club includes working with them for six hours or more every Saturday, in addition to his regular weekday class schedule.

Yancey holds an associate degree in applied science in culinary arts as well as a bachelor’s degree in culinary management, both from Le Cordon Bleu. He also holds the designation of Certified Executive Chef from the American Culinary Federation.

On May 11, more than 40 students and professional chefs converged on the New Rochelle Campus to compete in the Greater New York Culinary Challenge (GNYCC) at the Culinary Arts Center. Besides medals awarded at this competition, there was another award at stake: The Dean’s Cup. This award, given by Dean Frank C. Costantino to the outstanding student culinarian, was on the line for 10 of Monroe's most accomplished young culinary competitors.

The competition was an "iron chef" format that had the students preparing an entrée from a basket of ingredients. First-year student Rossella Cangialosi, Barry Tech BOCES, won the inaugural Dean’s Cup with a silver medal for her sautéed chicken breast with mushroom sauce. Runner-up to the cup, also a silver-medal winner, Sade Aguila, 2011 America's Best HS Chef from Food and Finance, recorded a milestone medal, earning the 400th competition medal won by Monroe Culinary since April 2009.

Silver medals were also won by Enmely Soriano (Passaic County Tech), Kencito Vernon (Food and Finance), Yocary Luna, 2012 America’s Best High School Chef from Food and Finance, and Kimani Hines, Gateway School. Bronze medals in the Dean’s cup were won by Katherine Taveras, C-CAP Philly and captain of the 2013 Junior Culinary Team, along with her teammates, Carmen Albino, Port Richmond C-CAP, and Laura Sanchez, Passaic County Tech. Lealy Irizarry, Truman High School, also earned a bronze medal.

Other Monroe Culinary students were vying for medals, as well. Alberto Obando, LIC High School, earned his first individual student medal, a silver, for his trio of Cornish game hen. It was student gold medals for Jovita Palafox, Port Richmond C-CAP student, whose chocolate/banana cake was a favorite of the judges, and Nashali Rivera, Food and Finance C-CAP student, who impressed the judges with her Cornish hen dish. Rivera earned the highest score posted on the day. Brenda Lara, Port Richmond C-CAP student, earned her first professional gold medal in pastry for her tropical entremets with mango-caramel glaze. Lara registered higher scores in her category than the professional chefs who competed.

The Chicago Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) recently awarded scholarships totaling $22,500 to female students enrolled in professional culinary- and baking/pastry-arts programs throughout greater Chicago.

For more than 30 years, Les Dames d’Escoffier–Chicago has awarded scholarships to women pursuing careers in food, nutrition, wine and hospitality while enrolled full time in certificate- and degree-granting programs in Chicago-area postsecondary institutions. This year, scholarships in amounts of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,250 were granted based on academic performance, dedication to community service and financial need. Additionally, each recipient will be assigned a mentor from the local LDEI chapter to share expertise and guidance.

“Women are a significant force in Chicago’s vibrant culinary and hospitality scenes,” says Judith Dunbar Hines, chair of the 2013 Scholarship Committee of LDEI–Chicago and owner of Judith Dunbar Hines Culinary Services. “Since 1982, our members have lived our philanthropic mission in part by annually distributing scholarships and grants to assist women pursuing their passion. We’re proud, in our 31th year, to continue this grand tradition by recognizing and assisting seven talented students with the potential to become rising stars in the realm of food.”