“We literally wrote the book about what it takes to be a professional chef,” says CIA provost and Certified Master Chef Mark Erickson. “It’s interesting to look back on how we’ve progressed in America, as a cuisine and a profession. Flipping through the successive editions of The Professional Chef is like a taking a history lesson in the rapid evolution of food in America over the past 50 years. Each was innovative in its time, and every subsequent edition has continued to be at the cutting edge of culinary innovation.”
How much have things changed in 50 years? The current ninth edition of The Professional Chef has expanded to 1,212 print pages. The searchable, interactive iPad app version includes embedded instructional videos. Both cover organics and sustainability, culinary science and the globalization of flavors. Today’s Professional Chef is also the go-to culinary resource for many more women in the profession—a full 47% of aspiring chefs enrolled at the CIA today are female. Recipes now include Korean Bibimbap, Baba Ghanoush, Paella Valenciana and Pork Vindaloo. Breakfast foods, breads and desserts now have their own sections.
What will be required of professional chefs in the next 50 years? What will food and cooking look like in 2062? “If the next 50 years are as revolutionary as the past 50 have been, it’s hard to imagine where we’ll be,” Erickson says. “However, there’s no doubt that The Culinary Institute of America and The Professional Chef will continue to lead the way and prepare chefs for the future of food.”