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.