Dr. Mayo continues his discussion of tried-and-true and novel assessment ideas, as well as common methods whose usefulness in your program might be dated. This month he examines evaluating food preparation and dining-room service.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed oral presentations and class participation. This month, we will examine evaluating food preparation and dining-room service, and next month, this column will discuss the topic of assessment criteria and rubrics, building on ideas presented in my previous three articles (Assessment Methods I, II and III).

Evaluating Food Preparation
The most challenging and important aspect of evaluation in culinary classes involves assessing student performance in preparing food. There are so many aspects to this challenge, including knife skills, station set up, mise en place, food-safety habits, ingredient use, use of heat, basic cooking principles, consistency, creativity, palate development and plate presentation, as well as professionalism during the entire process.

For newer culinary-arts teachers, ordering can seem a daunting task. But it’s really quite simple, says Chef Weiner, who suggests three basic ways to order for day-to-day teaching (while taking into consideration two common snags). His chief advice? Under order.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

This article is dedicated to the newer instructors. If you are experienced in ordering for teaching purposes, then feel free to skip this article and join me again next month.

If you are new to teaching, you have only been ordering for your class for a short time. By now you are probably banging your head into the wall, particularly if you have never ordered for a foodservice facility.

In the beginning, new chefs and instructors tend to over order. This is only slightly burdensome for non-perishables and freezer items (although sooner or later space becomes an issue). This can be a real money loser for perishable items that can’t be frozen.

WORK VERY HARD to under order. Remember, your job is to teach the students how to cook—not to feed them. If they only get a half serving (or even a taste), so be it.

As much as our primary educational mission is to prepare students to be professionally successful in their chosen career, Chef Sorgule asserts our obligation extends far beyond: Educators have a responsibility to help mold good citizens, community leaders and honorable members of society.

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

Chefs and restaurateurs have historically been some of the most generous people that I have known; however, this generous nature grows by following the lead of mentors who set the example.

When disaster strikes, when others are in need, when a good cause cries out for support, chefs and restaurateurs are typically at the front of the line to help. This caring nature is what has always drawn me to restaurant people and something that I feel is paramount to truly experiencing a level of personal success.

As crusty as some chefs and restaurateurs appear to be, they care about others both on their team and in the community at large. Chefs, in particular, are very protective of their team, oftentimes going above the call of duty to support and help when there is a need.

From recipes to roe, and from properly extracting meat from the shell and paring it with wines, this free online learning course from The Culinary Institute of America is suitable for culinary-arts students in class and as homework.

The Culinary Institute of America has launched a free online learning course, “The Professional Chef Discovers Maine Lobster.” The program provides a crash course in all things Maine lobster, including chef-tested recipes, all downloadable and demonstrated in streaming HD video by CIA Chef Scott Samuel and some special guest chefs.

Sponsored by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, “The Professional Chef Discovers Maine Lobster” takes viewers to the coastal waters of Maine as lobstermen pull up their catches and into the kitchens of the CIA’s Greystone campus in Napa Valley.

A successful, time-honored business in Northern California projects saving 65% of current energy usage thanks to a new solar-energy system it recently installed, helping to shape the future of the baking industry.

Sugar Bowl Bakery, one of the largest family- and minority-owned bakeries operating in the United States, recently installed solar modules and electric vehicle-charging stations to increase the energy efficiency of the facility. With the installation of a photovoltaic system, Sugar Bowl Bakery, located in the Bay Area, will have the capacity to produce 700,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, which offsets 65% of the facility’s current electricity usage.

Sugar Bowl Bakery’s decision to incorporate cutting-edge and renewable technology within its factory will help shape the future of the baking industry.