For the first time, researchers and campus visitors can now schedule appointments to view.

After years behind closed doors, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) archives and special collections is now available for public viewing. The Archives and Special Collections room is located in the Conrad N. Hilton Library on the CIA’s Hyde Park, N.Y. campus. It houses materials from the college’s history, a collection of more than 30,000 menus from 80-plus countries dating back to 1855, and a rare books collection.

The treasures include a history of the college written by cofounder Frances Roth, handwritten recipes by famous chefs given to Craig Claiborne on his 70th birthday, and a menu signed by legendary late 19th/early 20^th-century chef Auguste Escoffier. These and other items, along with a selection of rare books, were on display at a grand opening held at the library on Jan. 21.

The archives and special collections are available to researchers and campus visitors by appointment. Learn more about the archives at ciachef.libguides.com/archives. To schedule an appointment, contact Nicole Semenchuk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or 845-451-1270.

Wondering and thinking about everything that is done in the kitchen—and considering how and why—are important behaviors we want to build in our students and encourage a stance of questioning.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

For much of the fall, we discussed helping students learn about themselves, assisting them in taking charge of their lives and in other ways building their professional skills. This spring, we will focus on another aspect of working with students: helping them expand their curiosity and their creativity. This month, we will discuss developing the habit of curiosity.

A Habit of Curiosity
The habit of curiosity is a pattern of looking at and wondering about things throughout the day. It involves noticing when things do not work the way you expected them and asking why things happen the way they do. Since it means asking a range of questions—who, what, where, when, how and why—this process of thinking actively engages the mind and builds critical-thinking skills, something so necessary for our students.

Unfortunately, there are many people who can look at a loaf of bread, a plate presentation, a clear soup, a glass of wine or a composed salad and not see anything. They do not wonder why it was prepared the way it was, where it came from, what was involved, what else could have happened, and why it smells or tastes like it does. While that acceptance without noticing and thinking may be acceptable in a restaurant patron, it does not belong in a professional chef or a student learning to become a chef. Wondering and thinking about everything that is done in the kitchen and considering how and why are important behaviors we want to build in our students. Therefore, we need to encourage a stance of questioning and a habit of curiosity.

Chef Weiner’s dad has chemical-engineering degrees all over his wall, written hundreds of articles and flown around the world to advise companies, yet his cooking was never as good as that of Weiner’s grandmother, who only made it through the second grade.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

“Food is love.”
—Culinary instructor Adam Weiner

“Cooking is a mistake, baking is a science.”
—Elihu Kittell, chef for the County of San Mateo and longtime friend of the author

“Cooking takes advantage of many basic science principles that apply in the kitchen and throughout the universe. Knowing these principles will enable you to perform endless culinary experiments, and to view the world through the eyes of a scientist.”
—Page 7 of The Epicurean Laboratoryby Tina Seelig,1991

In January 2013 I tackled the controversy of whether culinary instructors need to emphasize technique or recipe. Please see my 50-Minute Classroom articles on Reading and Writing Recipes, Braising, Baking, Sauté, Steamingand Grilling.

Are you preparing students to be kitchen and career ready?

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

Sometimes the military gets it right. The training program that all soldiers must go through is designed to not just prepare individuals physically for the demands of this type of service, but more importantly prepare these same individuals to function as members of a larger entity. The methodologies used are very well thought out, and all conditioning is directly or indirectly focused on a high level of preparedness. Some may call this conditioning excessive, but I think most would agree that the result is a unit of men or women with a common focus and a total commitment to their respective tasks as part of a team.

Apply those same realities to the function of a professional kitchen, and it would not be a stretch to admit that this type of outcome is exactly what is needed from culinary educational programs. The desired outcomes for both the military and programs focused on careers in a kitchen are: respect, attention to detail, professionalism, image, repetition, physical conditioning, teamwork, respect for chain of command, the ability to follow directives, and accepting roles within an organization.

Approved by the ACF for CEHs, this curriculum released in January arrives at a time when mango consumption in the United States is up considerably.

Courtesy of the National Mango Board

The National Mango Board announces the release of its new education materials for culinary students, culinary instructors and professional chefs. Fresh Mango-The Basics for Foodservice video and Fresh Mango Curriculum cover the product essentials from how mangos grow to how to maximize their menu versatility—everything operators need to create fresh, delicious and healthful menu items with fresh mango. Culinary-education materials are available at www.mango.org/foodservice/culinary-education.

The Fresh Mango Curriculum has been approved by the American Culinary Federation for 8.5 continuing-education hours. Viewers may take the online quiz and program evaluation and send to the e-mail provided; the National Mango Board will review and send a certificate.

“In our foodservice program we’re finding that success using fresh mango on menus rests not only on knowing the basics of how to order and handle this popular fruit,” says Megan McKenna, director of marketing for the Mango Board, “but also with understanding the remarkable versatility of fresh mango across all dayparts, in sweet and savory applications.”