Chef Weiner argues there’s only one right answer.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Paper or plastic? Shaken or stirred? Regular or decaf? Red or white? Recipes or technique? These are some of the great questions that plague culinary instructors on a daily basis. To start the New Year, I am going to open the debate (please post a comment on this website so we can really get the debate going) on whether we should focus our students on learning how to follow recipes or how to use their technical skills to create or duplicate dishes.

Recipes or technique is a question that drives culinary instructors crazy. When I focus on teaching recipes, a number of my friends (many of whom volunteer to teach the class and others who hire my students) tell me that I am doing a disservice, because when they go out into the real world there won’t be recipes. These chefs contend that when the students go out into restaurants they will be shown a dish once and then be expected to duplicate it.

Share your best ideas for innovation in teaching sustainability by April 1, 2013.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC

The Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and CAFÉ are proud to announce that entries are being accepted for the 2013 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award. The first national award dedicated to building the body of teaching knowledge for all sustainability educators, it recognizes innovative teaching and projects that could have applications for other culinary programs across the country.

All secondary and postsecondary culinary-arts and baking/pastry programs are eligible to enter. Entries will be judged based on the level of innovation; perceived impact on students’ understanding of sustainability practices and their importance; and the ease with which elements of the winning program can be implemented by other culinary programs nationwide.

Volume VII in the World Culinary Arts Series at ciaprochef.com, focusing on the cuisines of Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago.

Take your students on a virtual tour of the islands of the Caribbean, where leading chefs and food authorities explain and demonstrate their culinary techniques in step-by-step detail. The Culinary Institute of America, in association with Unilever Food Solutions, presents “Savoring the Best of World Flavors: The Caribbean,” the seventh edition of the World Culinary Arts Series. A first-of-its-kind video reference library documenting the “gold standards” of world cuisines, these HD video podcasts are packed with cooking demonstrations, in-depth interviews and recipes.

After years of working hard and plenty of time spent “doing life,” retirees have earned their break. Chefs at Beacon Hill at Eastgate in Grand Rapids, Mich., uniquely meld their talents with the culinary wonders of the region and the desires of residents.

By Timothy England, CEC, AAC

It been said time and again that life begins at retirement. For many this means a time for travel, investing in family, perhaps even taking up a new hobby, or reengaging in an old one. It may mean new experiences with your bride or a time to dance with your groom again. Perhaps it is a friendship that needs nurturing or a time for your soul to rejuvenate with regular exercise.

Retirement has long since passed the time of boring days at home with little or nothing to do; menial tasks that fill the time but do little to engage the mind. With all the possibilities for adventure and new discoveries, retirees these days are known to be setting out on a new life that takes them far beyond the routine of their long, hard working years and into a world of fresh starts and checking things off that lifelong “bucket list.”

Look for noodles of all stripes to show up in hearty layered bowls on menus. We’ll also see mainstreaming of South American-style grilled meats and Latin-Asian fusion seafood dishes. And, African peri-peri chicken should take flight.

 Technomic, the Chicago-based foodservice research and consulting firm, brings together the best judgments of its consultants and editors to peer ahead to food trends that might significantly impact the restaurant industry in 2013.

These expert insights are based on site visits evaluating the restaurant scene in cities across the country as well as interviews and surveys of operators, chefs and consumers, backed up by qualitative data from Technomic’s extensive Digital Resource Library and quantitative data from its vast MenuMonitor database. Some of these developments are mainstream trends among major players; others are edgy urban movements that might or might not spread to the wider American public; and some are in the process of evolving from leading-edge to mainstream.