By Eric Stein, M.S., R.D.

Cacao refers to the genus and beans; cocoa is the foundation of what we love.

One of the oldest and most celebrated foods on the planet today, chocolate was so highly prized by ancient civilizations that is was used as a form of currency. Today, it is nearly impossible to find a dessert menu that does not feature at least one chocolate-based confection.

Consumers desire chocolate for reasons including its decadence, flavor and various health benefits. Chocolate comes from the genus-species theobroma cocoa, theobroma being derived from the Greek words for “god” and “food.” Cocoa is grown on almost 30,000 square miles worldwide, in mostly temperate climates between 20° North and 20° South of the equator. Notable cocoa-producing areas include Central and South America, Indonesia and Africa. The cocoa plant produces myriad different products, but before they become the delicious food known as chocolate, the cocoa beans must go through an involved process.

This year’s Chefs Collaborative Summit, held at Kendall College, revealed big news for a growing fan base from the USDA.

Chefs Collaborative’s 2009 National Summit was held at Kendall College in Chicago, Sept. 15-16, drawing chefs and media nationwide with a commitment to ecological sustainability in foodservice to the campus for the Boston-based nonprofit’s annual meeting. Keynoter Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo fame broke away from his new restaurant, XOCO, to stress the importance of small, sustainable, family-owned businesses to the lifeblood of a town or neighborhood to an enthusiastic audience of nearly 150.

Flavors in high demand next year will include cardamom, hibiscus and sweet potato, says Mintel

How do you follow up a wild year of $5 menus, gourmet meals for paupers' prices and buy-one-get-one restaurant specials? You return to quality, that's how. Mintel Menu Insights, a service that tracks U.S. menu trends, releases five predictions for 2010, saying the restaurant industry will focus on high-quality food and ingredients to lure in diners.

By Peggy Ryan

Transcripts of the acceptance speech of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ 2009 Educator of the Year.

If you had told me in 1989 that I would be named Educator of the Year by WCR in 2009, I would have been completely flabbergasted.

In 1989 I was the chef and owner of a popular and well-regarded regional Italian restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, Va Pensiero.

Peggy Ryan, a culinary instructor in the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College, Chicago, received Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ (WCR) 2009 Educator of the Year Award on Nov. 3 during the association’s national conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

WCR’s Educator of the Year Award, sponsored by Visa Signature, recognizes excellence in culinary education and honors a woman whose dedication to teaching is making a difference to the culinary community. Ryan was selected among all candidates by a committee of culinary professionals.

Delmar, a part of Cengage Learning and a leader in skills-based solutions for educational institutions, businesses and professionals, today announced the publication of Poultry: Identification, Fabrication and Utilization (ISBN: 1435400380, $71.95) by Chef Thomas Schneller—the third book in the new, multi-part Kitchen Pro Series from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the world’s premier culinary college, based in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Poultry is a definitive manual that describes both time-honored and state-of-the-art methods of identifying species and cuts, purchasing, fabricating and storing of a comprehensive array of poultry ranging from domestically raised turkey and duck to quail and poussin, as well as wild birds.

Since 2005, culinary professionals looking to advance their careers by earning a diploma from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) have been completing their two-year associate degrees in just 15 months in the college's associate-degree program for students with Advanced Culinary Experience (ACE). Now, the CIA is expanding the program so twice as many culinarians can take advantage of this unique academic offering.

The California School of Culinary Arts (CSCA), the Pasadena location for the Le Cordon Bleu program, hosted the most recent National Honey Board (NHB) student recipe competition. Twenty-two students from beginning to advanced skill levels accepted the challenge to win one of three scholarship prizes.

As a Korean-born immigrant to America, Sullivan University’s Erica Sung has always wanted to learn about American agriculture management and what Korea could learn from American farming. As the recipient of the 2009 Culinary Learning Experience Scholarship, sponsored by the Simplot Top of House Culinary Board and the Idaho Potato Commission, she had the opportunity to travel to Idaho to tour a trout farm, explore potato and onion fields and more, all with the goal of sharing her knowledge with Sullivan classmates upon her return.

“My native country, Korea, does not have a system in place to mass-produce agricultural products, so it must rely on foreign exports,” said Sung before her trip. “However, as the global culture starts to merge, Korean eating habits are becoming increasingly Westernized. I believe this trip will give me the perspective to understand where Korea may be headed in a few years. I am looking forward to sharing what I learn with my fellow students at Sullivan University.”

Delmar, part of Cengage Learning and a leader in skills-based solutions for educational institutions, businesses and professionals, announces the publication of Case Scenarios in Hospitality Supervision, a resource guide for hospitality personnel. The book is based on common challenges in the industry and actual encounters in the field by author Dr. Peter Szende, a faculty member in the School of Hospitality Administration at Boston University.

Case Scenarios in Hospitality Supervision (ISBN: 1428321403, $49.95) presents 75 vignettes depicting real-life managerial dilemmas in the setting of the fictional Royal Hotel. The book focuses on scenarios that often happen to new managers, with particular emphasis placed on sharpening critical-thinking abilities and developing leadership. The setting of the Royal Hotel simulates real life, engaging students in a particular situation and helping to bridge the gap between classroom and industry.