Recently, a friend and I took a winemaker’s cooking class at a local culinary center called ‘Nothing To It!’. Since 1995, the school motto: “good ingredients + good culinary techniques = good food,” has perfectly captured the essence of how to cook, whether you’re a weekend chef in your own kitchen, or a chef at a five star restaurant.
Many people who don’t aspire to be professional chefs are nevertheless searching for their inner chef. Culinary centers like Nothing To It! fill this need. With over 500 students per month taking classes, the Nothing To It! owners and instructors have an opportunity to share their love of cooking with both demonstrations and hands-on classes. A tasting menu of classes includes:
Whether you’re hands-on slicing and dicing, dropping the kids off for a kids & teens cooking camp, or studying basic or advanced cooking techniques yourself, Nothing To It! brings a comprehensive and fun ‘how to cook’ experience to the public. According to their head instructor, “Once people are taught the basics, it gives them a new enthusiasm for cooking and how food fits into their lives.”
Whether you’re interested in taking a cooking class or teaching one, culinary centers like Nothing To It! can help bring a new enjoyment to preparing food with family and friends. Perhaps your niche in the culinary world is teaching others how to cook—whether in a culinary school or a culinary center like Nothing To It!.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature. She writes articles for the Internet on a variety of subjects.
Mole is often described as a ‘chocolate sauce, but not really.’ Mole is actually a spicy Mexican sauce, a national culinary treasure, commonly served with poultry.
Mole (mO-lay) is a combination of onions, dried chiles, garlic, many different spices, a variety of ground seeds and nuts—and, incidentally—Mexican unsweetened chocolate. When you hear the phrase unsweetened, the description ‘chocolate sauce, but not really’ begins to make a little more sense.
Mole comes from the Aztec word ‘molli,’ which means ‘sauce.’ There are several colorful stories about the origins of mole. The consensus among historians seems to be that mole appeared on the Mexican culinary scene in the 1600s. However, long before the Spaniards landed in the New World, chefs were preparing mole poblano for Aztec royalty from recipes passed down from the Mayans.
Top mole chefs, or moleros, and amateur mole aficionados bring their secret recipes to San Pedro Atocpan (in the southern suburbs of Mexico City) in October each year for the National Mole Fair. There are those who say that once you’ve had mole, you’ll never go back to standard gravy.
Saucier—a chef who specializes in making sauces—is an extremely important and often prestigious position in the culinary world. Sauces are the foundation for many foods, such as French haute cuisine. Among sauces, mole is the upscale brown gravy equivalent for Mexican dishes. Some mole recipes are time-consuming to prepare—they can take up to three days—but many culinary experts say it’s worth it. There’s nothing quite as tasty as a good mole poblano de quajolote (turkey) for Thanksgiving dinner.
With a solid culinary education, you can learn the intricacies of preparing the sauces that are critical to the success of any great kitchen—including classic mole poblano.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, with a degree in English Literature.
Ask chefs around the world, “What is your favorite comfort food?” and you’ll get as many answers as the number of chefs you ask. America’s classic comfort foods have become a staple on upscale menus across the nation.
For the purposes of this article, let’s look at the following classic, culinary, comfort favorites and see exactly how upscale they’ve gone:
Introduced by Kraft in 1937 in its ‘instant dinner’ version, Mac and Cheese actually traces its roots back hundreds of years—whether to the ancient Romans, Etruscans, Chinese, or Koreans is still controversial in some culinary circles.
Plain Mac & Cheese step aside; S’MAC (Sarita’s Macaroni & Cheese) is in town—in the heart of Manhattan’s East Village. Rubbing elbows with S’MAC’s classic American and Cheddar cheeses and macaroni is creamy Brie, whole-wheat pasta, roasted shitake mushrooms, and figs accented with rosemary. Mac & Cheese may no longer be that simple childhood culinary favorite you remember so fondly—but it seems to have grown into a rather stylish and sophisticated adult.
Basic mashed potatoes—just add butter, milk, salt, and pepper—can be tarted up with a variety of culinary goodies—toasted garlic, artichokes, rosemary, dill, parsley, cheese, sour cream, roasted shallots, caramelized leeks, wasabi mustard, horseradish, or buttermilk and chives. Or kick it up a notch with bourbon mashed sweet potatoes a la Chef Emeril. With an eye toward upscale, this plain Jane comfort food has come a long way, baby.
Plastic wrapper American cheese slices and Wonder bread slathered with butter—smashed together and oozing melted cheese—the grilled cheese sandwich is a classic comfort food, particularly when served with a hot, steaming bowl of tomato soup. Almost every chef has a grilled cheese twist. Chef Chiarello brings us Teleme or Brie on ciabatta bread with Dijon mustard, red onions, and roasted red peppers. Chef De Laurentis prepares panini with Fontina, red onion, prosciutto, and olive oil. And Chef Paula Deen offers a grilled apple, bacon, and cheddar with roasted red onion mayo version. No matter how you slice it, chefs know that a good grilled cheese sandwich can bring a smile to any face—young or not so young, upscale or down home.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
How many pots and pans does a chef really need? What is the best brand to buy? Will the success of your culinary career depend on making the right choices? Here are some pointers you should consider when you’re ready to make this all important investment in your future.
The three most important criteria to help you make wiser choices are:
Most chefs and culinary experts agree that you should buy the best pans you can afford—a good set can last for a long time. You may find some cost savings when you buy them in a set but you risk not getting exactly what you want or need. Consider purchasing one pan at a time as you can afford it, beginning with the basics. Prices generally start at $100 for a small pan (2-quart size) and go up depending on pan size and how it is constructed. Quality, however, is going to cost you.
The following essential pans should be part of your culinary ‘starter kit’:
Generally, pans should have tight fitting lids, straight sides, heavy bottoms, and well-constructed, long handles. Carefully consider the sizes of your starter pans—you may be able to temporarily use one pan for a number of different purposes. As you can afford it, complete your must-have collection and add other specialty pots and pans.
Copper is the best heat conductor and allows for even cooking, but it’s also very expensive and can react with certain foods. Cheaper aluminum is a decent heat conductor but is a soft metal that also reacts with certain foods. Stainless steel, easy to care for and nearly indestructible, is in the mid-range for both heat conductivity and price. Combining copper or aluminum with stainless steel is a good compromise. Stainless steel lined with copper is another option. According to a number of chefs and culinary writers, however, aluminum and/or copper sandwiched between layers of heavy gauge stainless steel, for both the bottom and sides of the pan, is the best option.
The most important ingredient in the selection process is research. Carefully determine which brand name pans are constructed from materials that meet your culinary needs, which different type and size pans you need, and how much you are willing to spend. Once you have made these decisions, you can find some great deals on the Internet.
The right tool for the job is essential in the culinary world and the pans you select can make your job harder or easier, depending on your choices. Pots and pans are a substantial investment in your future—make informed and wise choices.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Chef Suzanne Goin is the west coast queen of the culinary arts. If you’re looking for someone who really knows how to cook, she’s an excellent candidate—other chefs routinely praise her ‘Mediterranean-influenced California cuisine.’ She has already won a number of prestigious culinary awards—and she’s just hitting her stride at age 39(ish).
Named one of the top ten best new chefs by Food and Wine Magazine in 1999, Chef Goin also received a nod from Condé Nast Traveler and Gourmet Magazines. She made the Forbes.com Tastemaker Chefs in 2005, and was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award for three years running before finally receiving two ‘gold’ medals in 2006—one for ‘Best Chef: California,’ the other for a cookbook she co-authored with Teri Gelber, Sunday Suppers at Lucques.
Chef Goin has worked with some famous chefs who definitely know how to cook—French legend Alain Passard at L’Arpege, Todd English of Boston’s own Olives, and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame, to name only a few. Observes Chef Waters, “We all knew one day that she would have a restaurant of her own, and that other cooks would be coming to her for kitchen wisdom and a warm welcome.”
That time is now. Currently partner/owner of three flourishing LA restaurants—Lucques, A.O.C., and Hungry Cat—Chef Goin insists that food ingredients for her kitchens come from sustainable aquaculture and agriculture, with an emphasis on both organic and locally-grown products.
A Forbes.com poll found that the recipe for a great chef begins with someone who ‘knows how to cook,’ but also includes pinches of artist, entrepreneur, showman, businessman, and a dash of huckster to add panache. Substituting ‘woman’ for ‘man,’ Chef Goin certainly qualifies as a great chef by these criteria.
Goin’s commitment to tasty food and to educating her customers is paramount. Stories about food are a major selling point, she says. “People want to know where things come from, if there is a story behind it, people love a story.” With menu items like Australian King Island cheese and Petuna Ocean Trout from Tasmania, Chef Goin certainly tells a palate-pleasing and masterful story. Aspiring chefs would be wise to take lessons from her success to weave their own culinary tale.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Source(s)
Food and Wine Magazine
Forbes.com
Global Food and Wine Magazine
Cheese—what a wonderfully diverse, delicious, and delightful culinary staple. You can melt it, toast it, bake it, blend it, grill it, deep fat fry it, or eat it right out of the wrapper. In fact, annual cheese consumption in the U.S. is expected to top 34 pounds per person by 2015.
Cheese has been around for a long time; its origins can be traced back to prehistoric times. Cheese is differentiated by type of milk—raw, skimmed, or pasteurized—and by which animal it comes from—cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, reindeer, camels, or even yaks. Although there are hundreds of different varieties of cheese (Cheese.com lists a whopping 656), they can be grouped into the following categories:
Chefs use cheese in the kitchen every day in an amazing variety of different culinary delights from appetizers straight through to desserts.
When Food and Wine recently polled 70 chefs across the nation, they found that the two cheeses that topped their favorites list were parmesan (particularly parmigiano reggiano) and blue cheese. Parmigiano reggiano is prized for its rich sharp flavor, and blue cheese, from locations as diverse as California or Iowa or New Zealand, for its peppery taste and creamy texture.
As more and more chefs promote fresh ingredients and sustainable local produce, artisan cheeses from small local producers are increasing in popularity. Various organizations affiliated with the cheese industry have begun offering cheese appreciation courses that provide a wealth of information about cheese for chefs and restaurant owners, culinary students, food writers, and sommeliers. Cheese is obviously becoming serious business.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Artisan Cheese Marketing
Cheese.com
Food & Wine
Wisconsin Cheese
The latest trend in culinary gear is the crock pot. From stews to simmered pot roasts, will chefs be convinced that a slow cooker is something to use on a regular basis?
Why isn’t a crock pot ideal for some chefs? Consider:
Slow cookers work on the “set it and forget it” principle. You can walk away from a full pot of plum tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, herbs, broth and meat, returning in a few hours later to a delicious, piping hot.
But there are other benefits. According to Betty Fussell, chef and author of The Story of Corn, “I am in every way a Slow Foodie. Time is one of the essential ingredients of cooking, as in the flavor blending, as in texture manipulation, as in fermentation of grain or grapes.”
And Andrew Zimmem, host of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods agrees, “I would take a slow cooker every night of the week, even if the week was 10 days long. Slow cookers provide 12 to 16 hours of mouthwatering aromas and offer simple one-touch culinary solutions to complex problems.”
The jury may still be out on crock pots, but a culinary degree from an accredited institution can help you form a more educated opinion on the slow cooker phenomenon.
Sue Booth is a freelance writer and a former panel taste tester for Good Housekeeping magazine.
The Chronicle Herald
“New cookers perfect choice for busy chefs,” Kane County Chronicle
Recent buzz on the American culinary scene concerns an emerging trend—grass-fed beef. Health-conscious consumers as well as discerning chefs want naturally grown food, and grass-fed beef fits the bill.
Grass-fed beef, much like free range chicken, has gained in popularity with Americans who like to eat beef but are concerned with what happens to the cow before it becomes the rump roast or sirloin steak they buy at market. Grass-fed beef comes from cattle that graze in the pasture, receiving no hormones, antibiotics, or additives to promote faster growth. Cattle on this high fiber, forage diet produce leaner beef than cattle fed a diet of corn and grain.
The existing rules for cooking beef don’t apply to grass-fed beef. Dodson’s Grass-Fed Beef Farm suggests the following cooking tips for aspiring chefs:
With the increasing popularity of grass-fed beef, tomorrow’s chefs need to be prepared for the changes to traditional culinary beef-cooking methods. Enrolling in culinary school cam provide you with instruction about the latest techniques and food trends, keeping you on the cutting-edge chef of tomorrow’s culinary scene.
Judi Sandall
In the past, when chefs wanted to look great on their chef jobs, they had to fork over a lot of cash for pricey European uniforms. Now, thanks to Chef Revival, kitchen couture’s available on the average chef’s salary.
The toque, or tall hat, traditionally worn by chefs as the signature look of their jobs, has a long history. Through the ages, chefs have always covered their hair. In the eighteenth century, chefs wore stocking caps whose colors signified their ranks. The starched white toque, or toque blanche, indicates cleanliness. Its pleats—all 100 of them—denote the many ways to cook an egg. Your chef’s toque is the badge of your profession.
Badge of the profession or no, chef’s gear too often looks as shapeless as a flour sack. In fact, Revival’s general manager, pastry chef Kim de la Villefromoy, calls the standard white coveralls “the cheapest nastiest thing to cover the person’s body while working in a restaurant.” No wonder he signed on to professionalize the look of those seeking a career as a chef. Most notably, Revival dressed contestants on the Fox reality show Hell’s Kitchen in their snap front Metro jacket—giving Revival a higher brand recognition than Tommy Hilfiger for the run of the show!
Since 1986 Chef Revival has offered chefs innovative clothing that fits their salaries. The original business started with two chefs and two sewing machines. The Australian duo came up with the Chef Tunic, the first buttonless pullover jacket. Revival’s wrap-around pants design is so original that it’s patented.
Today, your career as a chef might see you strutting through your kitchen in easy care denim. Thanks to Revival, you might be sporting the grey Cuisinier Jacket if the traditional white isn’t your taste. If the Revivalists have their way, you’ll wear comfortable clogs and attach their “hang watch” to your jacket, freeing your hands for those magnificent culinary creations.
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a freelance writer, cultural critic and university professor. In her twenty years as a professional educator, Wendy has guided hundreds of students toward the careers of their dreams.
Chef Revival
The Chef Revival Story
“Nike, Adidas Get Butts Kicked by Chef Revival. Chef Who?” by Jim Edwards. Brandweek 46.33 (Sep 19, 2005).
Chefs create wonderfully tasty designer salads with different kinds of exotic greens—radicchio, arugula, watercress, dandelion, mizuna—but the foundation for most green salads is still one of the following four types of lettuce:
Lettuce reigns supreme not only in the culinary salad world but also as an accompaniment to other meals. A lettuce leaf adds crunch to classic sandwiches like BLTs, and often serves as a convenient bowl for chicken or crab salad. Creative chefs even use lettuce to wrap a variety of ingredients, substituting it for crepes or tortillas for calorie-counting consumers. Lettuces such as romaine are packed with nutrients—Vitamins A, C, and K—rather than calories.
From a simple steakhouse wedge of iceberg with blue cheese dressing to a classic Caesar salad with romaine, parmigiano-reggiano, and garlic croutons, a salad can accompany a great meal or can be the main course all by itself. As more health-conscious diners select salads as entrées, today’s chefs strive to be more creative in their salad offerings.
If inventing new salads sounds like a tasty endeavor, you might have a future as a garde manger chef, in charge of salads. As garde manger, you’ll have creative license to create your own masterpiece—a grilled Portobello mushroom topped with warm goat cheese and asparagus on a bed of greens, drizzled with strawberry vinaigrette, for example. Culinary school can provide you with the expertise you need to understand the complementary and contrasting tastes that go into tossing that perfect salad.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
In a world driven by fast food, globalization, and environmental irresponsibility, Alice Waters stands out as a socially conscious gourmet chef who manages to combat these issues with sensible eating and mindful cooking. Born in New Jersey, Waters is a pioneer in the culinary arts due to her strong preference for using local ingredients, seasonal fruits, and organic produce. Throughout her distinguished culinary arts career, she has held steadfast to the belief that international shipping and mass production both harm the environment and provide inferior products for end users.
Throughout her distinguished culinary arts career, Alice Waters has not only encouraged sensible eating for restaurant goers, but she has also worked closely with public school systems across the country to promote her “edible education” to children suffering from obesity. Her campaign quickly won her media attention at a time when many public schools were looking for healthier alternatives to junk food.
Long before her anti-obesity campaign, Alice Waters earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French cultural studies from the University of California. Thereafter, she trained at the Montessori school in London, which was quickly followed by a year traveling throughout France. After successfully amassing an impressive portfolio of French recipes, she moved back to California where she opened her restaurant Chez Panisse, specializing in California cuisine with French influences.
On the surface, Waters was not a likely candidate for restaurant ownership. She had little business training and knew nothing about running a commercial operation. But by partnering with her business-savvy friend Paul Aratow, she was able to quickly launch a long and distinguished culinary career. In California’s health-conscious environment, Chez Panisse didn’t have much difficulty attracting customers due to the menu’s heavy emphasis on local ingredients and socially conscious cooking.
During the 1970s, more and more women were leaving the kitchen and entering the workplace, but Alice Waters decided to stay behind and raise her daughter, Fanny. Her eventual success makes her a role model for mothers entering the culinary workplace—as well as later-in-life chefs for whom a culinary career is a viable Plan B.
Despite her lack of business training, Waters recognized her gift and remained committed to transforming her love of cooking into a successful culinary career. In addition to her wildly successful restaurant, she has also since opened a stand-up breakfast and lunch restaurant named after her daughter. She is also credited with publishing an influential cookbook Chez Panisse Cooking.
Chez Panisse
Organic School Lunch Program Expands in California
A freelance writer, Stanley Rubenti currently lives in Bangkok where he writes columns for a variety of publications. Stanley holds a B.A. in history.
]]>If you have an interest in science as well as food, culinology—the blending of culinary arts and the science of food—may be a way to combine both of your interests into a career as a research chef.
Also known as product development or innovation chefs, research chefs create new foods for restaurant chains, coffee shops, and food manufacturing companies. Chef Anne Albertine, research chef for Taco Bell, explains, “My team and I make restaurant quality food that can be mass produced, so the culinary quality—the freshness, taste, and texture—has to hold up.”
Research chefs also have to be savvy about mass production, food preservation, and scientific terminology as well as have good communication skills. They use customer surveys to elicit suggestions for refining recipes. According to Chef Albertine, “People might say a product is too messy, too spicy, or too expensive, so I tweak it. I pick up fresh ingredients, then go play in my test kitchen.”
Research chefs helped make Paul Newman’s food line a success and will be instrumental in developing the gourmet frozen dinners that Martha Stewart intends to sell in her latest culinary business venture with Costco. Hawaii regional cuisine chef Beverly Gannon recently collaborated with research chefs to come up with a tasting menu, a popular item in trendy restaurants, for Hawaiian Airlines passengers.
The straight path to a research chef is a degree in culinary arts with additional classes in food science and chemistry. Chef Albertine, however, held a bachelor’s degree in general science and came to culinology via a culinary degree and several internships with fine dining chefs.
Unlike restaurant chefs, most research chefs work standard business hours. In order to keep abreast of the latest culinary industry trends, they often eat at fine restaurants, travel abroad, and scour culinary magazines, Web sites, and cookbooks for recipes. According to a survey conducted by the Research Chefs Association, research chefs consistently earn toward the top of the chef pay scale—on average, from $70,000 to $90,000.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Bureau of Labor Statistics - (PDF)
Research Chefs Association
Restaurant design is one of those critical, but often overlooked, hospitality functions. If done properly, the work may go unnoticed, while a poorly-executed design can leave an otherwise stellar restaurant suffering from a lack of ambience and low functionality. In a business where behind-the-scenes function is as important as the stage dressing, poor restaurant design can be a recipe for disaster.
Restaurant design involves a variety of components:
If your culinary niche is design rather than cooking, a hospitality management degree could be your entree to this fascinating field.
According to Maxey Hayse, a design studio in New Jersey, hospitality business design “relates directly to…clientele and location.” An interior design that works well in a Key West bar may not necessarily translate to a Manhattan restaurant. Patrons in Kansas City are probably looking for a different experience than those in San Francisco. Great hospitality design, according to Maxey Hayse, is not about design trends, which go in and out of style, but rather about combining “different finishes and materials to add creativity and interest to a space.” You design a great space by looking at a client’s concept or image, clientele, and location.
A hospitality management degree can be your entree to a restaurant design career in a variety of mediums, including:
There’s room in hospitality design for the artist, the designer, the planner, and the visionary. With a degree in hospitality management and an artistic flair, a career in restaurant design may be in your future.
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Food's not just for eating anymore; it's also a popular entertainment medium and showcase for culinary talent. Local papers offer weekly food sections, cooking stores and department stores offer individual cooking classes, and culinary schools abound. Whether you're a gourmet chef or a novice cook planning a holiday meal, a super bowl party, or a themed dinner to entertain our friends, food is the focus. But wait! You've forgotten the wine. How do you know which wine will pair with your best culinary efforts?
Culinary Schools and Classes: Mixing and Matching
In many culinary schools and cooking classes, wine and food pairing is taken very seriously; the right wine can act as a perfect compliment to your food, while the wrong wine can overpower it. Wine makers appreciate the culinary arts and advise novice cooks as well as gourmet chefs about wine and food pairing. Here are some of basic principles for food and wine pairing taught at culinary schools:
The Culinary Arts Payoff: Wine Is Fun!
These are just a few basic principles, and there's always more to learn. Thankfully, learning the nuances of wine and food pairing can be a fun and delicious experience. Remember, you don't have to be a culinary artist or a gourmet chef to impress your friends. A great culinary school, local cooking class, or wine tasting class can help you set the stage for memorable meals and delightful dining.
Sheryl Landrum is freelance writer and member of the Viewcrest Above Lake Hodges Gourmet Club in San Diego, California
]]>Highly respected, multi-talented, and oft-ridiculed master of the culinary arts, Jamie Oliver has fast become the cooking darling of the BBC. A lightening rod of public opinion, Oliver has parlayed his incredible cooking talent into a media mega frenzy. He scorns. He sings. He sautés. And he’s single-handedly revolutionized the way people think about the unhealthy eating habits of school kids in the U.K. Here’s the incredible story of his remarkable rise to food fame and gourmet glory.
British-born James Trevor Oliver, also known as the Naked Chef, began his culinary career at Westminster Catering College after a failed attempt as a drummer in a would-be rock band. The son of an Essex pub owner, Jamie garnered a great deal of cooking experience under the watchful eye of his mentor, the London chef Gennaro Contaldo. During this period of development, Oliver mastered the art of organic cooking in a position at the River Café in London. It was here that he was discovered by a television producer who immediately recognized his star potential. His show, The Naked Chef, is currently running in over 40 countries.
Oliver’s culinary career has been marked with an undisguised disdain for the conventional eating habits that contribute to obesity and other fat-induced health disorders. The problem? Check the ingredients, Oliver insists, and “a product like a sausage or a burger…should have four or five.” Unfortunately, in the age of additives, consumers look at the ingredients on the package, and “it’s got 49 and you’re like, ‘Wow!’”
Consequently, Jamie Oliver’s signature culinary style involves a committed opposition to the mainstream preference for high fat, high sodium fares that emphasize tantalizing taste over healthful sustenance. That’s not to say his culinary creations lack either savor or flavor. Rather, Oliver makes use of organic fruits and vegetables, discriminately spiced with natural seasonings, to create alluring dishes that are as healthy as they are delicious. He routinely uses lean meats as a main course, preferring baking over frying.
Perhaps Jamie Oliver’s most notable achievement in his culinary career is the changes he’s brought to the eating habits of school children in his home country. Shocked by the unhealthy offerings of school lunch programs, Oliver started a bold initiative to exchange current menu items for healthier choices. He received the nod of approval from Britain’s Education Secretary Ruth Kelly, who said Oliver’s new program would “transform what is offered to children and teenagers in our schools so that high-quality healthy food is on every child’s plate.” Oliver wears the mantle of chef-activist with gusto.
If the present trend continues, the culinary concepts of this world-renowned chef will change the course of culinary arts education programs as well as reinvent the culinary career industry as a whole. If Oliver’s ideas continue to catch on, he will no doubt make his mark on large-scale institutional and educational menus here in the States, too. If you’re a health-oriented aspiring chef who wants to confront the soaring rates of obesity and heart disease, sign on for a culinary education and join Chef Jamie Oliver’s bold stance on cooking. You won’t have to go Naked to do it!
Jamie Oliver - Chef, School Dinners, Campaigner, Founder of Fifteen
Jamie’s School Dinners
Person of the Week: Jamie Oliver
Prince backs Jamie Oliver on school food
TV chef welcomes £280m meals plan
Kelly Richardson covers the hottest culinary scenes in major cities across the country. His articles appear in career journals, periodicals, and e-zines.
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