Six-Month Apprenticeship Program Launched

A new six-month ACF apprenticeship program will help those in the culinary field who wish to further their education but are unable to participate in a culinary program full time.

Participants in the Culinary Skills Fundamentals Program will complete 1,000 hours of on-the-job training, under a certified ACF supervising chef, in sanitation and safety, tools and equipment, knife skills, cold kitchen-pantry, and hot kitchen. For more information about the Culinary Skills Fundamentals Program, contact Arlene Weber at the national office, (800) 624-9458, ext. 117.

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- National Convention Treat -
Sugar Arts Experts to Share Secrets With Chefs

ACF chefs will be able to learn simple sugar art techniques to enhance their own presentations from two of nation's leading crafters during a two-hour demonstration at the 2004 ACF National Convention in Orlando in July.

The presentations are part of the special events to mark ACF's 75th year, which will include a display of 75 spectacular cakes decked with combinations of fondants, royal iced roses, filigree, dazzling sugar lace and other intricate detailing. The cakes and the presentation will be provided by members of the International Cake Exploration Societé (ICES). Its 4,000 members include many pastry chefs.

The presentations will be made by ICES members Kerry Vincent of Tulsa, Okla., an international presenter and teacher of cake design, and Carolyn Wanke of San Antonio, Texas, a past president of ICES who is widely known for her fondant techniques and her work sculpting cowboy boot cakes with leather-effect sugar tooling.

Vincent, an Australian national, is owner of Australian Custom Cake Design in Tulsa, and author of Romantic Wedding Cakes (Merehurst Ltd., 2002). A book signing session will be held during the convention. Vincent is a cofounder of the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, which features a special-event wedding-cake competition. She travels all over the world teaching sugar arts, and is an instructor of a wedding cake course at the French Pastry School in Chicago for Jacquy Pfeiffer. She studied at the Le Cordon Bleu in London and in Holland with Wouter Udo, executive chef to Queen Juliana.

Exotic sugar sculptures designs for which Vincent is well known have included a life-size automobile and airplane, which were assembled by teams of sugar craft masters. It is not unusual for it to take up to two years to design and create the specialty cakes.

Wanke has traveled 40 states demonstrating her fondant and leather boot cake decorating techniques, and is a past ICES president.

Most chefs get rudimentary training in pastry and sugar arts in culinary school, but they are learning that simple sugar art techniques can greatly enhance the products they provide their customers, Vincent said. Pastry chefs from hotels and clubs frequently seek out ICES members to make special occasion confections. ICES members are dedicated to sharing their craft, said Vincent, who is coordinating the special events at the 2004 ACF National Convention.

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Two ACF Chefs Receive Special Honors From The Culinary Institute of America

Joe Amendola, CEPC, CCE, AAC, and Dale Miller, CMC, AAC, were singled out by The Culinary Institute of America for special honors at the CIA's Annual Meeting of the Corporation in late fall. The CIA named its bakery in the college's Takaki School of Baking and Pastry the Joe Amendola Bakeshop, after the man who was hired in 1947 as the CIA's first baking and pastry instructor. Miller, a 1979 CIA graduate and executive chef of Jack's Oyster House in Albany, N.Y., was named Member of the Corporation of the Year. Miller organized the Cor-CIA Inaugural Food, Wine & Golf Classic with restaurant owner and Cornell alumnus Brad Rosenstein. The June 2003 special day of golf and foods prepared by celebrity chefs raised funds for CIA scholarships and education facilities at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.

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Chapter Roundup

$7,000 for New Homes ACF Capitol Area Professional Chefs and Cooks Association joined with Habitat for Humanity Lansing in October for the annual Harvest for Habitat dinner at the East Lansing, Mich., Marriott, raising more than $7,000. Dave Sirko, executive chef at the Marriott, hosted the dinner with Ralph Hadley, CEC, AAC, and Michael Bernard of the Lansing Center, and Rajeev Patgaonkar, CEC, AAC, of Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. Chapter members and Lansing Community College students also helped with the event. During the dinner, the chapter and the community honored Robert Nelson, CEC, CCE, AAC, the only AAC Hall of Fame chef in Michigan. Housing Benefit Members of ACF Chicago Chefs of Cuisine Inc. donated time and product to feed 200 guests Feb. 17 at the Community Contacts Chefs Dinner, an exclusive, $125-a-plate charity event held at The Herrington Inn and Spa in Plainfield, Ill. Chef Thomas Hiestand, CEC, executive chef of The Herrington Inn, hosted the event for the second year, and was joined by six chefs from Chicago suburbs in coordinating the benefit, proceeds of which go to Community Contacts, a not-for-profit agency that assists low-income families with housing needs.

$4,000 for Scholarships Jim Taylor, CEC, AAC, vice president of the Northeast Region ACF and member of the ACF Columbus Chapter, Columbus, Ohio, left, offers congratulations on a job well done to Chef Michael Edwards of the EHOVE Career Center, who is president of the Sandusky Bay Area Chefs Chapter, Sandusky, Ohio. The Sandusky chefs' annual fund-raising dinner Jan. 17 netted $4,000 for student scholarships. Taylor assisted with the event.

Book Offers 180 Salads Recipes

Keith Huffman, a member of ACF Minneapolis Chapter, has published The Gourmet's Vinaigrettes and Salads Cookbook. The book contains more than 180 salad and vinaigrette recipes that offer quick, easy and delicious ways to experiment with new flavors. Salad and vinaigrette recipes that are simple and easy to prepare include Almond Roasted Cherry Salad, Asian Marinated Bay Scallops Salad, Minnesota Wild Rice Apricot Salad, Chef Tracy's Northwood Duck Salad and Spicy Baja Seafood Salad. Check local bookstores for copies of The Gourmet's Vinaigrettes and Salads Cookbook or contact Mark Carey, chapter public relations chair, at (952) 890-7220 or admin@chefsworldinternational.com. Buy this book from Amazon.com

Chefs Help March of Dimes

Members of ACF Philadelphia DVCA Chapter, including the youth team, took part in Star Chefs of Philadelphia Dec. 8 at the Wyndham Hotel, Philadelphia.

The event, which raises money for the March of Dimes, is in its seventh year. More than 50 chefs representing hotels, restaurants and ACF helped the March of Dimes raise more than $60,000 for its work in helping to prevent birth defects.

 

©2007 American Culinary Federation

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