The National Culinary Review PDF Free Download
1 / 68
/68
100%
2
Only Knorr® Demi-Glace delivers a
perfect balance of beef, mirepoix
and tomato flavors.
Find out more at ufs.com/KnorrDemiGlace
“ A demi-glace that has a perfect balance
of flavors is critical for beef entrées.”
John Vermiglio, Executive Chef, Chicago
©2015 Unilever Food Solutions. Knorr is a registered trademark of the Unilever Group of Companies. UC 11/15
18689_2016_SavoryAdResize_MMS.indd 1 11/3/15 9:09 AM
acfchefs.org 3
Another Vitamix Aha: triumphant textures.
It’s the blender trusted by more professional chefs for a reason—it can unlock the
hidden flavors of almost any ingredient and inspire you to creativity like never before.
For taste, texture and consistency, chefs prefer the unparalleled performance of Vitamix.
Engineered to change your life. Let us help your business at vitamix.com/commercial.
4
Departments
7 President’s Message
8 Front Burner
46 At The Bar
53 Certification
54 ACF Culinary Team USA
58 News Bites
60 Salut!
61 2017 ACF Signature Series
66 Hot Products
67 Marketplace
34
Bar burgers
in the next issue
Lamb
Instagram Influencers
Breakfast
Wines on Tap
on the cover: Spiced pumpkin
beignets, pumpkin cremeux,
pepitas and toasted milk from Meg
Galus, pastry chef at Boka, Chicago.
cover photo:
Galdones Photography
“3D printing has
advanced in leaps
and bounds, but
food printing is
the last frontier.”
Hod Lipson, 3D Printed Food in Your Future, p. 18
Features
12 Quick-Serve Gets Healthy The fast-food segment had
been slow to respond to consumer demand for more
healthful fare. But no more.
18 3D Printed Food in Your Future Will you be fearful
or challenged, scared or inspired, a collaborator or a
one-man band?
22 Debating GMOs Will genetically modified organisms solve
worldwide hunger? Or will they harm people and the planet?
26 Cellar Masters It takes time, investment and dedication to
reach the top of the increasingly popular career of sommelier.
Flavors
30 The Many Faces of Pizza Flatbread and toppings—how
much simpler could it get? And yet, the variations are endless.
34 Bar Food at Its Best Burgers win the day with
interpretations from creative chefs.
38 Snack Attack Crafty manufacturers redefine America’s
favorite pastime.
42 More Than a Nod to Tradition Pastry chefs channel
nostalgia for fun and profit.
50 Honey Beers Brewers use honey to pollinate seasonal
beers—and create a buzz.
26
Sommelier career
acfchefs.org 5
Storing - Electrolux Professional
Refrigeration – ecostore Touch
The HACCP control area within the Touch display
continuously checks and registers operating temperature
and eventual anomalies. A graph will display the operating
status and any peaks or drops in temperature.
Data can be downloaded via USB and stored for reporting
and tracking purposes.
Cooking - Electrolux Professional
Touchline Combi Oven
The Food Safe Control function ensures total food safety
in accordance with the HACCP standards. Just select the
food category, and the Food Safe Control function will do
the rest, acting as a supervisor throughout the cooking
process. When the Food Safe Control icon is activated and
the 6-sensor probe is inserted, Touchline calculates if the
food has been adequately cooked achieving the correct
safety level. A green fl ag will appear indicating food safety
has been reached, if not, a red cross will appear to indicate
that the food has not yet reached the HACCP safety
standards so you will need to continue the cooking process
for some additional time. Touchline allows you to download
HACCP data and upload it in your PC via a USB key, without
any need for specifi c software.
Electrolux Professional
HACCP compliant foodservice
Add safety and value
to your business!
What does HACCP
International do?
HACCP International is a leading food
science organisation specialising in the
assessment and certifi cation of equipment,
materials and services used by the food
industry.
They provide proof to the food industry
that certifi ed equipment is suitable for use
in a facility that manages food safety.
Developed through analysis of the needs
and challenges of laundry operators
across the globe, the Electrolux Line
5000 has been honored with HACCP
International Certifi cation.
So what does this all mean?
If there is an outbreak of sickness or
contamination linked to a business
serving or preparing food, using HACCP
functions within the Electrolux equipment
to monitor processes will allow businesses
the ability to track and identify, or
eliminate, the source.
For further information contact us:
Electrolux Professional
Email angelo.grillas@electrolux.com
Visit www.electroluxusa.com/
professional
Follow us on Twitter
@ElectroluxPro
Follow us on LinkedIn
Electrolux Professional
HACCP advertorial US FOOD.indd 1 30/09/16 08:49
6
The National Culinary Review
®
(ISSN 0747-7716), November/December 2016, Volume 40, Number 10, is owned by
the American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF) and is produced 10 times a year by ACF, located at 180 Center Place
Way, St. Augustine, FL 32095. $60 of ACF membership dues covers a one-year subscription to
The National Culinary
Review
®
; nonmember subscriptions are available for $60 per year, domestic. Material from
The National Culinary
Review
®
, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission. All views and opinions expressed
in
The National Culinary Review
®
are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the
officers or members of ACF. Changes of mailing address should be sent to ACF’s national office: 180 Center Place Way,
St. Augustine, FL 32095; (800) 624-9458; FAX (904) 940-0741.
The National Culinary Review
®
is mailed and periodical postage is paid at St. Augustine, Fla., and additional post offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The National Culinary Review
®
, 180 Center Place Way, St. Augustine, FL 32095.
180 Center Place Way • St. Augustine, FL 32095
(800) 624-9458 • (904) 824-4468
Fax: (904) 940-0741
ncr@acfchefs.net • www.acfchefs.org
President
Immediate Past President
National Secretary
National Treasurer
American Academy of Chefs Chair
Vice President Central Region
Vice President Northeast Region
Vice President Southeast Region
Vice President Western Region
Executive Director
Editor in Chief
Graphic Designer
Sales Specialist
Director of Marketing and Communications
Culinary
official magaziNe of the americaN culiNary feDeratioN
®
The
National Review
Read, follow and share at
WeAreChefs.com
We
Are
Chefs
acfchefs.org 7
As 2016 draws to a close, I want to
take this opportunity to talk about what
we’ve accomplished as a membership
organization this year. We have much to
celebrate while recognizing those areas
that continue to be a challenge. In that
regard, ACF is not much different from our
kitchens, classrooms or places of business.
We put on an awesome dinner event or
launch an exciting new curriculum, but
then it’s back to guring out how to tackle
the next big thing on the horizon.
What a great 2016 Signature Series—
ChefConnect: Atlanta and ChefConnect:
Hawaii, where many of us gathered to learn
and connect with one another. Members
have truly embraced this conference series
that combines regions, and why not. It’s a
chance to work with, learn from and get to
know colleagues from other areas of the
country and widen our networks. Many of
you have let your board of directors know
how valuable this is.
The 2017 Signature Series promises
to keep the momentum going in two
great cities—Chicago, Feb. 5-7 at Hilton
Chicago, and New York, Feb. 26-28
at New York Hilton Midtown. Early
registration deadlines are fast approaching:
Dec. 25 for ChefConnect: Chicago and
Jan. 15 for ChefConnect: NYC, with hotel
reservation deadlines Jan. 6 and Jan. 31,
respectively. You won’t want to miss these
two events with the theme “Appreciating
Diversity—There’s Room in the Kitchen
for Everyone.” This is a conversation that
we as an organization and as individuals
need to have, and I would go so far as to
say that ACF’s future depends on us taking
up this challenge.
This year we experienced a nancial
turnaround that leaves us in a good
nancial place going forward. We
appreciate each and every one of you
who helped us get to this point by your
careful management of funds. Let’s keep
it going in 2017. As many of you who
handle budgets tied to your job know,
it’s a good feeling to have that part of
the equation under control.
We continue to enjoy a growth in
membership that began in 2015. Our
professional member retention rate
remains high, and a majority of culinarians
renew their membership. We’re also
expanding membership outreach and
helping student culinarians advance in
the profession, as well as enhancing
resources and collaboration for chapters.
We are enriching existing programs such
as accreditation, continuing education and
apprenticeship, all driven by our 2016-
2018 strategic bridge plan. Our numbers
for newly certied professionals and
recertied professionals continue to grow.
We have formalized relationships
with the National Restaurant Association
(NRA) and the Association of Nutrition
& Foodservice Professionals (ANFP).
These new partnerships open up additional
educational opportunities for our
members, which is good news. Learning
continues to be a priority for all of us.
In September, ACF was represented
by several of us at the 2016 Worldchefs
Congress & Expo in Thessaloniki, Greece.
More than 100 nations are Worldchefs
members, and several new member nations
were welcomed during the congress.
Also, members elected a new Worldchefs
presidium for the next four years, which
will be led by President Thomas Gugler,
founder/chairman of the Saudi Arabian
Chef Association and the Saudi Arabian
Chefs Table Circle. Every ACF member is
also a member of Worldchefs, and one of
our own, Charles Carroll, CEC, AAC, is
outgoing Worldchefs president.
Congratulations to members of ACF
Culinary Team USA’s national and youth
teams, the U.S. military team, and ACF
individuals and teams who competed Oct.
22-27 at the Internationale Kochkunst
Ausstellung (IKA) in Erfurt, Germany.
What a great show. I couldn’t have been
more proud of everyone. And, the results
were impressive, including two gold
medals for the national team and fourth
place overall among 30 countries, and
two silver medals for the youth team and
seventh place overall among youth teams.
All competitors deserve our admiration
and our sincere thanks for putting
American cuisine in the world spotlight.
Reimund Pitz, CEC, CCE, AAC,
and J. Kevin Storm, CEC, CCA, AAC,
have been named team managers
for 2020 ACF Culinary Team USA.
Additional information regarding
tryouts will be forthcoming.
Looking ahead, the 2017 Cook. Craft.
Create. Convention & Show, July 9-13
in Orlando, Florida, will be the place to
continue our yearlong conversation about
diversity, and you will want to be a part
of ACF’s efforts in this regard. There
really is room in the kitchen—and in our
organization—for everyone, so let’s gure
out a way to make it happen.
I want to take this opportunity to
wish you the happiest of holidays as you
celebrate in ways that are meaningful to
you. And I hope you enjoy the best of
times as you gather with family, friends
and loved ones.
by Thomas Macrina, CEC, CCA, AAC
CONTACT THOMAS MACRINA AT TMACRINA@ACFCHEFS.NET
8
industry news
industry news
and a fourth place finish for
ACF Culinary Team USA, which represented the U.S. at the 24th
Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) Oct. 22-25, in Erfurt,
Germany. Singapore, Finland and Switzerland placed first, second
and third, respectively, with the U.S. team a close fourth out of
the 30 national teams competing. ACF Culinary Youth Team USA
received two silver medals and placed seventh overall out of 19
competing countries, with Sweden, Switzerland and Norway placing
first, second and third. The U.S. Army Culinary Arts Team received
four gold medals and one bronze medal in the regional cold-food
competition, ranking 18th out of 52 countries, and a bronze medal
in catering, earning 12th place out of 19 countries. Finland earned
the top catering spot, followed by Sweden and Denmark.
cia teaches Japanese
of Japan joins
course listings for the fall semester at The Culinary Institute of
America (CIA), Hyde Park, New York. Advanced Cooking: Japanese
Cuisine is offered to juniors and seniors pursuing bachelor’s degrees.
It is jointly taught by Martin Matysik, a lecturing instructor in culinary
arts at the CIA, and Hiroki Murashima of Tsuji Culinary Institute,
Osaka, the CIA’s inaugural Suntory Visiting Professor of Japanese
Studies. The curriculum covers Japanese history and culture, as
well as the ingredients, flavors, textures and techniques of authentic
Japanese cooking. As the initiative expands, the curricula will
include a greater depth of instruction in Japanese agriculture and the
production of traditional foods and beverages, as well as ways to adapt
Japanese flavors and products to American menus.
Hiroki Murashma, center, Suntory Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at the CIA,
explains the different knives used by Japanese chefs.
Photo credit: CIA/Phil Mansfield
call for entries
(JBF) is accepting entries for
its 2017 Awards. Deadlines for
submissions are as follows: Dec.
1, 2016, for Restaurant and
Chef Awards; Dec. 9, 2016, for Book Awards; Jan. 4, 2017, for
Journalism and Broadcast Media Awards; and Jan. 27, 2017, for
Restaurant Design Awards. JBF has created the Local Impact Award,
a new journalism award that recognizes the work of an individual who
displays enterprise and excellence in ongoing local food coverage, with
an emphasis on community engagement and news gathering. In the
Broadcast Media Awards, documentaries will have their own category
in the JBF Media Awards. All Book, Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant
Design, and Special Achievement Awards will remain largely
unchanged from 2016. Restaurant and Chef Awards seminalists
will be announced Feb. 15, 2017. Nominees for all award categories
will be revealed March 15, 2017. The JBF Media Awards will be held
at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers, New York, April 25, 2017. The JBF
Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception will be held at the Lyric Opera
of Chicago, May 1, 2017. Awards for the Restaurant and Chef and
Restaurant Design categories will be handed out, along with special
achievement awards Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement,
Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, and America’s Classics.
To view the full list of 2017 Awards programs, criteria and deadlines,
visit jamesbeard.org/awards. Entries for all categories can be
submitted online.
acfchefs.org 9
for restaurants,
caterers and foodservice establishments were introduced during
the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show, Sept. 27-29 at the Orange
County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. The following awards
were given:
• Party Pods, for its
new version of a picnic table (www.partypods.com);
Scavi & Ray Winery, for its prosecco, moscato and lambrusco
wines (www.scavi-ray.com/en); Fresh Origins,
for its Edible Herb Flowers Mix and Habanero
Herb Crystals (www.freshorigins.com)
•
Padilla Imports, for
its El Yucatego Hot Sauce
(www.padillaism.com)
•
LRV Distributors, for its Master
Paletas Gourmet Ice Pops
(www.lrvusa.com)
®
invites pastry chefs
and chocolatiers to
participate in the U.S.
national selections of
World Chocolate Masters.
The event’s 2017-2018
theme is “Futropolis,”
and chocolate artisans
are invited to interpret
what that means to their culinary creations. While each World Chocolate
Masters competition features a specific theme for assessment by a panel
of judges, and there are basic requirements for size and scale, chefs
are free to draw on their imaginations to bring the theme to life through
their work. U.S. national selections will be held April 27-28, 2017, at
the Chocolate Academy Centre™ at Barry Callebaut’s Region Americas
facility in Chicago. During the three-day competition, each contestant will
make a large chocolate showpiece that conveys the competition theme.
The winner of the U.S. national selections will advance to the 2017
Cacao Barry® World Chocolate Masters final competition in Paris, where
he or she will compete against artisans from about 20 other countries.
Download the application for the World Chocolate Masters national
selections at www.worldchocolatemasters.com. For more information,
contact worldchocolatemasters@barry-callebaut.com.
enter here
How do you create and sustain a level
of service so memorable that it becomes
a defining part of your brand and an
unbeatable competitive advantage? Filled
with insider knowledge from leading
professionals, The Heart of Hospitality can
help a business or industry master the art
of customer service. Discover secrets of
hiring, onboarding, training and more; how
to build an unsinkable company culture;
how to create a customer-centric customer
experience; how to engage today’s new
breed of luxury travelers; and how to create
different experiences for different guests in
the same dining room.
Explore stories and recipes from those
who know the Southern Coast best—island
dwellers whose ancestors have worked in
the shrimping business for generations,
mariners who straddle ancient and modern
worlds, marine biologists and James Beard
Award-winning chefs. Discover more than
100 recipes, from regional classics to
global fare. Coastal families share favorite
dishes, seaside chefs reveal secrets and
cooking tips make prep time a breeze.
Travel to places that include South Padre
Island, Texas, Santa Rosa Island, Florida,
and Swanquarter, North Carolina, and enjoy
sampling some of the best food America
has to offer.
This cookbook, part memoir, part recipe
book, explores the mid-life conversion to
vegetarianism of one of the world’s most
famous authors. Tolstoy’s life was a constant
pursuit of respect and kindness toward
both humans and animals. To that end, he
eventually adopted a vegetarian lifestyle,
feeling that it was wrong to ask animals to
sacrifice their lives for the sake of his dinner.
However, he still insisted that his household
find ways to prepare delicious and satisfying
meals without using meat. Tolstoy’s wife
Sophia Andreevna collaborated with her
kitchen staff to create recipes that would
satisfy Tolstoy and their family and friends.
Leo Tolstoy: A Vegetarian’s Tale features
those recipes updated for modern cooks.
The Heart of
Hospitality: Great Hotel
and Restaurant Leaders
Share Their Secrets
(SelectBooks, 2016), by
Micah Solomon
Shrimp Country:
Recipes and Tales
from the Southern
Coasts (University
Press of Florida, 2016),
by Anna Marlis Burgard
Leo Tolstoy: A
Vegetarian’s Tale
(Rockbridge Press,
2016), by S. Pavlenko
10
the national restaurant association is accepting
applications for the 2017 Kitchen Innovations Awards.
The KI Awards program, in its 13th year, recognizes
and celebrates meaningful advancements in foodservice
equipment and technology. Recipients of the 2017 KI Awards will be featured in the Kitchen
Innovations Pavilion at the NRA Show, May 20-23, 2017, at Chicago’s McCormick Place.
Suppliers can apply for a KI Award at Restaurant.org/Show/KI; the deadline is Dec. 5. To be
considered, equipment and technology products must be introduced or have been introduced
to the marketplace between May 2015 and May 2017, and must demonstrate benets
to foodservice operators as determined by an independent panel of industry experts. Visit
Restaurant.org/Show/KI for more information.
industry news
apply for an nra Kitchen
were presented at the Florida
Restaurant & Lodging Show, Sept. 27-29, at Orange County
Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. Melissa Kelly, chef/owner
of Primo, Orlando, received the Torch Award Sept. 28 for her
outstanding contributions to the profession. Kelly is credited with
bringing the farm-to-table concept to Florida. The Beacon Award was presented to Edna Morris, managing director, Axum Capital Partners, Charlotte,
North Carolina, and CEO/partner, Range Restaurant Group, Greer, South Carolina, Sept. 29. The award was presented on behalf of the Foodservice
Council for Women and recognized Morris’ strides in advancing the career path for women in the restaurant and foodservice industry. In addition,
Steven Jayson, CEC, AAC, vice president/corporate executive chef, Universal Parks & Resorts, Orlando, received an appreciation award to recognize
his 20 years of service in producing the Culinary Arts Competition held in conjunction with the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show.
coleslaw
th anniversary
® is having
a 25th anniversary. In 1991, recent college
graduate Joe Nucci was tasked with creating
a healthy, unique value-added product using
broccoli stalks. The stalks were not going to
waste—they were used to feed livestock—but
Mann’s leaders sought to create a product
that could be marketed to consumers and
sold at a better margin. Nucci joined forces
with late industry legend David Stidolph and
the two collaborated with chefs who coined
the term “hearts of broccoli.” Soon, Broccoli
Cole Slaw was born. Consumers quickly fell
in love—the product is sold in 92% of U.S.
retailers, according to AC Nielsen week ending
4/2/16. Nucci’s vision inuenced the entire
slaw category and paved the way for other
vegetable-based or more nutrient-dense salad
blends. Through the end of 2016, there will be
special opportunities to commemorate Broccoli
Cole Slaw, including a recipe contest.
wisconsin Knows cheese
for its
cheese and dairy products at the World Dairy Expo
Championship Dairy Product Contest, about 40%
of the total awards given. Judging took place at the
Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin, Aug.
23-25. Wisconsin also won 59 cheese-specic
awards, taking home 74% of the total cheese awards.
Cleveland, Wisconsin-based Saxon Cheese, LLC took
home the Grand Champion Cheese & Butter award
for Snowfields™, an aged butterkäse style cheese.
Wisconsin swept 15 of the 73 total categories, including Sharp Cheddar; Aged Cheddar; Brick,
Muenster; String Cheese; Smoked Flavored Natural Cheeses; Cold Pack Cheese, Cheese Spread;
Semi-Soft Cheese; Hard Cheeses; and Flavored Cream Cheese. Six Wisconsin companies also
won five or more total awards individually: AMPI, seven; Lactalis USA, six; and Foremost Farms,
Kwik Trip, Inc., Mill Creek Cheese and Saputo Specialty Cheese, five each. All first-place
winners were auctioned off Oct. 4 during the World Dairy Expo in Madison. A portion of the
proceeds will be used to fund scholarships for students pursuing careers in the dairy industry.
acfchefs.org 11
porK = profit
investments in technology
and extremely low feed costs means that there’s
more pork than ever right now, which presents
an opportunity for foodservice operators. With
commodity prices beginning to fall, pork will
continue to offer favorable gross margins
because of high consumer demand. According
to Technomic’s Center of the Plate Trend Report
in 2015, 29% of consumers would order pork
more often at restaurants if it was available, a
26% increase from 2013. As consumers are
looking to expand their palates, operators are
leveraging pork’s versatility to amplify their
creativity and their margins. All across the
menu, from breakfast to dinner, pork’s strong
value position should be seen as an appealing
upsell and a competitive advantage. In a year
of high supply and lower prices, menuing
pork presents opportunities for operators to
grow their businesses profitably. For more
information on the pork supply in foodservice,
contact the National Pork Board at (800)
456-7675 or foodservice@pork.org, or visit
porkfoodservice.org.
at FONA International Inc., Geneva, Illinois, spotted the following trends
in October. For the full report, visit www.fona.com/sites/default/files/1016_10%20Thingsr.pdf.
1. Nearly 50 million Americans says they are trying to cut back on foods with
gluten, such as breads and pastas made with wheat, rye and barley. Based on searches on
the All Recipes website and social media posts, consumers are interested in going gluten-
free. There were more than 312,000 searches for gluten-free recipes this year.
2. Turmeric’s claims include natural medicinal properties,
amd some studies have found that it may help prevent indigestion, blood clots and
other ailments. The October 2016 issue of Cooking Light offers three quick and easy
beverages: dark and limey, turmeric chai latte and turmeric mango smoothie.
3. The latest “it” flavor expanding beyond the jar is dill pickle. From kale chips,
popcorn, cashews and even pickle-flavored brine for cocktails, consumers are able to
have their favorite snack in more ways than one.
4. UK-based No More Tea Bags produces an aerosol spray tea made
from brewed leaf tea that makes up to 20 cups in an instant. No tea bags, no loose
leaves and no waiting—just a cup of hot water and two sprays from a can of Original,
Earl Grey or Jasmine.
5. Millennials are disrupting wine marketing, out-guzzling Baby
Boomers with 36% of wine drinkers in the U.S. compared with 34%. To appeal to
millennials, wine brands are crafting innovative packaging, clever labels and more
approachable messaging.
6. Cooks have long appreciated ghee, a type of clarified butter, for its health
benefits and ability to stand up to high heat. Fourth & Heart’s line has an added
advantage: It come infused with sweet and savory flavors, including white truffle salt,
Himalayan pink salt, California garlic and Madagascar vanilla bean.
7. Hops, plant buds that make beer pleasantly bitter, have leapt from
glass to plate. Chefs now use hops to lend piney citrus notes and astringency to mustard,
sausages and beef/beer stew.
8. Finger limes’ interior pulp can best be described as citrus pearls that can
be squeezed out and used wherever lemon or lime is applied, such as on seafood and
desserts. The flavor is a lemon/lime/grapefruit combo, and juice bursts from the citrus
pearls when bitten into.
9. This lunch-kit delivery system arrives weekly. Choose lunches, receive
weekend delivery and assemble. Kits include 3-5 individually packed lunch kits with
everything but the refrigerated staples.
10. This breakfast treat now comes
with a savory twist. Restaurants across the country
are featuring sweet and savory doughnut combos
on their menus.
12
restaurant reach quick-serve gets healthy
ast food” and “healthy” have typically been mutually exclusive concepts, much
to the frustration of consumers. But times are changing. Whether because of menu labeling
law transparency, stepped-up competition from savvy fast-casual eateries or because millennials
demand it, a gradual introduction of sound nutrition to quick-serve restaurant menus is underway.
To deliver what consumers say they want, restaurant R&D chefs are working on calorie
counts, sugar reduction, the inclusion of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and the elimi-
nation of additives, hormones and antibiotics.
“Millennial parents have an enormous amount of inuence in this regard, and they will
continue to be a force to be reckoned with,” says trend watcher/analyst/speaker Nancy Kruse,
president of The Kruse Company, Atlanta. However, avor and price are still equal partners in
fast food. Research shows, she says, “that among college students, organic, vegetarian/vegan
and gluten-free options take a back seat to tasty, affordable food and a social environment when
they dine out, suggesting that the basics of good taste and good value will remain key decision
drivers with this group.”
When they look for menu health information, Gen X and baby boomers are more tuned to
calories, fat and sodium, says Caleb Bryant, foodservice analyst with Chicago-based market
intelligence agency Mintel. “To the younger I-Generation and millennials, those factors are still
important, but they view health more as feel-good food with no preservatives or articial ingre-
dients.” They look for a sense of wellness associated with food.
1)
2)
3)
The fast-food segment had been slow to
respond to consumer demand for more
healthful fare. But no more.
PHOTO CREDITS Opposite, clockwise from top: 1) Juice it Up 2) & 3) Chick-fil-A
“F
healthy
quick-serve gets
acfchefs.org 13
14
side items
Expanding better-for-you (BFY) side options is one of fast food’s rst attempts to please nutrition-
conscious consumers. Some 41% indicate they want more healthy sides at QSRs, Bryant says.
But the question has always been, if the restaurant complies with consumer desires and offers
healthful food, will consumers buy it. Mintel data shows that 27% of consumers report replacing
unhealthy sides with healthy sides when they dine out.
Ratcheting up the BFY quotient of its food has paid off for Atlanta-based Chick-l-A. Since
switching up the quality of its entree salads in spring 2013, the chain of 2,000-plus units has
seen about 50% sales growth in the salad category, says David Farmer, vice president of menu
strategy and development.
He believes side items present the next big opportunity for fast-food restaurants. “The side
category is all about fries,” he says. The chicken chain was one of the rst quick-serve restaurants
to offer fruit cups as a side 10 years ago. In January, it launched the Superfood Side made with a
blend of chopped kale and Broccolini tossed in a maple vinaigrette dressing, topped with dried
sour cherries, and served with a blend of roasted walnuts, almonds and pecans for crunch.
boost entrees
“Plant-forward cuisine is one of the hot tickets right now from the menu point of view,”
Kruse says, citing the success of by CHLOE, a New York vegan fast-food restaurant operating
with the tagline, “Eat well. Eat with purpose.” By CHLOE is the rst quick-serve restaurant
owned by ESquared Hospitality, New York, and it is expanding, with four units open already.
Says by CHLOE’s creative director Samantha Wasser, “I think everyone wants to be healthy,
but doesn’t want to eat healthy food. We’ve been successful with healthy food that doesn’t taste that
way. You feel you’re indulging here.” The Guac Burger ($9.95) and Quinoa Taco Salad ($10.95) are
the restaurant’s top sellers. The burger patty comprises black beans, quinoa and sweet potatoes.
Wasser acknowledges that healthful ingredients can make fast food less economical for value-
conscious consumers. But keeping the food affordable is the team’s priority, with the strategy of
cross-utilizing ingredients such as avocados. The green favorite is found in The Guac Burger, two
salads, the Smashed Avocado Toast and the Avocado Pesto Pasta.
bowls hold it all
The rising popularity of bowls of all types presents a trendy option for quick-serve restaurants
to combine healthful ingredients in an entree. It’s something Chick-l-A is just now wrapping its
arms around. In September, the chain began testing its Harvest Kale & Grain Bowl featuring a
blend of red quinoa, white quinoa, farro, roasted butternut squash and diced apples on a bed of
chopped kale. It comes topped with a goat cheese/feta cheese blend and tart dried cherries served
with roasted walnuts, almonds and pecans, and new light balsamic vinaigrette. It contains 370
calories and 22 grams of protein, with a starting price of $8.19. Sliced grilled chicken can be added.
Farmer notes that it is a little heartier than some salads and utilizes kale that the restaurants
already bring in. “It’s the kind of premium item that I think people will be pleasantly surprised—
even shocked—to be able to get this quality at a reasonable price point in a quick-serve setting,” he
says. “The quality and speed of the drive-through is a powerful combination. You can make eating
that healthy, that convenient.”
Bowls have become a mainstay on the menu at Juice It Up, which was founded in 1995 as a
smoothie chain. In 2011 it shifted to become more of a raw juice bar, says Noah Burgess, research
and development scientist. “Since then, we have evolved to be more healthy and involve raw fruits
and vegetable options catering to all levels of health.”
More than three years ago, the chain added the Acai Bowl to the menu. Now, under the heading
of Superfruit Bowls, it also offers the Ultimate Berry Bowl, Pitaya Passion Bowl and Super Fusion
restaurant reach quick-serve gets healthy
Chick-fil-A’s nutrition journey includes
obvious menu improvements along
with a few “stealth health” initiatives
designed to boost nutritive quality
without a lot of fanfare.
First in industry to add fresh
fruit cup to menu
Removed all trans-fat from menu
Removed high-fructose corn
syrup (HFCS) from select menu items
Added grilled nuggets entree
option to Kid’s Meal and removed soda
from Kid’s Meal menu options
Reduced sodium across menu
and removed sodium and Yellow #5
from chicken soup
Switched to peanut oil and canola
oil without TBHQ (a type of phenol)
Removed artificial colors and
HFCS from dressings and sauces and
removed TBHQ artificial color and
flavor from butter oil
Added Superfood Side to menu
and added Honest Kids Appley Ever
After organic juice drink
acfchefs.org 15
DISCOVER THE POWER OF THE CREDENTIAL
QUESTIONS? CONTACT US.
Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals
406 Surrey Woods Drive | St. Charles, IL | 60174
800.323.1908 | www.ANFPonline.org
• Demonstrates ongoing validation of knowledge and experience to your employer
• Exemplifies a personal and professional commitment to the foodservice profession
• Fulfills stang qualifications as recognized by some state regulations
• Validates specialized skills, judgment and critical thinking
• Enhances professional credibility
GETTING CERTIFIED...
The Certified Dietary Manager | Certified Food Protection Professional (CDM® | CFPP®) is a credential held by over 13,000
foodservice professionals who work in long-term care, acute care and other non-commercial environments. Those who earn the
credential have the education and experience to competently perform the responsibilities of a foodservice manager and have
proven this by passing a nationally recognized credentialing exam and fulfilling the requirements needed to maintain certified
WHAT IS THE CDM, CFPP CREDENTIAL?
“Coming from a background in
restaurants and resorts across the
Southwest, I always envisioned
my career in that setting. It
wasn’t until I took a position as
an Executive Chef for a hospital
that I realized the impact that
I could make in the healthcare
industry, and the impact that the
healthcare industry could make in my career.
After obtaining my CDM through ANFP, I
realized two things; (1) The demand for chefs
in healthcare will begin to rise very quickly, and
(2) this career choice will prove to be one that I
can continue to grow in for a lifetime!”
- Executive Chef Rocky Dunnam, CDM, CFPP
- Amarillo, TX
16
restaurant reach quick-serve gets healthy
Bowl. The Pitaya Passion Bowl features raw organic pitaya,
passion fruit juice blend, soy milk, strawberries and bananas
topped with organic omega-3 granola, strawberries, blueberries
and honey.
Two years ago, Juice It Up launched smoothie bowls—
smoothies with less liquid and more frozen fruit to make them
“scoopable,” Burgess says. Organic granola and fresh fruit and
honey are added on top. Green options also are available, with
fresh kale and spinach blended in for the health and ber kick.
Burgess has noticed a big consumer push for added protein in
the past two years. “So we are offering a few more natural protein
options like almond milk, soy milk and peanuts,” he says. Whey
protein powder is another mix-in option. “Sales of whey protein
powder are up almost 200% in the past year,” he adds. The success
is likely aided by the fact that the chain has successively centered
a few promotions around proteins.
the breakfast and beverage frontiers
Low-calorie beverages and convenient, healthy breakfast
options have become areas of consumer interest lately, says
Chick-l-A’s Farmer. At the same time as it test-launched the
Harvest Kale & Grain Bowl, the chain also began testing the
Egg White Grill Grain Bowl in a few restaurants. The breakfast
entree includes the same grain blend of red quinoa, white quinoa
and farro, along with scrambled egg whites, grilled chicken and
a Monterey jack/cheddar cheese blend.
Farmer rst caught wind of the desire for more-healthful
breakfast options when the chain relaunched its chicken lineup
in 2014 and added the Egg White Grill to the breakfast menu,
described as a “breakfast portion of grilled chicken with a hint of
citrus avor, stacked with freshly grilled egg whites and Ameri-
can cheese, served on a toasted multigrain English mufn.” In less
than two months on the menu, “I could see it struck a chord with
our guests. They are excited, looking for more options for healthy
breakfast,” he says. The breakfast bowl targets those interested in
moving away from some of the grains, bread and carbs, he adds.
Kruse also notices a move by fast-food chains toward
healthy bowls. “McDonald’s, for example, is testing breakfast
bowls, including an option made with turkey sausage and kale
that clocks in at a mere 250 calories, a number that will look
great up on the menu board,” she says.
Chick-l-A bets that consumers looking for convenience and
BFY would be interested in a breakfast beverage that serves as
a meal-replacement drink. So, it may soon start competing with
smoothie outlets with the nutrient-dense Berry Protein Blend it
also just test-launched. It’s made with chia seeds, ancient grains,
mixed berries and yogurt handspun with a small portion of
Chick-l-A’s signature Icedream® and topped with honey/brown
sugar granola. It has 340 calories with 23 grams of protein.
To demonstrate BFY in print, quick-serve restaurants ratcheted-
up menu mentions of gluten-free 26% between Q1 2015 and Q1
2016, says Bryant with Mintel. The use of “light” as a nutrition
claim has risen 19% during the same time, while “fat-free” is up
by 12%. Healthful beverages are certainly a growth category.
Some 25% of consumers report drinking fewer carbonated soft
drinks when dining out in general, he adds.
“The race is on for ‘better’ sugar, as the plummet in sales of
both conventional and diet soft drinks continues,” says Kruse.
“To salve their consciences and consume what they really want
to anyway, more diners will opt for beverages made with organic
and/or Fair Trade and/or GMO-free sugar. PepsiCo has been
especially active in this regard, as with the introduction of its
1893 Craft Soda line.”
PHOTO CREDITS Top: Juice it Up; bottom: Mintel
JODY SHEE, AN OLATHE, KANSAS-BASED FREELANCE WRITER AND EDITOR, PREVIOUSLY WAS EDITOR
OF A FOODSERVICE MAGAZINE. SHE HAS MORE THAN 20 YEARS OF FOOD-WRITING EXPERIENCE AND
WRITES THE BLOG WWW.SHEEFOOD.COM.
“Younger I-Generation
and millennials view
health more as feel-
good food with no
preservatives or
articial ingredients.”
acfchefs.org 17
a new era in professional cooking
Swiss made since 1871
Share more of our thinking at www.electroluxusa.com/professional
M2M
Made to Measure
A design for every top chef,
unique and your own.
thermaline: Swiss excellence since 1871
Excellence is deeply rooted in our mission to
strive for innovation, express passion for our
customers and to demonstrate genuine belief
in sustainability. Therma has stood for Swiss
excellence since 1871. For this reason,
thermaline is manufactured in our ultramodern
facility in Sursee, Switzerland; a Production
and Competence Center which gathers
tradition, experience and state-of-the-art
technologies all under the same roof.
thermaline stands for Excellence and opens
a new era in professional cooking.
You desire, we build
The possibilites are endless
A product achieved with the same precision
as a jewel of rare beauty, demonstrating
sturdiness and functionality which can only
exist in two places in the world: in your mind
and at the thermaline Production and
Competence Center, where the kitchen of your
dreams becomes a reality. With over
40 different cooking options, thermaline M2M
is a kitchen like no other, a tailor-made
masterpiece, the perfect mix of reliable
innovation, high efficiency and one-of-a-kind
design.
Reliable innovation makes your life easier
• Patented flower flame burners - high
efficiency, less heat, flame is concentrated
only on the bottom of the pan
• Fry top with Powertop plate - optimal heat
distribution and cooking evenness
• Aquacooker - multipurpose cooking
(sous-vide, bain marie, pasta cooker)
• Free-Cooking top - for direct contact
cooking or with pots and pans
Maximum efficiency
Pleasant work environment
• Solid top with Ecotop surface - guarantees
high efficiency, energy savings and minimal
heat dispersion
• Full surface induction - high productivity,
use up to 16 pots at the same time
• Ecoflam - produce less heat and save
energy, when pan is removed only the pilot
flame remains lit
Swissfinish. One-of-a-kind design
The best in ergonomy, hygiene and sturdiness
with the Swissfinish 3mm (6/50”) single-piece
work top.
Visit our website to download
Electrolux Professional
North America
10200 David Taylor Drive
Charlotte, NC 28262
1-866-449-4200
na-orderspfs@electrolux.com
the complete brochure.
18
3D printed food in your future
echnology soars, challenging nature and the human hand, causing some chefs
to fear that they may be replaced by 3D food printers. Others can’t wait to explore how
this technology may someday help them create dishes with as yet unimaginable avors,
shapes and customized nutrition.
Once, the future of food meant scouring the globe for unknown weird ingredients—baked
worms, braised chicken feet, diced iguana and insects, the ickier the better. Now, in the endless
battle between technology and nature, new sh and invertebrates are discovered every year.
Perhaps a quarter of the world’s plants and animals are yet to be unveiled.
Meanwhile, 3D food printing appears in cycles of development and quietude, jumping forward
to startle us, then retreating like a jack-in-the-box. “3D printing has advanced in leaps and bounds,
but food printing is the last frontier,” says Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical engineering and
director of the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University, New York. He is also co-author
with Melba Kurman of Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing (Wiley, 2013).
3D printing for the health sector is exploding, too. Working in collaboration with scientists
from other institutions, researchers at Harvard University have created a miniature biohybrid
(half biological/half robot) stingray that combines rat muscle cells, a 3D printed gold skeleton,
Will you be fearful or challenged,
scared or inspired, a collaborator
or a one-man band?
1) & 2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
T
printed food in
your future
3D
acfchefs.org 19
malleable layers of polymer and genetically engineered light-sensi-
tive cells. Harvard professor Kit Parker aims to develop 3D printed
hearts. On the other end of the human spectrum, parents-to-be can
order 3D printed heads of their fetuses to decorate the walls.
progress in ts, starts and lots of brain work
But what about your establishment? Is there 3D printed
food in your future? Adventurers in 3D food printing have been
working in two formats, Lipson says, either with powders or
with pastes and gels. “It’s not yet clear which is better,” he adds.
The world’s rst 3D printing conference was held in April in
Venlo, the Netherlands, where six lucky souls savored a 3D printed
meal. And Dutch 3D printer company byFlow, located in Eindhoven,
the Netherlands, is hosting Food Ink, an international pop-up
restaurant designed to spread the word in places such as Barcelona,
Dubai, New York, Reykjavik, Rome, Taipei, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
At Food Ink’s London pop-up, guests drank champagne from
test tubes and experienced a futuristic meal that included “sh
and chips” composed of toasted seaweed topped by a 3D printed,
technologically inspired design of a computer chip circuit made of
wasabi-avored kimchi sh mayonnaise. Guests were offered 3D
printed steak tartare and used 3D printed plates and tableware at
tables decorated with 3D printed accoutrements.
Meanwhile, Liam MacLeod, additive manufacturing specialist
at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York, is
using two early prototypes of the ChefJet Pro from 3D Systems,
Rock Hill, South Carolina. “My role is to nd the niche for 3D
food printing in the hospitality industry,” he says. “We’re still
not sure yet if there is one.
“We’re not trying to replace artisanal craft, but looking at
3D food printing as an enhancement to accentuate a dish.”
PHOTO CREDITS Left and above, clockwise from left: 1) & 2) Food Ink 3) 3dchef.nl facebook.com/dddchef 4) Natural Machines 5) International Culinary Center 6) Natural Machines
20
3D printed food in your future
MacLeod taught himself computer assisted design (CAD)
to create computer images that the ChefJet Pro then prints out,
often hundreds or thousands of times, placing 2D layer upon
2D layer to create a 3D image.
“With the ChefJet Pro, you are working with powders exclu-
sively,” he says. “Because you are using multiple powdered ingre-
dients, you have to account for varying particle sizes. You also
have to judge hygroscopicity (how well an item absorbs and repels
water), as well as uid rate rheology (how readily a powder moves
in the machine itself). There is a lot to consider.”
A mixture of alcohol and surfactants seals the completed work
and is also added to each layer after it is printed out to bind the layers.
To create an open-topped wasabi egg as a centerpiece for beef tartare,
MacLeod created a vinaigrette designed to avoid disintegrating the
beef, which is 90% water. Using neither oil nor vinegar, he fashioned
a wasabi “vinaigrette” containing eight calculated and controlled
ingredients. The taste of traditional wasabi steak tartare arose
when the vinaigrette was stirred into the beef after the egg was
tapped tableside. MacLeod also created a mini pumpkin-shaped
trufe lled with pumpkin caramel ganache, which was realized
partly by hand and partly by the 3D printer technology.
As most recipes deal with many materials and parameters,
3D food printing is complex. “The properties of butter can
change with temperature, and there are 50 kinds,” Lipson says.
“With so much experimentation and so many variables, 3D
food printing transcends printing a simple plastic spoon.”
collaboration is the name of the game
At the 2015 opening of 3D Systems Culinary Lab in Los
Angeles, Mei Lin, that year’s “Top Chef” winner, created a passion
fruit dessert. Working in collaboration with 3D Systems lead food
designer William Hu, she built a avor prole using freeze-dried
passion fruit, after which the 3D printer built up her design
with instructions from the computer. Red, yellow and blue food
coloring was dispensed from four cartridges that work like
those in traditional color printers. The only other ingredients in
the 3D printed passion ower were water and sugar.
The dessert also included freeze-dried strawberry powder,
caramelized banana creme anglaise, bee pollen crumble, toasted
yogurt, and slices of banana and strawberries. Guests used
spoons to shatter the passion owers, melding avors and textures
with the other ingredients.
The work was an inspired collaboration between Lin and
Hu, as well as the result of Lin’s savvy integration of 3D food
printing and artisanal craft.
“No chefs were hands-on with the machines,” Lin says.
“They cost a lot of money, and we wouldn’t want to mess around
and possibly break something.”
printing with pastes and gels
“The new personal chef will be a 3D printer in your kitchen,
one that’s hooked up to the Internet to await text message or email
instructions about your next meal,” Lipson and Kurman wrote
in Fabricated.
Foodini, a 3D printer produced by Natural Machines, Barcelona,
Spain, uses fresh pastes placed in empty canisters, so dishes are both
taart
acfchefs.org 21
ETHEL HAMMER IS A WRITER, LECTURER AND CARTOONIST BASED IN CHICAGO.
natural and fresh. “We believe that in 10-15 years, 3D food printers will be a common kitchen appliance
in both home and professional kitchens, similar to how an oven or a microwave are common appliances
in kitchens today,” says Lynette Kucsma, co-founder/CMO, Natural Machines.
Foodini can print pizzas (with hand-placed toppings), raviolis, gnocchi, breadsticks, tartes, or
any sweet or savory food using a computer program for recipes and designs. Chef Paco Pérez, who
has four restaurants in Spain and one in Berlin, and Davide Oldani of Milan’s D’O are working with
Foodini, as is Barcelona chef Oscar Manresa. Foodini is also being used in America, Kucsma says.
the fusion prototype
Determined to advance 3D printing in leaps and bounds, Lipson and Columbia University
students are developing a revolutionary prototype printer designed to use and cook edible pastes,
powders, gels and liquids using computer-guided software and eight frozen food cartridges,
bringing the whole 3D food printing ingredient shebang together. In the early 2000s, when he
was at Cornell University, Lipson and his students were using multiple materials to nd a way to
print batteries for 3D printed robots. He fell into 3D food printing when the students preferred
to experiment with cookie dough rather than toxic battery materials.
Now, new culinary adventures are under development, thanks to Lipson’s collaboration with
Eitan Grinspun, associate professor of computer science at Columbia University, who is developing
revolutionary software designed to simulate different ingredients at different temperatures and times
and to help people envision how these dishes will look.
Eager to integrate culinary and technical knowledge bases, Lipson and his students held workshops
at New York’s International Culinary Center, where students of Hervé Malivert, chef/director of food
technology, are working to create avors, shapes, textures and food combinations as yet unknown.
benets and complexities
Technology invariably offers both benets and complexities. “In 20 years, you will be able
to download exquisite things from the Internet and cook them at home,” Lipson says.
Home cooks and experienced chefs could someday print the same complex dishes. Professional
chefs could devise dishes designed to send future foodies into bliss. Chefs could also become
computer artists and develop their food science chops. And thanks to recipes downloaded from
the Internet, Lipson revels in the fact that 3D printed dishes could be shared around the world.
On the health beat, he says, hopes are high for the creation of customized foods containing the
precise amount of nutrients, drugs and vitamins each individual needs. While in space, NASA
astronauts could have better nutrition. Seniors could have food customized to their nutritional needs.
“I can print a dessert that stops when it hits 200 calories,” Kucsma says.
Dutch scientist Kjeld Van Bommel is working to create sustainable proteins made from
insects and algae. Meanwhile, Dutch food futurist Chole Rutzerveld hopes to solve worldwide
health and food issues by designing foods in relationship to how we digest them.
Today, a woman could enter your restaurant in a lacy 3D printed dress and 3D printed shoes. Part
of her vertebrae could have been repaired using 3D printing technology. Your tables, chairs, plates
and silverware could all have been 3D printed. And, thanks to a giant 12-meter 3D printer called Big
Delta, your restaurant could have been built of 3D printed ber and clay. Hershey’s is developing 3D
printed chocolate. PepsiCo’s potato chip division has explored 3D printing. So has Barilla.
The sky’s the limit. Unknown creators and culinarians might become culinary stars overnight.
Secret messages could be inserted inside 3D printed boxes. So could love notes.
“When chefs, mechanical engineers and roboticists collaborate, who knows what is not possible,”
Lipson says.
will we soar or sinK?
The 3D printing world assures us that
3D printing won’t eliminate chefs.
3D printed pizzas need humans to
add toppings. Hamburger patties and
buns can be 3D printed, but fresh
ingredients such as lettuce and tomato
must be placed by hand.
Burritobot, a 3D burrito printer
designed by Marko Manriquez for his
graduate student thesis at New York
University, can pipe out beans, cheese
and sour cream in amounts specified
on a phone app, but ingredients crucial
to mouthfeel, such as salsa, diced
tomatoes, chunky meat and hunky
guacamole must be placed by hand.
Meanwhile, London-based Moley
Robotics has created a robot that
mimics the flexibility and complexities
of human hands.
So eat, think, drink and be merry. The
future lies open. Everything changes
and moves.
PHOTO CREDITS Opposite, top right, Phil Mansfield/CIA; bottom left, top to bottom, 3dchef.nl facebook.com/dddchef, 3D Systems Culinary Lab; above, Natural Machines
22
in the news debating GMOs
ithin the foodservice industry, there may be no more contentious topic
right now than GMOs—genetically modied organisms—in the food supply. In one
camp are the ardent supporters, people who believe that GMO-treated plants can
help solve the world’s hunger problems by increasing crop yields while using less land.
On the other side are equally passionate activists who claim that the widespread use of GMOs
would be disastrous for people and the planet. They discount the reams of data that many scientists
say prove GMOs are safe for human and animal consumption, arguing that GMOs haven’t been
used commercially long enough for science to know the potential long-term risks. They also fear
that altering plants to resist pests and herbicides could have negative consequences down the road.
Chefs are stuck in the middle of this debate. Personally, many of them oppose the use of GMO
ingredients in food, or at least are on the fence. However, they often nd their hands tied, either by
the marketplace or by corporate policies that prevent them from choosing non-GMO products and
ingredients. Some chefs contacted for this article declined to comment, citing employers’ concerns
or conicts of interest.
But there are plenty of chefs who are willing to speak their minds, for a number of reasons.
Some, denitely, are concerned with potential health risks of consuming GMO-laden foods,
even though the Food and Drug Administration has approved their use and many scientists argue
that they are safe.
for the health of it
Joanne Weir, owner of Copita, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Sausalito, California, and the
author of Kitchen Gypsy: Recipes and Stories from a Lifelong Romance with Food (Oxmoor House,
2015), says she is adamantly opposed. “I believe that most of our health issues stem from GMOs.
Maybe it’s because of my own health concerns, but there are so many things we don’t know yet.”
Will genetically modified organisms solve
worldwide hunger? Or will they harm
people and the planet?
W
debating
GMOs
24
The genetic engineering of plants
has been around for centuries in the
form of hybridization, the process
of crossbreeding different types
of the same species to encourage
desirable traits to become dominant.
Hybridization is responsible for the
many varieties of apples grown today,
as well as many other types of foods.
But the genetic modifications being
debated involve primarily the lab-
conducted insertion of genes from
another organism into plants to achieve
a specific result. Disease-resistant and
herbicide-tolerant forms of corn and
soybeans, for example, are created by
injecting a type of bacteria into the
genetic structure of the plant.
At present, there are 10 types of plants
used for food whose GMO forms have
been approved for use in the U.S. They
are corn, soybeans, cotton, potatoes,
papaya, squash, canola, alfalfa, apples
and sugar beets. Corn is the largest
crop in terms of GMO use: 33 types
of genetically engineered corn are on
the market, and more than 90% of all
corn grown in the U.S. comes from
GMO seed.
Other types of GMOs being developed
include strawberries injected with fish
genes to make them hardier, salmon
genes given a growth hormone and
Golden Rice, which has been modified
with the addition of vitamin A to
help prevent blindness in third-world
countries.
According to gmo-awareness.com,
scientists can modify a plant’s genetics
in one of three ways. One is to inject a
plant with a combination of the desired
bacteria and E. coli. The combo
causes tumors in the host plant, which
allows the foreign bacteria to enter
the plant’s cells. The second way is to
use electricity to rupture walls of the
plant’s cells so that the new DNA can
enter. Alternately, a “gene gun” can
shoot the DNA directly into the cells.
in the news debating GMOs
A supporter of Hillary Clinton, Weir says when she discovered that Clinton’s presidential
campaign had accepted money from St. Louis-based Monsanto, a major producer of GMO seeds,
“I wrote to her and pleaded with her to return the funds.”
Weir has long been on the bandwagon against GMOs. In her 1998 book, You Say Tomato: Peel,
Chop, Roast, Dry, Freeze, Preserve, and Enjoy (Broadway Books, 1998), she spoke out against the
Flavr Savr tomato, the rst genetically engineered food to become available commercially. Weir
says she felt the Flavr Savr, which had been altered to remain ripe longer without softening, had
less avor than vine-ripened non-GMO varieties. (Flavr Savr was a commercial failure and was
taken off the market in the 2000s.)
John Noble Masi, chef, educator and president of Hospitality Performance Partners in Boca
Raton, Florida, also opposes GMOs, for similar health-related reasons. “I have tried, as I get
more nutrition information, to reduce the chemicals I consume,” he says. “In reading the current
reports and articles [about GMOs], there can be one of three answers to the question, ‘Are they
bad for you?’—yes, no and we don’t know for sure. In my mind, two of those three answers are
bad, so I would prefer to avoid GMOs, if possible.”
That’s not an easy thing to do, given that by some estimates, more than 80% of the foods
Americans eat contain some type of GMO ingredient. Corn is the most prevalent, with about
90% of corn grown in the U.S. coming from GMO seed.
cultural considerations
That fact worries Iliana de la Vega, owner of El Naranjo in Austin, Texas. “The most important
staple in my culture is corn, and our cuisine is developed around it,” says de la Vega, a native of
Oaxaca, Mexico. “Much has been said about GMO corn versus landrace corn. If GMO corn takes over
the landrace corn in Mexico, many varieties of corn will disappear, as well as the small growers.”
In de la Vega’s eyes, the touted benets of GMOs do not outweigh that kind of loss. “I don’t
see clearly how GMOs will help the problem of hunger in the world, and I clearly see how the
monopoly on seeds will affect the growers,” she says. “They will have to depend on buying, at
any cost, the seeds, instead of saving seeds from previous years to plant again.”
Josh Diekman, CEC, corporate executive chef with Nestlé Professional, Hurst, Texas, agrees
with de la Vega. “Roundup-ready seeds and the like are a way for corporations to patent seeds,
and I am 100% against trying to monopolize seeds,” he says. “[Also] no one knows what these
chemicals they put in the seeds are actually doing to us. The studies and the science behind them
are insufcient.”
Not all chefs oppose GMOs. But even some who support the concept and the research have
their reservations. Richard Camerota, corporate executive chef for Performance Foodservice,
Richmond, Virginia, says he is in favor of the responsible and regulated use of GMOs in some
production of plants and animals.
“I believe that some of the obvious benets—higher crop yields, more disease-resistant crops
and, potentially, more-nutritious food—at least counterbalance some of the potential hazards,”
says Camerota.
These hazards, he says, include allergic reactions to GMO-enhanced foods and the creation of
“super plants” that could be harmful to current crops. “The most concerning issue,” he adds, “is
the lack of knowledge revolving around the long-term effect in humans who consume GMOs.”
labeling law
One thing most chefs seem to agree on is this: Foods using GMOs should be labeled as such.
Washington, D.C.-based Food Policy Action, co-founded by “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio,
this spring urged lawmakers to reject a bill that called for a voluntary federal labeling system for
foods containing GMOs. The petition sent to Congress was signed by more than 4,000 chefs.
acfchefs.org 25
PAUL KING, A FREELANCE WRITER BASED IN ELMHURST, ILLINOIS, HAS MORE THAN 30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE COVERING THE FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY.
MOST RECENTLY, HE WAS EDITOR OF FoodService director, AND HAS ALSO WORKED FOR Food ManageMent AND nation’S reStaurant newS.
As a result, the bill, which had passed the House of Representatives, was rejected by the Senate.
A compromise measure, signed by President Obama in August, mandates labeling, although it gives
manufacturers three ways to achieve this—one of which is a QR code that consumers would have to
scan to learn whether the food contains GMOs.
That type of solution doesn’t please Diane Kochilas, a chef consultant and teacher who specializes
in Greek cuisine. “Absolutely, foods should be labeled, and prominently, so people know what they are
buying,” she says. “I can’t believe we have been duped into thinking this should even be an issue.”
Kochilas, who divides her time between New York, Athens and Ikaria, an island in the Eastern
Aegean, runs a small restaurant and cooking school on Ikaria each summer.
Sal Cantalupo, corporate chef for Corporate Image Dining Services, Stamford, Connecticut,
says labeling products containing GMOs is a necessary and logical progression. “We live in a
‘state of awareness’ society,” he says. “It is amazing the lengths we have gone to for labeling.
Everything, it seems, is there. GMOs are about the only thing left.”
Despite opposition, companies continue to work on genetically modifying not only plants
but livestock and sh to create desirable traits.
Diekman says he believes that money will ultimately decide the fate of GMOs in food. “The
dollar will determine the outcome. Manufacturers make products that people want. Consumers
have a voice, and they express their voice every time they buy food. If they stop buying genetically
modied foods, then producers will change.”
26
It takes time, investment and dedication
to reach the top of the increasingly
popular career of sommelier.
career tracK cellar masters
nterest in becoming a sommelier has grown in recent years, and the reasons for
this increased awareness include the 2012 documentary Somm. Today, sommelier as a career
path is drawing in a new generation of oenophiles who are passionate about wine and service.
For some, a special bottle sparked interest in a lifelong study of wine. For others, a part-time
restaurant job in high school or college ignited a passion that led them down the path of devoting
their career to wine.
Peter Marantette, general manager/sommelier at Reserve, Grand Rapids, Michigan, worked in
country clubs in high school and full-service restaurants in college. He knew he wanted to be in
a restaurant, and made the investment in books, wine and time to study. “You have to train your
palate and nose like any other muscle in your body. It’s like an athlete training for a marathon or
game,” he says. “But, ultimately, you have to enjoy it. It’s why wine was created in the rst place.”
Wine director Matt Whitney of Eastern Standard, Boston, caught the food and wine bug in
college after an injury sidelined him from sports. He needed a job and ended up at an Italian
ne-dining restaurant. “I found myself reading about wine more than anything else,” he says. “I
did some soul-searching and realized what I really wanted to do.”
He credits the resurgence in wine and wine culture in recent years to increased publicity
and awareness of the career of sommelier from Somm, as well as TV shows such as “Uncorked.”
And, he adds, The Court of Master Sommeliers, Napa, California, and Guild of Sommeliers,
Petaluma, California, are doing a good job of promoting wine. “I’m seeing a real buzz about
wine in Boston and New York, and I’m starting to see the shift from parents drinking Bordeaux
and chardonnay to younger people coming in looking for natural wine or certain styles.”
cellar
masters
I
PHOTO CREDITS Above and opposite, clockwise from above: 1) Eastern Standard 2) Sepia 3) Adam Krauth 4) Melissa Ostrow 5) Jordan Curet 6) Reserve
1)
2)
3)4)
5)
6)
28
PHOTO CREDIT Eastern Standard
The path
Arthur Hon, beverage director at Sepia, Chicago, ended up
working in ne dining and wine by chance. He grew up in California
and moved to Chicago to study art. “I did this all on my own out of
curiosity,” he says. “Younger sommeliers today may know they want
to do this, but I didn’t until later in life. It started as a hobby. I love
geography and different languages, as well as the ritual of dining out.”
While attending school, Hon worked at Sepia, where a
coworker asked him to take The Court of Master Sommeliers
exam with him so they could study together. “I passed the intro-
level exam, and then I got addicted,” says Hon. “I realized I didn’t
want to do this as a hobby, but as a career.
He moved from server to wine captain at Sepia, and learned
all he could from then-sommelier Scott Tyree. When Tyree left,
Hon succeeded him and took over the wine program.
Reserve’s Marantette dove into wine while working at Bistro
110 in Chicago. He was greatly inuenced by Terry McNeese,
general manager at the time, and assistant general manager Chris
Pawlisz. “I had two great mentors there and was encouraged to
be really well-educated about wine,” he says. “I learned how wine
plays with food and pairings and how to answer any question at the
table about food or wine.”
In July 2010, he returned to his home state of Michigan to
serve as assistant general manager of the newly opened Reserve.
Greg Van Wagner, wine director at Jimmy’s, Aspen, Colorado,
grew up Pennsylvania and moved to Boulder, Colorado, to pursue
road bike racing. He had worked at more casual restaurants in the
past, and got a job at Frasca in Boulder. “This was a wine-focused
place, and they took a shot on me,” he says. “My mind was blown
about the whole world of food and beverage. It was denitely an
‘aha’ moment. I knew I wanted to work in the industry.”
He eventually moved to Aspen to be maître d’ at The Little
Nell, and to enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle and a vibrant food
and arts scene. Then he joined Jimmy’s as wine director. “Aspen
is very much a wine town,” says Van Wagner. “It’s a little town
of 6,000 people with three master sommeliers.”
The goal is to have his own restaurant. “I wanted to be well-
rounded, so I knew I had to work all sides of the industry to
someday have my own place,” he says.
Whitney came on board at Eastern Standard as a bartender,
but knew he wanted to focus on wine. “I was just waiting for
the right opportunity. I offered to do any task that I could,” he
says. “I loved the restaurant and really wanted to be a part of
the wine program here. I worked hard and showed value, and
communicated to them that I wanted to move forward in wine.
Eventually, the opportunities came up.”
He moved up from bartender to full-time management of the
restaurant. Then, six months later, he became assistant wine director.
Test your knowledge
Marantette decided to take the rst-level test from The Court
of Master Sommeliers in October 2010. A few weeks later, he
took the level-two test. “There are multiple organizations that
test, but the court focuses on service,” he says. “Being in a full-
service environment, it made the most sense for me.”
Industry professionals who take wine seriously can pass level
one, he says. In level two, there is blind tasting to identify a red wine
and a white wine, as well as the theory part of the exam, which is
tough, he adds. There is also a service scenario in level two that
involves role play with a master sommelier in front of the class.
“It was terrifying, but you have to go into it condently,”
says Marantette. “You’ve prepared and dedicated so much time
and resources, including buying books and buying wine.”
He has considered testing at the next level, but doesn’t feel
it is necessary at this time. “I may if I move to a larger market,”
he says. “It would be years of studying.”
Hon plans to take the level two exam in 2017. “The Court
of Master Sommeliers format has changed drastically,” he says.
“It’s now more exible and relevant to wine buyers and not just
fact-based. It’s more in tune with what actually happens on the
oor and when serving guests.”
The increased popularity of sommelier as a career means that
those in the eld feel more of a need to become certied, Hon says.
Now, many of the higher-level positions require certication. He
adds that the two most popular certication programs in North
America are The Court of Master Sommeliers and Wine & Spirit
Education Trust (WSET), with headquarters in London. “Neither
is better or worse, they just have a different focus. WSET is more
focused on vineyards and wine.”
Whitney passed the level-one test through the court right after
starting at Eastern Standard, and about six months later, passed
the level-two certication. He is currently studying for level three.
He credits the Guild of Sommeliers, a partner organization
to The Court of Master Sommeliers run by a couple of master
sommeliers, with helping to advance the career of sommelier.
The guild provides education for those studying for the exams.
Van Wagner took the level-one and level-two certication
tests within a few weeks of each other. He is preparing for the
career tracK cellar masters
acfchefs.org 29
KATHRYN K JARSGAARD IS A FREELANCE FOOD WRITER BASED IN OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.
third-level test now. “The test forces you to step out of your
comfort zone and learn the whole list,” he says. “It gives you
more of a worldwide view.”
The investment
Hon says a career as a sommelier requires dedication of time and
energy. “You have to build layers and layers of foundation in knowl-
edge. It’s like any position in a restaurant. You don’t just learn from
books, but also from visiting wine regions and talking with guests.”
Becoming a sommelier is expensive, and one can spend thou-
sands of dollars pursuing the required education. Some restaurants
help pay some or all expenses, but it is not common that all costs
are covered, says Hon. “It’s like any education that you pay for, but
you are working full-time, too. It’s a big commitment.”
Marantette reminds his staff that food and wine should
be enjoyable, and tells them, “Don’t let the test overtake your
psyche and emotions.” He also tries to relay that in terms of
wine and service in general. “When you set out to pursue the
somm certicate, you have to be diligent about studying.”
He adds that studying wine is an ongoing education. “Wine
changes—it’s biology. Wine laws are always changing, too.
You have to stay up to speed.”
At Jimmy’s, Van Wagner receives nancial help to cover
certication. He says the restaurant believes in education and
that it translates to better service. The staff has taken educational
trips to France, Italy, Spain, Napa Valley and Oaxaca, Mexico.
They also have visited Ireland and Scotland for whiskey trips.
Eastern Standard is providing some nancial resources for
Whitney in terms of wine tasting and travel, but he is paying
for certication. “The company has been generous, and it helps
a lot,” he says. “And, they have put me in touch with certain
people in the industry,”
Whitney tells staff who are interested in pursuing certication
and the sommelier career path that it takes time and self-discipline.
“You have to start at the beginning of the book and understand the
dry side of wine, the agriculture and the winemaking process from
vineyard to production,” he says. “Then, you have to understand
things such as the regions of Germany and France.
“But you must enjoy it, too. You are missing the point if you
are just crunching and cramming.”
Your kitchen staff might be slim, but
Bonewerks’ premium products give you
greater consistency and savings for every dish.
Our full line of fully-prepared, oven-seared
Sous Vide entrees provide 100% yield, and our
masterfully crafted demi-glace and glace are
available in convenient 1#, 2#, 5# and 16# tubs.
Keep your standards high
and your savings higher.
Coming Fall 2016!
• Our entire line gluten & dairy free
• New packaging &
increased shelf life
Stock your kitchen with Bonewerks.
An American owned and operated company.
Learn more
bonewerksculinarte.com
Find a distributor near you
800.542.3032
Bonewerks_NationalCulinaryNws_HalfPg_Oct2016.indd 1 9/27/16 8:37 AM
30
ƅizza
ᆘᆑለለᆃ
t
h
e
m
a
n
y
f
a
c
e
s
piZZa the many faces of pizza
Flatbread and toppings—how much simpler could
it get? And yet, the variations are endless.
— By AlAn RichmAn —
O P
of
acfchefs.org 31
izza with a fried egg on top? Pizza rolled into a cone shape and lled with honey mustard
chicken or cream cheese? A four-sh pizza served cold? Or the Grand Prix, a shrimp
and sweet potato pizza featuring a cookie-dough stuffed crust and accompanied by
blueberry dipping sauce.
A far cry from the classic Neapolitan pie, these are variations on pizza that can be found in
places ranging from Japan to Dubai to Moscow and back to South Korea. And they are hardly the
only unusual takes on pizza—there are scores of others, in the U.S. as well as around the world.
In Liverpool, England, there is even a deceptively named American Pizza Slice that is anything
but American. It starts out OK, with a few different meat toppings, but then adds black pudding
(blood sausage), baked beans and bacon.
If pizza were just a snack item verging on junk food, knowing how people accessorize it
might be dismissed as trivial. But pizza is big business, with $38 billion in annual sales in the
U.S. alone. There are some 70,000 pizza outlets in the nation, and pizza-eaters account for more
than 250 million pounds of pepperoni consumed each year.
Nor is pizza strictly a low-cost option for lunch or dinner. Until it closed recently, one New
York restaurant offered a 12-inch Luxury Pizza topped with six varieties of caviar, chives, fresh
lobster and creme fraiche, priced at $1,000 for a whole pie, $125 for a slice.
Chicago deep-dish
In a country as large as the U.S., whose population is based on 240 years of immigration, it’s
hardly surprising that we have developed some of the most distinctive regional pizza styles right here,
within our borders. Who doesn’t know Chicago deep-dish pizza? Often associated with Ike Sewell’s
Pizzeria Uno, it spawned a chain with franchises in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia.
Less well-known but possibly just as inuential was Larry Aronson, whose My Pi pizzeria
started out in 1971 as a single location in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. “My father rened
deep-dish pizza, using the highest-quality ingredients and utilizing his background as a third-
generation baker,” says Richard Aronson, who now runs the business, adding that Larry Aronson
was the rst restaurateur to take Chicago-style pizza outside the Chicagoland area. By the early
1980s, he had opened 15 restaurants around the country in addition to his four local venues.
Richard Aronson says My Pi now also offers an alternative style, which has a cracker-thin
crust and features a red sauce topped with mozzarella. “It is different from New York style in
that it would y apart if you attempted to toss it. It doesn’t have the high amounts of protein/
gluten that would make it tough and chewy, characteristics that Neapolitan pizza is known for.”
Neapolitan style
Two storied purveyors of the Neapolitan style are both in New York, and both are ercely proud
of their heritage. At Totonno’s on Neptune Avenue in Brooklyn’s Coney Island beachfront community,
there have been just six pizzaiolos (pizza-makers) over the course of its 92-year history, says
Antoinette Balzano, co-owner and granddaughter of Anthony “Totonno” Pero, the founder.
Claiming that Totonno’s is “the oldest continuously run family-operated pizzeria in the world,”
Balzano says her grandfather, as a young immigrant from Italy, worked for Gennaro Lombardi, owner
of a restaurant on Spring Street in Manhattan where the rst pizza was served on these shores.
Today, with a presence in numerous international tourist guidebooks, Totonno’s attracts a global
clientele that is almost unheard of for a seven-table, two-booth, single-location establishment—
especially one that is open only Thursday through Sunday, noon to 7:30 p.m.
Balzano credits her sister Louise “Cookie” Ciminieri with being the operational genius behind
the store’s continued success. Noting that Totonno’s makes its own dough from a secret family
recipe, Ciminieri says the restaurant has always believed in keeping things simple. All pies are
thin-crust, toppings are limited to sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and anchovies, and the only
top: 1)
2)
3)
ᆘ
32
other decision a customer has to make is to choose the size—
large or small.
About 15 years younger than Totonno’s, having gotten
its start in 1939, L&B Spumoni Gardens features a few more
choices on its pizza menu. “We have round, thin Neapolitan crust
and thick, square Sicilian-style pies,” says Camille McDonald, a
member of the management team at the family-owned restaurant
in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood.
“I like almost every kind of pizza,” she says, “but we have the
best, so we don’t play around much with gimmicks.” Nevertheless,
“We put the sauce over the cheese, instead of the more common
method of laying the sauce down rst. We call it upside-down
pizza, and we think it keeps the pie more moist.”
Old Forge style
According to Angelo Genell, owner of Arcaro & Genell, Old
Forge, Pennsylvania, “Our pizza, as well as every other in town,
is known as Old Forge style pizza. It’s square, thicker, with a
crispy crust, and it’s ordered by the ‘cut’ or ‘tray.’ We refer to
this as our original crust. While we also offer a thin-crust pie,
most customers want the original crust, which can be made as
red pizza, double-crust white, open-face white with fresh tomato
or in many other variations with lots of different toppings.”
Old Forge pizza dates back to when the town was a coal mining
community in the early part of the 20th century. Following a
long, hard, dirty day down below, miners would come in seeking
a hearty treat. “Pretty soon,” Genell says, “the style and shape
became synonymous with the town.”
At Arcaro & Genell, the dough, as well as the sauce and cheese
mixture, is made daily on premises. “We use a blend of several
kinds of cheese to achieve our distinct taste,” says Genell.
“And besides serving our loyal customers on Main Street, we
ship our pizza to those who aren’t fortunate enough to live nearby.”
Grilled pizza
Providence, Rhode Island, is another town with a distinct take
on pizza. “We offer pizza cooked over an open re on a grill, not in
an oven,” says Johanne Killeen, owner/chef of Al Forno on Water
Street. “We use only hardwood natural charcoal. The pizza is thin-
crusted, free-form and made with high-quality ingredients.”
Al Forno offers seasonal pizzas—in summer, grilled pizza
with fresh corn, and in autumn, with pumpkin. All year, the
grilled pizza comes with housemade pepperoni.
“One of our grilled pizzas is Pizza Bianca, topped with
mashed potatoes, rosemary, fontina and pecorino,” Killeen says.
piZZa the many faces of pizza
1)
2)
3)
4)
the origin of piZZa
Commonly credited to Italians in the 16th century, the invention of pizza may
actually have occurred long before that. Archeological evidence indicates that
pizza—or something like it—was being eaten in the Middle East in ancient
times. Greeks, Egyptians, Armenians, Hebrews and Babylonians all seemed
to have some way of cooking flatbread in mud ovens, and it’s likely that the
Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were topping that bread with olive oil and
spices, producing something similar to today’s focaccia.
As far back as 600 B.C., the city of Naples made its first bid to get in on this
“hot” food trend. There was a large continent of Greek seafarers and their
families living on Italy’s Western Coast, and they needed to be fed quickly and
inexpensively. Pizza-like flatbreads with a few toppings was reasonably healthy
(all bread was whole-grain in those days), and had the further advantage of
being both filling and delicious.
The “aha” moment and Italy’s preeminent place in pizza history was cemented
in 1522 when tomatoes were brought to Europe from Peru in the New World.
Initially suspected of being poisonous, these juicy red fruits quickly became
popular once they were recognized as safe.
Source: What’s Cookin’ in NYC: A selective study of food in New York City immigrant
communities, by staff of Macaulay Honors College at City University of New York
Smaller cities and towns, as well as metro areas, have become famous for
idiosyncratic pizza varieties.
• popularized by Wolfgang Puck, generally has a thin
crust and standard toppings. It is possible to buy pizza by the slice in
Southern California, but whole pies are much more common.
• featured at Tino’s Pizza in Oneonta, New York, is a
regular cheese pizza with an additional layer of cold mozzarella on top.
• as served by Beau Jo’s, a chain with seven locations,
almost resembles a double-crusted fruit pie. Toppings are plentiful, and an
optional honey coating for leftover crust adds sweetness.
• is square with a thick, deep-dish, twice-baked crust and
toppings placed under the sauce.
• is frequently topped with ham, onions and pineapple on a
cheese and tomato base.
• known as apizza (or ah-BEETS), is a “plain” pie with no
mozzarella cheese. If you want what the locals call “mootz,” you must ask
for it as a topping.
• Ohio is home to both which is known for ground sausage in
the sauce, and rectangular pies that are topped with un-
melted cheese.
• originated in Palermo, Italy, and is a staple in many areas of
the U.S. It is typically a square pie with dough more than an inch thick.
• which is characterized by a super-thin, yeast-less
crust and, often, Provel processed cheese (a blend of cheddar, Swiss and
provolone), is customarily cut into squares or rectangles.
acfchefs.org 33
“It’s inspired by a variety of pizzas offered in the Jewish Ghetto
of Rome. There, however, the pizzas—unlike our individual
pies—are made in large sheet pans, cut into whatever size the
customer species and sold by weight.”
Quad Cities pizza
Harris Pizza’s four locations—two in Davenport and one in
Bettendorf, Iowa, and one in Rock Island, Illinois—specializes
in Quad Cities pizza. “Our pizza has often been imitated, but
never duplicated,” says general manager Ryan Mosley, part of
the third-generation team operating the family-run business now
in its 57th year.
“We feature a hand-tossed crust, quality ingredients and one-
of-a-kind house sausage made from a closely guarded recipe.
Each week, my mother Kathleen Mosley prepares the homemade
pizza spices. And we even drive to Wisconsin for our own blend
of cheese. Our pizza is thick enough to eat with a fork and knife,
especially when it is hot out of the oven. And it is cut diagonally
instead of the more common triangular shape.”
While sausage is the chain’s signature pizza, Mosley says
there are 20 different specialty pizzas on the menu. Some of the
more unusual selections are: Chicken Santa Fe (GoldRush sauce,
seasoned chicken, pepper jack cheese, spinach, diced tomato
and red onion); Legendary Bar-B-Que (a proprietary barbecue
sauce, bacon, red onion, Canadian bacon, cheddar cheese and
pineapple); and three versions of Taco Pizza (pizza sauce,
homemade taco meat—chicken or meatless also is available—
and cheddar cheese cooked and topped with fresh lettuce, diced
tomato and taco chips).
To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, who presumably never had a
bite of pizza in his life, some of these pizza varieties would
never tempt all of the people even some of the time, but all of
them are able to satisfy some of the people all of the time. In
other words, there is something for everyone.
ALAN RICHMAN, FORMER EDITOR/ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OF WHOLE FOODS MAGAZINE, IS
A NEW JERSEY-BASED FREELANCE WRITER FOCUSING ON FOOD AND NUTRITION. CONTACT
ARKR@COMCAST.NET.
• One regional variant worth noting is Pictou County pizza from
Nova Scotia with its use of “brown sauce” and Halifax-made pepperoni.
• France’s favorite pizza recipe, tarte flambée, is generally topped
with fromage blanc, onion and bacon.
• Khachapuri, a stuffed bread boat filled with cheese and baked
with an egg, is a popular option for breakfast.
• Feta cheese, spinach and olives.
• Lángos is a deep-fried flatbread often topped with sour cream,
cheese and garlic.
• Generally spicier and featuring more vegetables; toppings may
include tandoori chicken and paneer.
• Tony Vespa, with locations in Tel Aviv, features a thin, flaky crust
that retains some chewiness. Because the pizza is priced by weight, the store
slogan is, “Eat as much as you like and pay accordingly.”
• Many local styles can be found, some using mayonnaise sauces
and featuring ingredients such as corn, potatoes, avocado, eel—even honey or
chocolate in dessert pizzas.
• Cheese, Kalamata olives, artichokes, onions, red peppers
and pesto. One variation adds grape tomatoes, roasted garlic, lime juice, fresh
parsley and olive oil.
• Ground lamb and hummus, extra-virgin olive oil, yellow
onion, minced fresh garlic, ground spices (cumin, oregano and cinnamon),
chopped tomato and fresh lemon juice served on pita bread.
• A zapiekanka is an open-faced sandwich made with a half
baguette or other long roll topped with sauteed white mushrooms, cheese and
sometimes other ingredients, and toasted until the cheese melts.
• pizza rustica, also known as pizza al
taglio, cooked in long, rectangular baking pans and relatively thick, is sold at
takeout stands. It’s cut into odd-sized rectangular pieces and priced by weight.
Meanwhile, pizza in sit-down (a tavola) pizzerias is traditionally round, has a
thin, crisp base and is usually baked in a wood-fired oven.
• Deep-fried pizza is available at many fish-and-chip shops.
Generally frozen in advance, it is folded in half, dipped in batter and submerged
in oil. It may be served with pizza sauce or with salt and vinegar.
• In addition to conventional toppings, local favorites include
minced beef, spicy sucuk sausage, cured meats such as pastirma, ka
ş
ar and
beyaz cheeses, and local olives and herbs.
eating piZZa How do people throughout the world eat pizza? Here are some of the ways.
34
bar food at its best
acfchefs.org 35
PHOTO CREDIT RKC.me
urgers and beer are a classic combination. The hoppy
acidity of the beer is a natural foil to the richness of
the meat. A glass of red wine isn’t a bad match, either.
Even a cocktail will do. Enjoy one of these combos in a seat at
the bar and you get what many consider a perfect after-work or
game-time activity.
“People like to eat at the bar. They can interact with the
bartenders and other customers,” says Joanie Corneil, co-owner/
CEO/executive chef of Square 1 Burgers & Bar, with 10 locations
across West Central Florida. “We offer a lot of craft beers, and
they tend to get people chatting with each other.”
At Red Cow Restaurant & Bar’s three locations in Minneapolis
and St. Paul, Minnesota, an eclectic mix of customers have burgers
at the bar. Some come in after work for happy hour, others to
enjoy a quick lunch. “We also get single diners who like to eat
at the bar,” says Todd Macdonald, executive chef at one of the
Minneapolis units. At Red Cow, beer or wine are popular ways to
wash the burger down. Cocktails are third in popularity, according
to Macdonald.
Burgers have come a long way since German cooks made beef
patties in the city of Hamburg. Today, in addition to traditional
beef burgers, there are lamb burgers, turkey burgers, bean burgers
and even ahi tuna burgers. The usual toppings list—lettuce,
tomato, ketchup and mayo—has expanded, as well. Now, anything
goes when it comes to burgers. Ingredients, dressings and buns
are subject to a chef’s interpretation. Menus can include one
signature burger or a variety of versions to please every taste.
At the Bar
At Roast, a Detroit steakhouse that’s one of Michael Symon’s
numerous enterprises, burgers appear on the bar menu only. The
aptly named Roast Burger is made with a house-ground beef
blend that includes dry-aged steak and comes topped with bacon,
Black Diamond aged cheddar cheese, a fried egg and pickled
onions. It is served on an English mufn with a small order of
fries. During happy hour, the $12 burger is half price and fries
are ordered separately. “It’s a real crowd-pleaser,” says Joseph
Allerton, general manager.
There are three burgers on the menu at de Vere’s Irish Pub in
Davis and Sacramento, California, where Wes Nilssen is executive
chef. Extremely popular are the lamb sliders that appear on the
“shareables” section of the menu. These 2-ounce burgers are made
from lamb ground in-house with a bit of garlic powder to make a
tighter patty. The resulting texture is a cross between hamburger
and sausage. Priced at $14 for two, the lamb burger is served on a
potato bun and topped with arugula, fontina cheese, housemade
pasilla chili jam and mayonnaise.
bar
food
at its
.....
best
bar
food
Burgers win the day
with interpretations
from creative chefs.
By Suzanne Hall
b
36
bar food at its best
The sandwich section of the menu features a Gardenburger® served on a pretzel bun with
lettuce, mayonnaise, tomato, butter lettuce and red onion, and a bacon cheeseburger made from
a steak blend of chuck, brisket and short rib. It’s topped with peppered bacon, Tillamook extra-
sharp cheddar cheese, butter lettuce, tomato and red onion. “We like to try different burgers on
the menu,” Nilssen says. “This one has a good, solid beef avor.” Menu price for the cheeseburger
is $13. The Gardenburger® is $12.
By the numbers
Restaurants that specialize in burgers often offer bar patrons a choice of 10, 12 or even more burgers.
Square 1 offers 10 burgers made with Angus beef and 10 specialty burgers. The various names are
descriptive and sometimes whimsical. Among the Angus offerings are Toga Party, a beef patty topped
with feta cheese, grilled beefsteak tomato, sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and basil leaves on a whole-
wheat bun. Drunken Pig and Bull pairs the beef burger on a sesame seed bun with bourbon pulled
pork, pepper jack cheese, double-dipped onion rings and the restaurant’s special chipotle ranch sauce,
which it calls Sooner sauce. The SOB—South of the Border—is a blackened burger topped with
pepper jack cheese, black bean and corn salsa, jalapeños, avocado, Fritos and Sooner sauce.
Specialty burgers include Kobe beef burgers and the Chicken Cobb, a ground chicken patty with
avocado, bacon, diced tomato, curly leaf lettuce and blue cheese crumbles on a whole-wheat bun. The
Greek is a lamb burger with grilled beefsteak tomato, lettuce and tzatziki sauce on a brioche bun.
By far the most popular burger at Square 1 is the All American. Served on a sesame seed
bun, the beef burger is topped with American cheese, curly leaf lettuce, beefsteak tomato and
mayonnaise. Another good seller is the Very Vegan veggie burger, made in-house, served on
a whole-wheat bun and dressed with curly leaf lettuce, beefsteak tomato, cucumber and fresh
avocado spread. Burger prices at Square 1 are $10.99 to $16.99.
On the (bar( menu
Red Cow locations devote four separate sections of their menus to burgers. They include Certied
Angus Beef® Burgers, Red Cow Grind, Local Grass Fed and Other Burgers. “We usually have about
17 different burgers on the menu, including a rare ahi tuna burger and a turkey burger,” Macdonald
says. The spicy tuna burger is dressed with fresh avocado and dragon sauce, a spicy aioli. Cilantro/lime
aioli, sliced radish, arugula and crushed pistachios top the turkey burger.
The beauty of a burger is that it’s open
to interpretation. With that in mind,
Unilever Food Solutions, maker of
Hellman’s and Best Foods mayonnaise,
created the Burger Route, a promotion
that started in Spain and moved to the
U.S. in 2015. Designed to help chefs
and their customers celebrate a menu
classic, the Burger Route is an annual
nationwide promotion encouraging chefs
to put their signature burgers on the
map and customers to spread the word
when they find a burger they love.
Using social media and Unilever websites
(secure.promo.hellmanns.com/burger-
route/ and secure.promo.bestfoods.
com/burger-route/), customers can find
participating restaurants in their area
and win sweepstakes prizes ranging
from gift cards to grills for uploading
photos of their favorite burgers.
Participation by restaurants is free, and
includes a number of benefits. Among
them are national media exposure
and listing in a restaurant finder,
where customers can discover burger
restaurants in their area and share
their picks for the best burgers. The
promotion also provides participating
restaurants with front-of-the house
merchandise, a social media toolkit and
unique burger recipes.
To learn more about the Burger Route and
how to participate in the 2017 promotion,
go to: www.unileverfoodsolutions.us/
menu-inspiration/burger-route.html.
acfchefs.org 37
SUZANNE HALL HAS BEEN WRITING ABOUT CHEFS, RESTAURANTS, FOOD AND WINE FROM HER HOME IN SODDY-DAISY, TENNESSEE, FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS.
1)
2) & 3)
4)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
The Red Cow Grind burgers are made from 21-day aged rib-eye, chuck, short rib and brisket.
Varieties include the Double Barrel burger, selected Critics Choice in the 2016 Minneapolis/St.
Paul Burger Battle contest. To prepare, two thin beef patties are smashed together and topped
with white American cheese, grilled onion and a special housemade horseradish sauce. The
Blended Burger is wild mushrooms blended with marsala and combined with the Red Cow
grind, topped with garlic mayo, fontina cheese and trufed shallots.
The Blue Burger is one of Red Cow’s most popular burgers. It is made with local grass-fed beef
and dressed with Wisconsin blue cheese and apricot/rosemary/black pepper jam. Macdonald tops
his bison burger with g and goat cheese. His curried chickpea patty comes with avocado salsa and
sliced red cabbage.
The 60/40 is an unusual offering on the Red Cow burger menu. The patty is 60% Certied
Angus Beef and 40% ground bacon. It’s topped with beer mustard, candied bacon and Wisconsin
aged cheddar. Another offbeat burger is simply called Breakfast. Made from Certied Angus
Beef, it includes peanut butter, an over-easy egg, bacon and Wisconsin cheddar on sourdough
bread. Red Cow’s burger prices range from $10.75 to $16.75.
Imagination plays a key role in creating a memorable burger. More important, though, are
the ingredients used to execute that burger.
“The best protein you can buy makes the best burgers,” says Corneil. “We buy all-natural
hormone- and antibiotic-free meats. They cost more, but make a difference.”
Macdonald agrees that the quality of the meat is No. 1 when making a burger. Next, he believes,
is the ratio of burger to bun. “If the bun’s too big, the burger seems dry,” he says.
The type of bun also is important, and helps to make a burger a signature item. “Our pretzel
buns set us apart,” Nilssen says.
How the meat is handled is another important issue. The best burgers often are hand-formed
and cooked on a at griddle. When cooked to perfection and paired with a beer, wine or a cock-
taill, the burger is an ideal bar food.
PHOTO CREDITS Opposite, clockwise from left: 1) RKC.me 2) & 3) Red Cow 4) RKC.me; above, clockwise from top middle: 1) de Vere’s Irish Pub 2) Red Cow 3) Rachel Valley 4) RKC.me
38
he traditional meal structure of breakfast, lunch and dinner
has gone the way of the dinosaur as more and more Americans
prefer to nosh all day long. We do it in the car, on the train, in
front of the TV, on the phone, even in bed.
In fact, according to a survey by global marketing research rm
Mintel, a whopping 94% of Americans snack at least once a day,
including the 50% who nosh three to four times daily. For many
of us, snacking has become so automatic that our briefcases, desk
drawers and glove compartments are stashed with quick food xes.
What’s driving the trend?
“People are too busy to sit down and eat a meal,” says Amanda
Topper, senior food analyst with Mintel. Boomers nosh because
they don’t want to prepare a big meal to eat alone. Millennials
choose grab-and-go snacks because they’re constantly on the move.
And the sandwich generation munches throughout the day because
they need fuel to navigate the needs of kids and aging parents.
But at the same time as we’re ditching the idea of sitting
down to dinner, we’re also committed to nourishing our bodies
with real, wholesome, farm-to-table ingredients. The demand for
healthful and nutritious options rather than processed chemical-
packed food is climbing. And snack purveyors are rising to the
challenge, crafting healthful, artisan eats boasting nutrient-rich
ingredients ranging from nuts and seeds to organic, non-GMO
grains. Even eggplant, kale, olives and beans are making their
way into snack packages.
From paleo to macrobiotic and gluten-free to non-GMO,
today’s snack space appears to have everything. Here are ve
t
snack attack
snack attack
PHOTO CREDITS Above and opposite, clockwise from above: 1) Jessica Fiorillo 2) Caroline Petters Photography 3) & 4) Coulter Lewis
acfchefs.org 39
companies exploding with premium ingredients, artisanal
approaches and delectable results.
SuperSeedz
More than a decade ago, Kathie Pelliccio, founder of SuperSeedz,
North Haven, Connecticut, started roasting pumpkin seeds in a
cast-iron pan to add a healthy crunch to salads and soups. Soon,
her kids were taking them to school and sharing them with
friends. “Their moms would try them and say, ‘Where can I get
these?’” says Pelliccio. “So I created more avors and started
selling them at craft fairs and local farmers markets.”
When she met her husband Joe Pelliccio seven years ago, the
sea of possibility for SuperSeedz opened up exponentially. An
advertising executive at a top rm, he convinced her to scale
up. “We went from bagging by hand with hand-applied labels
to appearing in more than 22,000 stores,” Joe Pelliccio says.
Today, Kathie Pelliccio continues to mastermind avor proles
for the company’s signature seeds.
WHAT’S IN IT: SuperSeedz comes in nine varieties: Really Naked,
Sea Salt, Cinnamon & Sugar, Coco Joe, Tomato Italiano, Curious
Curry, Somewhat Spicy, Super Spicy and Maple Sugar & Sea Salt.
The seeds boast 7 grams of plant-based protein—more than
1)
2)
3) & 4)
Crafty manufacturers redefine
America’s favorite pastime.
By Amy Paturel
40
PHOTO CREDITS Above, left to right: Joe Lupica, Coulter Lewis; opposite, top to bottom: Joe Lupica, Laura Coggins
peanuts, pistachios, almonds and chia seeds—and even the sweet
versions contain just 3 grams of sugar.
WHAT’S NOT: Pumpkin seeds ll the void for people with nut
allergies. They’re gluten-free, non-GMO, peanut-free and tree
nut-free.
WHERE TO GET THEM: Safeway, Vons, Whole Foods, Costco,
CVS, Kroger, the occasional Starbucks and online at Amazon.com.
The cost: $4.99 for a 5-ounce bag.
Oat My Goodness
Granola is a beloved breakfast item, but Rockville, Maryland-
based Oat My Goodness (OMG) craft granola is redening the
genre with around-the-clock options featuring ingredients from
chocolate chips to cardamom.
Frustrated by the lack of nutritious granola options on the
market, Shohreh Vojdani started whipping up her own. When
her daughter’s college friends gobbled it up, they encouraged
her to sell it. “I was studying business, and I always dreamed of
owning my own company,” says daughter Yasaman Vojdani.
When she graduated, they sold granola and gradually
started expanding the line, creating unique avor combinations
such as coffee and orange.
WHAT’S IN IT: Coffee and oranges; sour cherries and cardamom;
bananas and chocolate. Each of OMG’s four signature recipes—
Vintage, Sunrise, Bad Monkey and Starshine—features a
smattering of specialty ingredients, including Bob’s Red Mill
organic oats, Let’s Go organic coconut chips, Ghirardelli choc-
olate chips, Virginia peanuts, Nespresso coffee and California
raisins and almonds.
WHAT’S NOT: Additives, preservatives, trans fats, added salt,
added wheat
WHERE TO GET THEM: Whole Foods, specialty grocers and online
at OMGcraftgranola.com. The cost: $10 for an 8-ounce bag.
SuperThins by Cissé
Diana Lovett, founder of Cissé Cocoa Co., Mamaroneck, New
York, traveled the world from West Africa to Central America
to nd the perfect cocoa beans. She discovered FUNDOPO, an
organic, fair trade cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Its
USDA organic, single-origin, signature cocoa powder is now the
base of all Cissé products.
“We wanted to create a great-tasting bite of something
sweet that doesn’t break the calorie bank the way a candy bar
would,” says Lovett.
She and her team started experimenting with Cissé brownies,
spreading them out really thin. The end result was a brownie thin
that eats more like a thick chip than a brownie. They topped the
brownie thins with superfoods (coconut, cherries, pepita) and
created an indulgent portion-controlled treat. The idea was to
hit that sweet spot without derailing a healthy diet.
WHAT’S IN IT: Lovett uses real ingredients and superfood toppings
to create four tasty SuperThins varieties: double chocolate;
cranberry/pepita (with cranberries sourced from Wisconsin);
coconut/cashew; and cherry/sea salt (with cherries sourced from
Michigan). The crux of the thins is pure FUNDOPO cocoa, real
butter sourced from a co-op in Wisconsin and ground vanilla
bean courtesy of small-scale farmers in Madagascar.
WHAT’S NOT: Additives, preservatives, trans fats, genetically
modied ingredients and high fructose corn syrup.
WHERE TO GET THEM: Whole Foods, Stop & Shop and online
at Amazon.com. The cost: $4.99 per bag.
Frontier Bites
Frontier Bites, San Jose, California, began as a baking challenge
between brothers Matt and Nate Oscamou, who had been sub-
sisting on highly processed energy bars to navigate their busy
lifestyles. Their goal was to create a convenient, great-tasting
snack with fewer than 10 ingredients.
snack attack
Unless you subsist solely on three meals a day, chances are you know KIND. A
model of integrity in the snack world, KIND launched in 2004 in New York, years
ahead of the transparency trend. What began with just eight bar varieties in 2004
has grown to more than 22 bars and six Healthy Grains snackable clusters, and
myriad innovative recipes currently being refined in the KIND® kitchen.
The company uses high-quality, nutrient-rich whole ingredients—such as whole
nuts, whole grains, fruit and spices. The goal is to provide snack-lovers with
healthier options to fuel their lives.
KIND founder Daniel Lubetzky’s mission to make the world a little kinder one
snack and one act at a time has paid off. From writing a thank-you letter to
someone deserving to making a large donation to a charitable organization, the
company inspires random benevolent acts through its KIND movement. In that
way, it’s more than just a snack—it’s an organization that gives back.
acfchefs.org 41
AMY PATUREL, A FREELANCE JOURNALIST BASED IN TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA, WRITES ABOUT
FOOD, WINE, TRAVEL, HEALTH AND FITNESS.
“We wanted to fuel people on their next frontier—whether
that’s carpooling kids, pulling an all-nighter or climbing a
mountain—with good, clean food,” says Matt Oscamou, CEO
of Frontier Bites. “Out of the competition came our Almond
Blueberry Lemon Frontier Bites. They were a hit—and, admittedly,
my brother’s concept.”
Just as they were building the company’s foundation, Nate
Oscamou died in a rafting accident. “Guided by Nate’s passion
for good food, life and adventure, I decided to charge on and
bring our Frontier Bites to life,” Matt Oscamou says.
WHAT’S IN IT: A combination of fats, carbohydrates and complex
sugars in a convenient bite-sized format. Frontier Bites are made
with only single-phase processed ingredients (puffed millet,
roasted nuts, whole berries).
WHAT’S NOT: Gluten, soy, dairy and rened sugars.
WHERE TO GET THEM: Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, Winn-
Dixie and Amazon. The cost: $4.99 per bag.
Quinn Popcorn
Popcorn is supposed to be a simple American snack, but
when Boulder, Colorado-based Quinn Snacks founder Kristy
Lewis became pregnant and popcorn cravings consumed her,
she discovered that the seemingly healthy whole-grain snack
was a chemical-laden dietary landmine.
“It’s a billion-dollar category, but it’s full of junk, chemicals,
and articial and natural avorings,” says Lewis. “I walked grocery
store aisles expecting some sort of innovation, a healthier option,
and nothing.”
A year later, Lewis launched the rst and only microwave
popcorn with a Pure Pop bag free of all chemical coatings.
Quinn launched with fun avors and real ingredients.
“I realized that if we could clean up microwave popcorn, then
we could clean up virtually any classic snack in the industry,” says
Lewis, who just launched the rst whole-grain, non-GMO, gluten-
free pretzel.
WHAT’S IN IT: Quinn Popcorn contains ingredients such as Vermont
maple sugar and California extra virgin olive oil. “All our ingredients
are completely transparent,” says Lewis.
WHAT’S NOT: Articial ingredients, preservatives, genetically
modied ingredients and toxic chemicals.
WHERE TO GET THEM: Whole Foods, Target, HEB, Meijer,
Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts and Amazon. Suggested retail price
for popped is $3.99 per bag; microwave boxes are $4.99.
¼ cup honey
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
2 T. peanut butter
1 T. fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 head green cabbage, chopped
3 carrots, grated
6 scallions, chopped
8 oz. SuperSeedz Super Spicy
Method: Put honey, olive oil, vinegar,
soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter,
ginger, garlic and salt and pepper in
food processor; blend until smooth.
In bowl, toss cabbage, carrot and
scallions with dressing. Sprinkle
SuperSeedz over top.
overnight granola
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
¹⁄³ cup cashew milk
½ banana, smashed
¼ cup Vintage Granola (or any flavor)
Handful blueberries or raspberries
Method: Mix yogurt, cashew milk and
banana in mason jar until smooth
and combined. Gently mix in granola
and blueberries or raspberries. Cover;
place in fridge. Next day, top oats
with dash of cinnamon, fresh fruit of
choice and more granola.
3 oz. SuperSeedz Somewhat Spicy
1 lb. ground lamb
4 fresh garlic cloves, chopped
2 T. garlic powder
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method: Place SuperSeedz in food
processer; grind on medium. Put in
shallow dish; set aside. Gently mix
lamb, garlic, garlic powder, parsley,
scallions, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and
salt and pepper. Form patties; coat with
SuperSeedz mixture. Place on grill; cook
to medium-well. Serve on slider rolls;
add fresh tomato slices, if desired.
1 T. olive oil
6-7 carrots, cleaned, peeled
Pinch of salt
1 t. cumin
½ T. brown sugar
1 T. salted yogurt (e.g. Sohha) or
plain Greek yogurt
1 T. milk
Salt, to taste
1-2 T. Sunrise granola
Heat oven to 350ºF.
In heatproof dish covered with
parchment paper, drizzle olive oil over
carrots. Sprinkle with salt, cumin
and brown sugar. Rub mixture to
coat carrots. Bake about 1 hour, until
tender and browning in spots, tossing
every so often.
In separate dish, mix yogurt until
consistency of heavy cream.
Remove carrots from oven. Plate,
drizzle with yogurt, sprinkle with granola.
Rather than limit their products to between-meal noshing, savvy snack
manufacturers such as Oat My Goodness, Rockville, Maryland, and
SuperSeedz, North Haven, Connecticut, offer snack-lovers recipe options to
take them from breakfast to dinner and dessert.
42
pastry arts more than a nod to tradition
TRADITIONNodMorethan
ato
Pastry efs annel nostalgia for fun and pofit.
acfchefs.org 43
here may be no place like home for the holidays, but
your restaurant might be where locals and those far
from home choose to gather during fall and winter
festivities. And although it’s the season of culinary traditions,
chefs often put their own spin on the plate.
Dave Becker, chef/owner of Sweet Basil in Needham,
Massachusetts, gives tradition its due, but says, “I don’t like to
compete with nostalgia, so we’ll make whatever it is with some
other ingredients, so people can say, ‘Oh, that’s different from
the traditional—but nice.’”
At Juniper in Wellesley, Massachusetts, opened by Becker
two years ago, a pecan pie baklava with aky phyllo dough and
pecan pie lling is served with cinnamon bourbon ice cream, a
Middle Eastern-inspired dessert created by executive chef Tim
Fichera. Of the cinnamon bourbon ice cream, Becker says, “We
were trying to incorporate cinnamon with savory dishes—it’s a
traditional combo in Southern cooking.”
Fichera also gets credit for Juniper’s date cake, a toffee pudding
chock-full of chopped dates with salted caramel sauce and carda-
mom whipped cream. “Instead of regular whipped cream, it’s a
little bit perfumey—almost like an herbal tea,” Becker says.
Traditional pumpkin pie is swapped out for North African
Yam Cheesecake. Large yams are roasted, peeled and pureed, then
folded in with cream cheese, cinnamon and cardamom, along with
ground fennel seeds as the garnish, almost like an anise cookie.
Fresh fruit
Woods Hill Table, West Concord, Massachusetts, purchases
produce at the peak of freshness. The 265-acre Farm at Woods
Hill is the source of much of the food served in the restaurant,
including a wide variety of grass-fed protein as well as pesticide-
free fruits.
“In the fall, with wild apples from our farm, we’ll make
apple butter cake,” says executive pastry chef Douglas Phillips.
“It includes a layer of brown butter chiffon on the bottom, then
a layer of jellied apple butter with a layer of cinnamon/apple
mascarpone cream.” It’s garnished with candied apple and served
with cinnamon ice cream.
Phillips also menus an apple frangipane tart, with the apple
sable crust the base for the almond cream lling and spiraled
layers of thinly sliced Granny Smith apples lightly brushed with
melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It’s covered
with foil and baked for about 15 minutes at 350ºF, then the foil is
removed and the tart baked an additional 10 minutes until the top
is golden.
PHOTO CREDITS Clockwise from above: 1) Taylor Crowley/BRG 2) Jason Doo 3) Juniper 4) Phil Mansfield/CIA
TradiTion
By Karen WeisBerg
1) 2)
3) 4)
44
PHOTO CREDITS Clockwise from top left: 1) Boka 2) Jason Doo 3) Phil Mansfield/CIA 4) Amber Kvorak
pastry arts more than a nod to tradition
“I make a red velvet cake with beets, creating a uid gel from beet juice and beating it into
a cream cheese puree for the lling,” Phillips says. It’s plated with walnut ice cream, shaved
toasted walnuts and beet foam.
Fall flavors
Melissa Walnock oversees Apple Pie Bakery Café at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde
Park, New York. She sees the main goal of preparing holiday pastries as providing guests with the
comfort of fall avors. Top of her list is Pumpkin Entremet, four layers of honey-wheat cake inside
a spiced pumpkin mousse on a light Belgian spiced cookie for a nice crunch. An orange/cranberry
compote is sandwiched between each of the four layers of cake. “It’s all enclosed inside pumpkin
mousse puree that’s been lled into a mold that actually looks like a squashed pumpkin,” Walnock
says. “We freeze it, pop it out of the mold, glaze it with a pumpkin-colored glaze of white chocolate,
condensed milk and gelatin, then temper it in the refrigerator.”
Pumpkin Entremet includes so many separate elements that it’s prepared in stages over the course
of several days. “Cake and compote we’ll do two days ahead, the mousse is done the next day, then we’ll
insert the cake and compote to freeze,” Walnock says. “On the third day, we’ll unmold and glaze.”
Apple Bourbon Caramel Tart and Pear Chai Napoleon make her short list of holiday desserts,
but Sweet Potato Custard is among her favorites. Walnock roasts sweet potatoes until super-soft
and purees them. “We mix the puree with eggs, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and salt, then
bake it again and puree again, like baby food,” she says. “Next, we’ll fold in whipped cream and
pour the mixture into a mold.”
At this point, she’ll insert a gingerbread into the mold. “We’ll freeze that, then unmold, dip it in
Swiss meringue, then cook to 140ºF in a water bath. It kind of looks like a Smurf hat. We’ll lightly toast
it so it becomes somewhat of a riff on a traditional sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top.”
Cream and crunch
Cher Harris, CEPC, executive pastry chef at The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pennsylvania,
doesn’t think there’s anything new and exciting when it comes to holiday pastry. “Maybe new
for the textural stuff, but people like the traditional. Having a nice cream and a crunch—things
that are well-balanced together—that’s what they want,” she says.
1) 2)
3)
4)
1)
2)
3)
acfchefs.org 45
NEW YORK-BASED AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST KAREN WEISBERG HAS COVERED THE ISSUES AND
LUMINARIES OF THE FOOD-AND-BEVERAGE WORLD—BOTH COMMERCIAL AND NONCOMMERCIAL—
FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS.
For the fall and through the holidays, approximately 800 guests
per day at The Hotel Hershey will be served in three restaurants
and numerous banquet areas. Harris’ staff of 12 creates all the pas-
tries, including “warm desserts with lots of nuts such as pecans,
walnuts and chestnuts, as well as cranberries and gs—though not
necessarily together,” she says. Chocolate fondue, bread pudding
and upside-down pear cake served warm are all menu possibilities.
Of the warming spices, Harris cites cardamom as her favorite,
but used sparingly. “I like it in our Winter Spice Hot Chocolate,
where it’s combined with white pepper, ginger, cinnamon and
perhaps allspice.”
She typically offers pumpkin in one of its popular iterations—
tart, mousse, creme brulee or cake. “If we’re doing massive
production, we’ll buy a good canned puree. Otherwise, if it’s
to be prepared for Harvest, our farm-to-table concept, we’ll use
fresh, locally grown pumpkins,” she says.
When there’s a late fall crop of white asparagus, Harris will
prepare Frozen Parfait with White Chocolate and Crumbled
Almonds. For this dessert, the molded parfait is plated with
almond sponge cake and garnished with candied almonds.
A touch of whimsy
Meg Galus, pastry chef at Boka and Swift & Sons, Chicago,
likes to go nostalgic, playing with the richer, heartier avors
of the season, but with a touch of whimsy. “I want things to
be familiar with a creative touch. I want a dessert to start in a
familiar place and let it evolve from there,” she says.
For the holidays at Boka, Galus prepares a whipped pumpkin
cream piped onto the plate as an intricate ribbon that runs beneath
fried beignets dusted with sugar. Whole-milk ice cream made
in-house from local milk and cream is topped with heated toasted
milk sauce to complete the plate.
Galus emphasizes the need for desserts to be kept as light as
possible and not be overly sweet. “The trick is to make it seasonal
but not too specic,” she says. “For example, peppermint ice cream
with hot fudge feels too much like a Christmas dessert. And we
try not to make these desserts too brown with all the brown sugar,
brown butter, apples and pears.”
At Swift & Sons, Galus uses the Chocolate Trolley to play with
offering small bites of holiday-themed chocolate desserts. “I’m
thinking about bûche de Noël, chocolate caramels, chocolate candy
bars, chocolate mousse, nanciers, etc.,” she says. “Our Chocolate
Trolley is our No.1 seller every single night—even without a
holiday focus.”
Duck fat
Kristen Murray, chef/owner of Maurice in Portland, Oregon,
offers Duck Fat Linzer Cookies brimming with raspberry jam.
“People are amazed by how light these cookies are since they’re
made with duck fat instead of butter,” she says. “We do it with a
nod to Agen in Gascony, where they make a lot of pastries with
duck fat.” Persimmon Golden Raisin Walnut Cookie harks back to
a recipe from Murray’s great aunt. “It’s chock-full of persimmon
puree plus golden Sultana raisins and toasted walnuts from Oregon.
“Both these recipes include lots of warming spices, such as
cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, cardamom and nutmeg.”
The holiday pastry menu may also include candied kumquats
in a black pepper cheesecake, or perhaps a pear dumpling
in which the hollowed-out pear is lled with almond cream,
wrapped in dough, then brushed with egg wash, Swedish sugar
and anise seeds.
The yule log that Murray prepares every Christmas is replete
with caramel mousse and has chocolate cardamom in the ourless
cake. She garnishes it with “sweet little meringue mushrooms,
candied fruits, candied rosemary or spruce that we do in egg white
and sugar—the same process used for candying owers,” she says.
PHOTO CREDITS Above top, left to right: Amber Kvorak, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts; bottom, clockwise from left: 1) Galdones Photography 2) Phil Mansfield/CIA 3) Hershey Entertainment & Resorts.
46
vintners of nebbiolo
vintners
of
nebbiolo
CRAFTING THE FAMOUS
RED WINES OF PIEDMONT.
BY DEBORAH GROSSMAN
acfchefs.org 47
n the words of Paolo Cordero di Montezemolo, a patriarch of
Barolo producers in Piedmont, Italy, making great wine is like
an “agrarian opera.” There are many players, many complexities,
and no one knows the outcome until the nal act—or uncorking—
of the bottle.
Cordero di Montezemolo’s successors at his eponymous winery,
Giovanni and Alberto, agree that nebbiolo, the grape in Barolo and
Barbaresco, needs special expertise. It’s a difcult grape to grow,
requiring appropriate soils and sun exposure to mitigate the wine
becoming overly tannic and tight. These same characteristics
enable well-made nebbiolo to age and delight for decades.
Typical of the many multigenerational wineries in Roero and
the Langhe hills of Barolo and Barbaresco where the controlled
appellations of DOCG (denominazione di origine controllata e
garantita) nebbiolo wines are made, Isabella Boffa Oddero also
emphasizes the careful vineyard management and winemaking
skills her grandfather modeled at Oddero Poderi e Cantine.
“The point of wine is to express different vineyards and different
moments in time,” says Oddero.
A new generation of Piedmont producers has improved quality
in the vineyard and cellar. An overview of several vintners mani-
fests their intense focus on familial heritage while establishing
creative innovative approaches to nebbiolo winemaking.
For the past several years Alberto Cordero has served as
president of Albeisa, the Union of Alba Wine Producers, a
nonprot association. The Albeisa mission is to promote wines
from the Alba area, protect trademarks, maintain production
statistics and monitor quality standards. A special Albeisa
wine bottle marks the authenticity of these wines.
Albeisa sponsors Nebbiolo Prima, a program for international
journalists to taste 600 of the newly released DOCG nebbiolo
wines in Alba. In May, 94 writers blind-sampled the latest wines
and then visited wineries to explore the vineyards and discuss
the wines with producers.
“We want the participants to touch the vines—this creates a
connection with the wine and winery,” says Chiara Boschis, owner/
winemaker of E. Pira e Figli (Pira) in the La Morra commune
(village) of the Barolo district.
Cordero di Montezemolo
At the May event, Alberto Cordero set out a rare vertical
tasting of Cordero di Montezemolo by decade, beginning in
1957. “The best way to describe classic older Barolos is fresh
leather, tobacco and softer tannins than the new releases—but
they are still alive,” he says.
Cordero represents the 19th generation of producers on the
property, which has belonged to the Falletti family in the La
Morra commune since 1340. From the top of the Gettera hill
crowned by a majestic 150-year-old cedar of Lebanon, the vista
from Cordero’s winery covers much of the Barolo area.
Cordero’s family developed a special winemaking style that
resulted in less-tannic wines. Rather than the usual practice
of aging wine longer than required in barrel, Alberto’s father
Giovanni moved his wine to concrete or stainless-steel tanks
after the minimal time in barrel—followed by bottle aging for
up to two years.
“In wines such as our Barolo Monfalletto, we look for balance.
Only some of our parcels need new oak barrels—we don’t want to
overpower the wine with oak,” says Cordero.
E. Pira e Figli
In 1981, when Boschis took over E. Pira e Figli winery in the
Cannubi commune of Barolo, people considered her “exotic fruit.”
“After college, I asked my father why men passed on their wineries
only to their sons,” she says. “I was pleased when he purchased
the winery for me.”
Boschis worked hard, and within a few vintages was accepted
by the group known as the “Barolo Boys,” men who inherited
wineries from their parents and innovated in the vineyard and cellar.
The impact of the group is portrayed in the documentary of the
same name, released in April 2016, in which Boschis is featured.
A new book by Suzanne Hoffman, Labor of Love: Wine Family
Women of Piemonte (Under Discovered Publishing LLC, 2016),
features Boschis, including a photo of her hands on the cover.
The Barolo Cannubi that Boschis crafts has power and
complexity yet retains elegance. She has inuenced many
women vintners in the Langhe, including Bruna Grimaldi of
her eponymous winery who crafts a softer style Barolo from
the cru (vineyard) Badarina.
Boschis’ focus on sustainable growing practices has also
impacted the region. After converting her vineyards to organic
standard, she has convinced most of the other 26 growers in
Cannubi to do the same.
Poderi e Cantina Oddero
The rst bottle under the Poderi e Cantina Oddero label
was made in 1878. But owner/winemaker Cristina Oddero has
discovered records that show her family sold wine in the 1700s.
Oddero follows what she calls “tradunt” (to hand down and
teach). “I use mostly neutral oak barrels to respect the terroir,
and only sell when ready,” she says.
PHOTO CREDIT Deborah Grossman
1)
2)3)
4)
5)
i
48
vintners of nebbiolo
Her niece, Isabella Oddero, adds, “Our single vineyard La
Morra Brunato Barolo is not just about muscle, but is also elegant
and well-dened to the nose.”
The newly released 2005 Riserva Vigna Rionda is balanced
and rich, and named for the top-quality vineyard in the shape of
a round amphitheater.
Pio Cesare
Pio Cesare winery is 136 years old—and the only one remain-
ing in the historic center of Alba. Fifth-generation vintner Cesare
Benvenuto is the great-great-grandson of founder Cesare Pio. In
the late 1880s, Cesare Pio saw the potential for Barolo, despite the
small number of Langhe wineries.
History runs deep at the winery. Excavations in the old cellar
have uncovered parts of the 50 B.C. Roman wall. A stable was built
on top of the wall, followed by the winery, still in use. During World
War II, Italians and Germans fought outside while the historic cellar
served as a citizens’ bunker. Benvenuto’s grandmother told him
that the wine kept the group “very happy,” despite the chaos.
Pio Cesare produces single vineyard DOCG wines such
as Barolo Ornato and Il Bricco Barbaresco. Benvenuto is also
proud of his entry-level Barolo Classico wines. “A great chef
can make a great risotto for six people. But can he cook for 100
people? Our goal is consistency. Please, do not call this wine
our ‘regular’ Barolo.”
Poderi Colla
Tino Colla epitomizes the diverse winegrowing of the region.
The vintner plants and sells riesling at Poderi Colla, but he also
produces a full range of nebbiolo wines, such as DOCG Barbaresco
Roncaglie and Barolo Bussia Dardi le Rose. His grandfather Pietro
was a leader of the Piemontese vintners who made spumante
sparkling wine in the méthode champenoise in the early 1900s.
The Poderi Colla Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut is made from nebbiolo
and pinot noir.
Beyond sparkling wine, the Colla family bought the famed
Prunotto Colla in the Bussia area of the Monforte d’Alba commune
in 1956. Colla’s brother Beppe helped build the reputation of nebbiolo
at a time when the wines of Piedmont were relatively unknown.
In 1994, the Colla brothers sold the winery to the famed Tuscany
winemaking company Antinori and launched Poderi Colla. “If you
don’t know our history, you don’t know our wine,” says Tino Colla.
Prunotto
Prunotto’s history is intertwined with the city of Alba where it
served as a “social canteen,” a communal winemaking facility to
produce its wine and that of others. The winery is now located in
Bussia Soprana in Monforte d’Alba at the top of the highly regarded
vineyard. Prunotto Bussia is aged in unusual oval barrels. As wine
educator Tiziano Torto explains, the shape saves space in the cellar
and allows sediment to more readily drop to the bottom.
Barolo Bussia was the rst winery to produce single vineyard-
designated Barolo in 1961. It’s now known for its classic-style
wines sourced from the Langhe and Roero. The 2012 Bric Turot
At Commander’s Palace in New Orleans,
wine director Dan Davis believes nebbiolo
is simple to sell. “The same people who
buy cabernet sauvignon buy nebbiolo,
because they are similar, with big, bold
profiles and huge tannins.” But, he adds,
there is a difference. “Nebbiolo also has
flavors of pinot noir—the cherry, red and
black plums and raspberry notes.”
Mark Warren, former wine program
director and sommelier at Beau Rivage,
an MGM resort in Biloxi, Mississippi, is
now with MGM National Harbor, Oxon
Hill, Maryland. With the obsession
with small vineyards, nebbiolo reminds
him of Burgundy’s focus on small
named vineyards. Beau Rivage has 10
restaurants, and BR Prime was where
Warren sold Vietti Barolo and Produtorri
del Barbaresco with dry-aged meats.
At Italian-focused A16 in San Francisco
and Berkeley, California, wine director
Shelley Lindgren sells hand-selected
nebbiolo wines. She pairs linguine with
cherry tomato, garlic and pecorino with
a younger, easy-drinking Barolo from
Poderi e Cantine Oddero with high
acid and fairly firm tannins that also
shows cherry fruit. Yet, says Lindgren,
“A younger Barolo also pairs well with
an osso buco, a hearty, rich dish,
brightened and uplifted by the bright
fruits and zippy texture of the younger
wine.” For older nebbiolos, Lindgren
would pair Cordero di Montezemolo
Barolo with bucatini accompanied by
cauliflower, anchovy, garlic, parsley and
breadcrumbs. The A16 hanger steak
with its rich flavor pairs well with an
older Barolo from Pelissero known for
its deep, dark fruits.
How does a seafood house sell nebbiolo?
At Farallon in San Francisco, wine
director Luke Kenning emphasizes the
similar characteristics that the wines
have to Burgundian pinot noirs. He often
chooses the more elegant Barolo wines
from La Morra in Barolo or Neive in
Barbaresco. He may pair an Bovio Barolo
and sturgeon with sauce grabiche. With
an eye on price and style, Kenning is
fond of Pira. “Some of Chiara Boschis’
wines are dark and bold,” he says.
“Many of our guests are coming from the
steakhouse universe and veer toward our
meat or poultry dishes. We serve wines
that do not travel—meaning those that
are not sold nationally and are usually
small production. Boschis’ wines fit the
bill—and satisfy our diners wanting a
bigger red.”
It’s easier for John Rittmaster to sell
Boschis’ wines at Prima Ristorante
in Walnut Creek, California. Co-
owner Rittmaster and partner/chef
Peter Chastain specialize in Northern
Italian wines and cuisine. At a recent
winemaker dinner with Boschis, Chastain
prepared grilled fillet of Piedmontese-
style muscular, lean Nebraska beef
served with cipollini onions agrodolce
(sweet and sour), romano beans and
roasted tomato. Rittmaster paired the
course with Pira Barolo Mosconi.
acfchefs.org 49
DEBORAH GROSSMAN IS A SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA JOURNALIST WHO WRITES ABOUT PEOPLE, PLACES AND PRODUCTS THAT IMPACT THE FOOD-
AND-WINE WORLD.
Barbaresco DOCG is exceptionally smooth, while the 2009 Vigna Colonnello Riserva Bussia is
well-balanced with intense classic nebbiolo aromas. The entry-level Barolo Classico DOCG range
is known for its approachability in price and avor prole.
Pelissero
Giorgio Pelissero is the third-generation winegrower of the Pelissero Winery. His grandfather
Giovanni started growing grapes in the early 1900s, and his father rst bottled wine in 1960. By
1990, enologist Giorgio took over the winery and expanded the production in Treiso, the heart of the
Barbaresco region, exporting to more than 50 countries. “It is easier to buy grapes when vintners
want to follow a trend,” says Pelissero. “But I make decisions on what to grow based on the land.”
With four vineyards, including the estate property, to choose from, Pelissero produces a wide
selection of wines. His personal favorites are classic, age-worthy Barbaresco DOCG Vanotu and
Vanotu Riserva, named in the Piemontese dialect for his grandfather Giovanni.
Paolo Manzone
Like the hillside vineyards of Burgundy, wine from the Serralunga d’Alba commune manifests
unique avor characteristic—rounded tannins and rich fruit. An admirer of pinot noir, Paolo
Manzone employs several Burgundian production techniques at his eponymous winery. In addition
to the large wooden barrels, called “botte” in the Langhe, Manzone purchases traditional Burgundy
barrels with a lighter toast.
Manzone calls his top-end Barolo Meriame “round with good body, a kind and strong, sweet and
full-bodied wine.” He also makes Langhe Rosso, a growing category of red wines from the region.
As part of the growing agrotourism movement, Manzone operates a bed-and-breakfast at the winery.
Boschis of Pira winery sees many changes in the area. “Fifty years ago, no one knew what
nebbiolo was,” she says. “We explained what the wine can be and how to enjoy it. People are
writing books about us, and organic winegrowing is advancing. This is our future.”
PHOTO CREDIT Deborah Grossman
1)
2)
3)
Across the Tanaro River from Alba,
Castello di Guarene perches atop
the hill overlooking the Roero
commune with vistas of Barbaresco.
Built as a residence in 1727, the
Castello is now a Relais & Châteaux
five-star hotel and restaurant. With
a younger, lean nebbiolo from E.
Pira e Figli (Pira) with accentuated
tannins, chef Davide Odero would
pair traditional dishes such as
boiled sausage with polenta or a
plate of mixed Piemontese boiled
meats. An older Nebbiolo with
fuller structure and more-rounded
tannins better supports dishes with
more-pronounced flavors, he says.
“A Poderi Colla Barolo would work
well with game, while a traditional
Barbaresco from Pio Cesare could
be paired with a braised meat.”
The wine cellar at La Ciau del
Tornavento in Treiso is well-known
for its prized collection of Italian
wines. La Ciau del Tornavento is
considered a top restaurant in the
Barbaresco area. Wine director Luca
Ronchail pairs Piedmontese Fassone
with raw meat lightly seasoned
with lemon, salt and olive oil. “The
delicate flavor of the raw meat works
well with a light, younger nebbiolo
with floral bouquet,” he says. “I do
not want strong aromas or heavy fruit
to cover the light dish.”
Another dish that Ronchail serves
with a younger nebbiolo is tajarin.
“This egg-based pasta, a thin,
local version of tagliatelle, tossed
with butter and sage, needs a light
nebbiolo with more acidity to reset
the palate,” he says.
For an older Barolo, Ronchail
recommends veal braised in Barolo
and seasoned with balsamic vinegar
and herbs. “With such a rich sauce
to accompany the meat, we need a
powerful Barolo, for example, from a
2006 vintage, with enough tannins
and acidity to stand up to the meat
with the strong flavors in the sauce.”
50
here is nothing new about the farm-to-bottle trend. Craft brewers often source ingredients
such as hops and barley from local growers. But as the demand for local beers grows—60%
of beer drinkers rated local as important in choosing craft beers to drink, according to a 2016
Nielsen Craft Beer Insights Poll—brewers are looking for opportunities to feature new ingredients
that will add local air to their beers. And right now, brewers are buzzing over honey.
“Honey allows the beer to ferment further than straight barley, and that makes honey beers
drier than traditional beers,” says Matt Long, brewmaster at Big Sky Brewing Company, Missoula,
Montana. “And, it adds great avor.”
Although honey beers are trending, brewers have a long tradition of using the sweetener in
beers. The Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association has been awarding medals to honey
beers in its Great American Beer Festival competition for decades, with honey beers competing in
the specialty beer category. As more breweries entered their honey beers, the association added a
category specically for buzzworthy brews. The number of entrants in the sweet category jumped
from seven in 1998 to 52 in 2015.
spotlight on . . . honey beers
t
honey beers
y
J
o
i
h
e
l
e
r
r
e
w
e
r
s
u
s
e
h
o
n
e
y
t
o
p
o
l
l
i
n
a
t
e
s
e
a
s
o
n
a
l
e
e
r
s
a
n
c
r
e
a
t
e
a
u
Z
Z
.
acfchefs.org 51
PHOTO CREDITS Left to right: Big Sky Brewing Company; Rogue Ales
Thanks to the popularity of honey beers, the National Honey Board, Firestone, Colorado,
launched a Honey Beer Competition. The inaugural award was given in 2015 when Oregon-based
Rogue Ales won Best in Show for its Honey Kolsch.
Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association, believes the reason honey
beers are growing in popularity is twofold. In addition to being used as a fermentable sugar source and
adding aroma and avor, the ingredient allows brewers to capitalize on the demand for local products.
“Many craft brewers focus on showcasing ingredients from their backyards, and working with
local beekeepers is one way to do that,” Herz says. “It’s a useful and diverse local ingredient.”
sweet versatility
Honey is also incredibly versatile. It can be incorporated into beers ranging from pilsner and
IPA to porter and braggot, giving brewers the freedom to express their creativity.
“Brewers are turning to interesting local ingredients that are outside the four common ingredients
in beer,” says Jon Hill, brewery manager at Atlantic Brewing Company, Bar Harbor, Maine. “Honey
is a popular local ingredient because it has a lot of variety in avors.”
Atlantic Brewing Company started brewing Brother Adam’s Bragget Ale in 1997. The beer,
named for a monk at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England, who was credited with saving the local
bee industry, uses honey to increase the fermentable sugars in the beer and add a rich avor with
a hint of sweetness.
“The honey avor is considerable,” Hill says. “Really, with all the malt and hops in this beer,
it would be quite boring without the honey.”
At Big Sky Brewing Company, Long sources honey for his Summer Honey, a seasonal wheat-
based beer with coriander and orange peel avors, from local beekeepers. The hives are located in the
Bitterroot Valley in Montana, where bees forage on knapweed, noxious weeds with purple owers,
giving the honey an earthy, spicy avor. “It really complements the avor of the beer,” he says.
Just as there are multiple avors of beer, there are multiple avors of honey—and not all of
it is sweet. Orange blossom honey has a light citrus avor while alfalfa honey is on the spicy
side. For sweetness, tupelo honey has other varieties beat. It’s this diversity of avor proles that
makes honey beers interesting, according to Herz. “One brewer’s honey beer is not like another
brewer’s honey beer,” she says.
a sticky situation
While multiple varieties of honey allow brewers to
add a wide range of amazing avors to their honey beers,
making beer with the sticky sweetener is not without its
challenges. For starters, it takes a signicant amount of
honey to brew a batch of beer.
All honey is not created equal. The
National Honey Board, Firestone,
Colorado, estimates there are more than
300 distinct types of honey produced
in the U.S., thanks to the variety of
forage available for bees. These regional
differences in pollinator plants influence
the color, aroma and flavor of honey.
To add distinct flavor to a dish (or a
cocktail), consider the distinct flavors
of these popular honey varieties:
• clover: One of the more popular
honey varieties, clover honey has a
mild flavor and is light in color.
• Despite its
name, orange blossom honey can
be made from the pollen of multiple
varieties of citrus trees, including
lemon, lime, grapefruit and, of
course, orange. It’s white to light-
amber in color and has a citrus flavor.
• Produced in the
Appalachian Mountains from the
nectar of the sourwood tree, this
honey has a spicy aroma and flavor
akin to anise.
• tupelo: A coveted honey variety
produced from tupelo trees in the
Southeast, the honey is white to
extra-light amber and has a mildly
sweet flavor. The trees only bloom
in April and May, making tupelo
honey rare.
52
JODI HELMER IS A NORTH CAROLINA-BASED FOOD WRITER WHOSE WORK HAS APPEARED IN
HEMISPHERES, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER, FARM LIFE AND AMERICAN WAY, AMONG OTHERS.
spotlight on . . . honey beers
While Big Sky Brewing Company uses ¹⁄¹
0
pound of honey to
make a single gallon of Summer Honey, Atlantic Brewing Company
needs an entire pound of honey to produce each gallon of Brother
Adam’s Bragget Ale. A single hive produces just 60 pounds
of honey per season, which can make it difcult for brewers to
source enough honey to satisfy the demand. To help alleviate
some of the supply and demand challenges, some brewers have
taken their commitment to sourcing local honey to the next level,
installing hives at their breweries to raise their own bees.
In Oregon, Rogue Ales manages 100 hives and uses the
honey in its Honey Kolsch and Marionberry Braggot. “The
honey produced from these honeybees has all of the avors of
Rogue Farms,” says beekeeper George Woodward. “As farmers
and fermenters, nothing makes us more proud than opening up
a bottle of beer made with ingredients we produced ourselves.”
Kaktus Brewing Company also installed hives at its Bernalillo,
New Mexico, brewery, and uses the honey to produce a seasonal
honey wheat beer. “We wanted to source honey as locally as
possible, and you can’t get more local than outside the back
door of the brewery,” says president Dana Koller.
Long acknowledges that he’d have no trouble getting ample
supplies of honey for Big Sky Brewing Company’s needs from
national foodservice companies, but he works with local bee-
keepers at Prairie Sunshine Honey in Victor, Montana, instead.
He cites concerns over quality (based on reports that imported
honey is often cut with high fructose corn syrup) and the desire
to support local apiaries. “We prefer to remain loyal to local
producers,” he says.
creating a buzz
As a result of limited supplies, honey beers are often seasonal.
When Kaktus Brewing Company starts pulling pints of its Honey
Wheat in the fall, Koller estimates the tap will run dry in fewer
than 30 days.
Big Sky Brewing Company produces just 5,500 gallons of
Summer Honey, which is only available between April and August.
“We are always asked if we can brew it year-round,” Long says.
“But only making it available for a few months of the year makes
the beer more desirable.”
Given that the avor of honey can change from season to season
(and even hive to hive) depending on where the bees forage, the
exact avor of honey beers is always changing. In fact, it’s almost
impossible for honey beer to maintain a consistent avor—which
is one of the reasons Long loves brewing beer with honey.
“With wine, people expect different vintages to have different
avors, but beer drinkers are not used to that,” he says. “They
expect that once you have a recipe, it will always taste the same.
But honey beers vary from year to year—that’s one of the things
that makes them unique.”
1)
2)
3)
PHOTO CREDITS Top: Atlantic Brewing Company; bottom, clockwise from top left: Rogue Ales, Atlantic Brewing Company, Big Sky Brewing Company
acfchefs.org 53
To support your team on its certification journey, ACF is introducing the
Certification Concierge Service.
•Appoints a dedicated account representative to streamline the
certification process
•Identifies the level of certification best suited for each candidate and
establishes a tailored action plan
•Provides resources to answer questions and promote teamwork
and camaraderie
•Motivates candidates throughout the process with articles and
relevant materials
•Assists with identifying written and practical certification test sites
•Provides tracking tools to help certificants meet recertification requirements
The Certification Concierge Service is a no-fee service for organizations
with eight or more chefs to certify. Applicable certification program costs
per candidate apply.
•Demonstrates a benchmark of excellence to your customers
•Motives your team to enhance professionally and remain relevant
•Improves recruiting and retention success while reducing training costs
•Supports food safety risk prevention and sustainability practices
•Provides results, enhances performance and productivity which
positively impact your bottom line
acf certification
The American Culinary
Federation’s certification program
is the most comprehensive
certification program for chefs.
The CEC®, CSC®, CEPC® and
CCE® are trademarked by the ACF
and accredited by the National
Commission for Certifying Agencies
(NCCA) for having met the highest
standards for credentialing of a
professional certification program—
making it a mark of distinction in
your career.
Photo Credit: Dustin DeYoe for Campbell Soup Company
Christopher Tanner, CEC, AAC - Executive Chef - Campbell Soup Company – Camden, N.J.
54
a competition like no other
rfurt in Northern Germany is a medieval city known as much for its perfectly starched potato
dumplings as for being Martin Luther’s alma mater. And once every four years, it becomes a
hub of international haute cuisine for a prestigious cooking event, the Internationale Kochkunst
Ausstellung (IKA) International Culinary Exhibition, known as the “culinary Olympics.”
Arriving from all over the world, chefs go through customs to declare such items from their
homelands as frog’s legs, oxtails and venison steaks, trout, industrial cookware, knives and other
items that the rules of the competition allow. Once through customs, the chefs speed toward their
test kitchens to create menus of food unlike anything the world has ever seen.
ACF Culinary National Team USA
Crowds of spectators press against the glass kitchen to see what the Americans are cooking.
Ben Grupe, team captain, sums up the team’s outlook. “We’re feeling really good, we’re excited
and anxious to get into the kitchen and crush it.”
A lm crew moves among the team members, and cameras on 12-foot poles peer into stockpots
and over the head of George Castaneda, CEC, as he prepares the crab portion of the Alaskan halibut
and king crab appetizer. The team works together with good humor, exchanging smiles and moving
easily around each other.
Joseph Leonardi, CEC, team manager, and Tim Prefontaine, CEC, coach, both “culinary
Olympics” veterans, push the team to stay on pace. The crowd cheers and claps as they transition
to service. Corey Siegel, CEC, moves to the window to join Grupe and Castaneda, beginning a
well-rehearsed dance of plating dishes. Joseph Albertelli, Jason Hall, CMC, and Matthew Seasock,
CEC, stir the pots and sweep the line to prepare for the next ood of meal tickets.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
A
Competition
Like no
other
U.S. teams and individuals
gather in Erfurt for the IKA.
By Stacy Gammill
e
PHOTO CREDITS Dave Merli
acfchefs.org 55
A juicy mangalitsa pork loin (Kern Meat Co.) with country sau-
sage, braised shank and white bean fritter, foraged mushroom ragoût,
red cabbage, parsnip, cipollini onion “tarte Tatin” and Madeira jus lié
elicits enthusiastic approval from diners in the Restaurant of Nations.
Susan Notter, CEPC, glazes a coconut/white chocolate mousse with
roasted pineapple that reects the ashes from spectators’ cameras.
After 11 hours of cooking and service, the national team
feels optimistic about its prospects and the mood is energetic.
“I think overall the team did a great job,” says Leonardi. “There
were obstacles like working in a new kitchen, using Celsius, the
metric system and malfunctioning equipment that they overcame,
and I think the end result proved that.”
American Culinary Federation Education Foundation
Chairman Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, was especially proud of the
team. “I feel that the team did a phenomenal job,” says Ty. “I’ve
been to several ‘culinary Olympics,’ and this one topped them
all from the starter to the dessert. These chefs put their hearts
and souls out there today.”
The kitchen is cleaned for the judges’ nal inspection. The
team will wake to the announcement of a gold medal, but they
must earn a gold medal in the cold-food competition to be in the
running for No. 1 overall.
No sleep TILL Erfurt
In the BMW test kitchen in Eisenach, 45 minutes outside
Erfurt, Prefontaine places a layout of the cold-food display.
Handmade ceramic plates created by Jono Pandol exclusively
for ACF Culinary Team USA are to be placed atop glass cylinders
etched with the team logo.
“We’re excited,” says Prefontaine. “Everything is coming
down to the wire and everyone is working through problems.” A
steampunk theme (steampunk is a subgenre of science ction that
incorporates modern concepts inspired by 19th century steam-
powered machinery) weaves through the cold food display,
a collaboration between team members that was years in the
making. “What we’re trying to do is tell a story with the nger
foods and hors d’oeuvres,” he adds.
Notter leans over the tiny purple feathers that are part of the
top-hatted petits fours, and Andy Chlebana, CEPC, polishes the
base of the chocolate showpiece. With giant links, clockwork
gears and Mad Max-style goggles, the challenge of this piece is
obvious—getting it to Erfurt intact.
The highway to Erfurt from Eisenach is a quick, straight
shot, but one pothole could put the showpiece in jeopardy. “I
56
have a thick piece of foam to put on the oor of the van, and I’ll
sit with the piece to stabilize it to absorb small shocks on the
way to Erfurt,” Chlebana says
In Erfurt, foot trafc around the national team’s display is
heavy. Spectators take in a suspended light bulb that holds an
orange soup. The buffet platter includes a spread of duck breast,
duck rillettes and duck thigh along with a colorful assortment of
marinated root vegetables accented with orange gelee. The roasted
Carolina boar chop with sweet potato, plum, bread dumpling
and Swiss chard complements the baked redsh with crawsh
étouffée, rice pilaf and braised celery. The chocolate showpiece
is a work of art.
At the awards ceremony, ACF Culinary National Team
USA earns a gold medal in cold food. They celebrate with
hugs and whoops, but their excitement is cautious. At the nal
awards ceremony, the team will learn their score, which will
determine who wins the overall gold medal.
ACF Culinary Youth Team USA
A calm, busy hum pervades the BMW test kitchen in Eisenach
as the youth team works on their mise en place. Jesus Olmedo, team
captain, remarks on the upcoming hot-food kitchen competition
in which the team is to prepare a three-course menu of 60 dishes,
“I’m feeling great and condent about tomorrow, and we’re
well-prepared for the competition. I have a lot of faith in all my
teammates and think we’re going to represent the U.S. well.”
Youth Team Manager Stafford DeCambra, CEC, CCE,
CCA, AAC, calls out, “One team,” to which the team shouts
back, “One dream.” DeCambra says, “I tell the team to never
lose focus of what we’re trying to do and achieve.”
The team departs for Erfurt at 4:30 a.m. to prepare what
DeCambra describes as American regional cuisine. “We created
a fall menu that is seasonal,” he says. The menu reects what
one would nd in an American landscape—crispy cauliower-
smoked trout terrine in the appetizer course and quinoa-crusted
venison loin “poivrade” as the main course protein.
Spectators line all three sides of the corner kitchen as Megan
Bamford pops the pumpkin Bavarian dessert from its mold. Cri-
tiqued by the judges as a portion that is too large but an excellent
concept overall, the dessert plates from the Restaurant of Nations
come back clean. Meanwhile, spectators stop waiters to inquire
from which kitchen the dessert came. Overall, the judges yielded
the youth team a silver medal in the hot-food kitchen.
Edible Buffet—a new competition
ACF Culinary Youth Team USA entered the hot-food
kitchen to prepare a menu that has never been attempted in the
116-year history of the “culinary Olympics.” For the rst time,
youth teams did not create a cold-food presentation. Instead,
they created an edible buffet that takes place in two parts: First,
the teams prepare and cook a menu in the hot kitchen, then,
they move up one oor to a satellite kitchen.
The youth team’s menu is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Fallingwater design concept. Shawn Culp, CEC, MBA, youth
team coach, says team members spend ve hours getting it ready.
“They will work in the main kitchen for three to four hours, then
travel upstairs to the second oor to do some nishing work.”
Upstairs, the team lays out the edible buffet. An orb of Wis-
consin mozzarella mousse encased in tomato-red pepper glaze,
balsamic caviar and an herb cracker are placed atop a silver display,
little crispy squab sausages dot a platter, and a carrot/coriander
mousse with kohlrabi/carrot salad atop a spiced cracker plays
to the menu’s Fallingwater theme.
The judges circle the display and consider the presentation, con-
cept and taste of the menu, ultimately awarding a silver medal, an
impressive achievement for the team in this new style of competition.
a competition like no other
1)
2)
3)4)
PHOTO CREDITS Dave Merli
acfchefs.org 57
USACAT—seasoned cold-food competitors
We may not think of barracks food as haute cuisine, but Chief
Warrant Ofcer 3 Jesse Ward, CEC, and the U.S. Army Culinary
Arts Team aim to change that mentality. Cold-food competition
is especially well-suited for a military team accustomed to the
discipline and mental focus the technique requires, and that focus
earned USACAT four gold medals and a bronze in the cold-food
competition, placing the team 18th overall.
USACAT’s gold-medal winning menu featured items that
are “of the land” and simple food done exceptionally well. This
included duck prepared three ways served with potato salad
and a variety of nuts, berries and root vegetables. Crispy frog’s
legs with tomato/basil mousseline ratatouille and basil foam
was also on the menu.
USACAT—Community Catering Competition
Styled in the fashion of a catered buffet, Master Chief Derrick
Davenport, CEC, MBA, team captain, lays out strips of turkey that
he pats with country sausage and wraps in casing. The smoked
paprika meringue for the braised sweet potato won’t set and the
refrigerators can’t cool the dessert quickly enough, but the team’s
determination prevails. The U.S. spectators cheer as USACAT
begins service.
Hundreds of ticketholders of all nationalities line up to taste
the seasonal menu that uses inexpensive ingredients served in an
army kitchen. From the Southern-style greens and smoked-pork
soup with corn cake croutons and mustard crème to the mushroom,
leek and celery root “pot pie,” USACAT serves portions of hot,
hearty food that earn the team a bronze medal.
“They sold everything at the quality that they wanted to put
it out at,” says Ward, noting that team members outpaced their
practice times. “The feedback on the food from both menus has
been very positive.”
The community catering competition earned USACAT a
bronze medal and placed the team 12th overall.
Final scores
More than 2,000 chefs from 59 nations came together to
compete for the glory of the gold medal in the art of ne cookery.
ACF Culinary National Team USA’s focus earned the team three
gold medals to rank fourth in the world. And the achievements
of the national, military and youth teams show that American
cuisine is among the nest in the world.
“Our cold-food table is different, because we used real food,”
says Leonardi of the team’s cold-food gold-medal winning menu.
“We created food that is bountiful in America and represents
who we are as a country.”
ACF Augusta Chapter
executive chef,
Augusta Country Club, Augusta, Georgia
ACF Beehive Chefs Chapter
chef instructor/
associate professor, Utah Valley
University, Orem, Utah
line chef, Canyon Park Café,
Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah
ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association/
Johnson County Community College
culinary instructor,
Johnson County Community College,
Shawnee Mission, Kansas
executive chef,
Lake Quivira Country Club, Kansas
City, Missouri
apprentice, Blue
Hills Country Club, Kansas City, Missouri
pastry chef, Ibis
Bakery, Lenexa, Kansas
executive
chef/director, food and beverage, Blue
Hills Country Club
ACF Idaho Chefs de Cuisine
Eagle, Idaho
ACF Michigan Chefs de Cuisine Association
certification director, American Culinary
Federation, St. Augustine, Florida
executive chef,
Lake Quivira Country Club, Kansas
City, Missouri
educator, Macomb Culinary Institute,
Clinton Township, Michigan
director of culinary
arts, Dorsey Culinary Academy,
Roseville, Michigan
associate director of culinary arts,
Dorsey Culinary Academy,
Roseville, Michigan
Oak Park, Michigan
sous chef, University
of Michigan, St. Clair Shores, Michigan
ACF Professional Chefs Association
of Houston
managing chef,
Rice University, Houston
ACF Red River Valley Chefs Association
food service specialist,
Arctic Co-operatives Limited, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada
ACF Treasure Coast Chapter
student, Indian River State
College, Vero Beach, Florida
student, Indian River
State College, Vero Beach, Florida
student, Indian River
State College, Vero Beach, Florida
Bahamas Culinary Association
sous chef,
Radisson Cable Beach Resort,
Nassau, Bahamas
ICA-ACF Big Apple Chapter
executive chef, Stone
Ridge, New York
assistant
professor, New York City College of
Technology, Brooklyn, New York
Texas Chefs Association
executive pastry chef,
Brook Hollow Golf Club, Dallas
Core Group, Dallas
executive
chef, Ben E. Keith Foods, Fort
Worth, Texas
Coco Pazzo
Restaurant, Dallas
congratulations
In addition to the teams competing under the ACF banner, the following U.S. teams and individuals competed at the IKA.
sponsors
58
from the ACF foodservice community
news bites
1. Chef teaches the homeless
Barbara Curtin, pictured, outreach kitchen manager at Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral, Portland, Oregon, and a member of ACF Pro Chefs Oregon,
teaches a cooking class at Share House, Vancouver, Washington, where
she volunteers. The kitchen at Share House serves about 89,500 meals
yearly to homeless people, and Curtin envisions someday teaching
people who have been recently housed to cook wholesome, nutritional
meals on a low budget.
2. Mac ’n’ cheese fundraiser benefits
children, families
ACF Central Florida Chapter sponsored chefs and teams to compete
in the third annual O-Town MacDown to be named Orlando’s mac ’n’
cheese champion, Aug. 20, at Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee,
Florida. The chapter also recruited a panel of judges, pictured, left
to right: chapter members Roy Briggs, Joe Alfano, CEC, AAC, Bryan
Frick, CEC, AAC (event chair), Nora Galdiano, CEC, AAC, Bob Costello
and Roger Newell, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC; Elaine Duran, pastry chef/
co-owner, Enticing Cake Boutique, Orlando; and chapter member Peter
Vossenberg, CEC, CCE, CCA. The O-Town MacDown is a fundraiser for
Give Kids the World Village, Kissimmee, a nonprofit resort for children
with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
3. Chefs, students take part in fundraiser
Children’s Hunger Alliance and ACF Greater Cincinnati Chapter teamed
up for Taste to Remember Aug. 11 at 20th Century Theatre, Cincinnati,
to draw attention to the issue of children who cannot count on their next
meal. In Hamilton County, Cincinnati’s county seat, more than 40,000
children live in such food-insecure households. More than 150 attendees
at the benet, which featured 19 chef stations, helped raise $28,000
for the two organizations. Pictured, left to right: Betsy LaSorella, CEPC,
pastry chef instructor, Midwest Culinary Institute, Cincinnati; and
students Elizabeth Quattrone and Deborah Spies, Midwest Culinary
Institute. All are members of ACF Greater Cincinnati Chapter.
4. Chapter recognizes members
ACF Tampa Bay Culinary Association, Inc. held its 2016 awards banquet
Sept. 12 at TradeWinds Island Grand Resort, St. Pete Beach, Florida,
and presented the following awards to chapter members, pictured, left
to right: Member of the Year—Rene Marquis, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC, U.S.
Army, retired, Riverview, Florida; Chef of the Year—Vanessa Marquis,
CEC, executive chef, Core Catering-HCPS, Riverview; George Pastor
Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award—Vince Blancato, kitchen manager,
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Holiday, Florida; and Educator of the Year—
Clyde Tanner, CEC, academic director, culinary, The Art Institute of
Tampa, Tampa, Florida. Partner of the Year was US Foods.
5. Restaurant receives Achievement of
Excellence Award
Yangming Restaurant, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, received an ACF
Achievement of Excellence Award Sept. 29. Yangming is an elegant,
longtime eatery offering Mandarin-Continental dishes such as Peking
duck carved tableside. Pictured, left to right, chefs MuYang Shen
and Vince Viola were surprised with an impromptu visit from Thomas
Macrina, CEC, CCA, AAC, ACF national president, who presented the
Achievement of Excellence Award.
6. New Orleans Chapter supports scholarships
ACF New Orleans Chapter has presented a scholarship check for $5,000
to Nunez Community College, Chalmette, Louisiana, to benefit culinary
arts students with funds for tuition and texts. The money was raised
at the 2016 Best Chefs of Louisiana event in April. Pictured, left to
right: Damian Thomas, chapter treasurer; Dr. Mary Bartholomew, CCE,
director, Entrepreneurship Center, Nunez Community College, and
chapter board member; Thomas Warner, college chancellor; and Ruth
Varisco, CEPC, CCE, chef assistant professor at the college, chapter
member and media chairman for the Best Chefs of Louisiana event.
7. Chapter members cook for Fit Foodie Run
John Hancock hosted the CookingLight & Health Fit Foodie Race
Weekend in Tampa, Florida, Sept. 16-18, and ACF Tampa Bay Chapter
members were invited to prepare food for the event. Rene Marquis, CEC,
CCE, CCA, AAC, U.S. Army, retired, Riverview, Florida, prepared the
“15K” Salad, a refreshing superfood salad that was a big hit with event
participants. Vanessa Marquis, CEC, pictured, executive chef, Core
Catering-HCPS, Riverview, prepared Roasted Harvest Vegetables with
Forbidden Rice, a light, healthy, comfort food dish.
Dec. 1 is the deadline for nominations for the following
positions on the ACF board of directors for the 2017-2019
term: president, treasurer, secretary and vice presidents of the
Central, Northeast, Southeast and Western regions. Dec. 1 is
also the deadline for nominations for American Academy of
Chefs chair and vice chair for the 2017-2019 term.
acfchefs.org 59
CompetitiveEdge
site: Johnson County Community
College, Overland Park, Kansas
contact: jmarcellus@jccc.edu;
(913) 469-8500, ext. 3611
category: A1-A6, C2-C5, KC, KP1-2,
KG, SA, SC, ST1, SK1-9, SP1-2
site: Utah Valley University Culinary Arts
Institute, Orem, Utah
contact: tleonard@uvu.edu; (801) 863-
8087; fax (801) 224-2032; www.uvu.edu/ca/
category: A1-A6, B1-4, C1-C5, D1-4,
SA-SD, SG, SK1-9
site: Wake Tech Community College,
Raleigh, North Carolina
contact: cmhouse@waketech.edu;
(919) 866-5272
category: A1-A6, B1-B4, C1-C5, D1-D4,
SA, SB, SC, SD, SW
site: Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu
contact: atsuchiy@hawaii.edu;
(808) 282-1578; www.acfhonolulu.org
category: A1-6, B1-4, C1-5, D1-4,
HD, KC, KP1, SA-SD, ST1-2, SK1-9,
SP1—Hawaii
site: The Culinary Institute of New York
at Monroe Colle, New Rochelle, New York
contact: fcostantino@monroecollege.edu;
(914) 512-4969
category: A1-6, B1-4, C1-5, D1-4, KC,
KP-1, KP-2, SA, SB, SC, SD, SK-1-9,
SK-1, & SK-2
site: The Art Institute of California
Hollywood, North Hollywood, California
contact: ddrumlake@aii.edu;
(818) 362-8515
category: ST2
site: Skidmore College, Saratoga
Springs, New York
contact: mmiller@skidmore.edu;
(518) 580-8326; www.skidmore.edu
category: W—Competitors (4-person teams)
site: Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Supply
Show of the Southeast, Myrtle Beach
Convention Center, Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina
contact: info@leisuretimeunlimited.com;
(843) 448-9483; www.hmrsss.com
category: A1-6, B1-4, C1-4, D1, D3-4,
F1, FP1, W, SD, SK1, SK9
5
2
Marcel Bonetti, CEC, AAC
ACF Springeld/Branson Chefs Association
Jean Francois Faloppa, CEPC
ACF Michigan Chefs de Cuisine Association
Socrates Inonog, CCE, AAC
ACF Rhode Island Chapter
Michael Urquhart, CC
ACF Tulsa Chapter
1
3
4
6
7
60
to you, outstanding culinarians
salut!
Thomas Macrina, CEC, CCA,
AAC, ACF national president and executive
chef/product specialist manager and Food Fanatic
chef for US Foods, Bridgeport, New Jersey,
received the Worldchefs President’s Medal during
the Worldchefs Congress & Expo in Thessaloniki,
Greece, Sept. 24-27. Macrina was recognized by
Worldchefs for his leadership and dedication to
promote the advancement of the culinary arts and
profession in the U.S. The Worldchefs President’s
Medal is awarded at the sole discretion of the
president, and only 10 recipients are selected
each year. Macrina is a member of ACF
Philadelphia Delaware Valley Chefs Association.
Michael McGreal, CEC, CCE,
M.Ed., culinary arts department chair,
Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Illinois, and
Jason Morse, CEC, executive chef/
owner, 5280 Culinary, LLC, Highlands Ranch,
Colorado, were invited by the USDA’s Institute
of Child Nutrition to serve on a Chefs Move
to Schools task force as part of first lady
Michelle Obama’s Let’sMove! initiative. The
task force will lay the foundation to continue
the initiative beyond the Let’sMove! campaign.
McGreal is a member of ACF Louis Joliet
Chapter and Morse is a member of ACF
Colorado Chefs Association.
Bethany McKenzie, a student at Baker
College of Port Huron’s Culinary Institute of
Michigan, is ACF Michigan Chefs de Cuisine
Association’s (MCCA) 2016 Student Chef
of the Year. She competed against students
from other collegiate culinary programs in
Southeastern Michigan Aug. 22, and was
named Student Chef of the Year at MCCA’s
Annual Awards Gala held at Oakland Hills
Country Club, Bloomeld Hills, Michigan, Oct. 3.
Jonathan Moosmiller, CMC,
executive chef, Southern Hills Country Club,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, has joined Master Chefs’
Institute, LLC, Temecula, California, as
an associate. Master Chefs’ Institute is an
international organization dedicated to preserving
the highest standards of culinary excellence.
Moosmiller is a member of ACF Tulsa Chapter.
Charles Redmon, CEC, is the new
executive chef at Hendricks Regional Health,
Danville, Indiana. He is also chef/owner of Farm
2 Fork Catering, Muncie, Indiana. Redmon
was previously executive chef at Minnetrista,
Muncie. He is a member of ACF East Central
Indiana Chapter, and serves as the chapter’s
membership and certification chair.
Walter Staib’s “A Taste of History” received
four Emmy Awards from The National Academy
of Television Arts & Sciences at an award
ceremony held Sept. 24 at the Philadelphia
Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia. “A Taste
of History” now has 10 Emmy Awards
in its seven seasons. Walter Staib,
HHOF, is president/owner-proprietor of City
Tavern Restaurant Concepts By Staib, Ltd.,
Philadelphia, and a member of ACF Philadelphia
Delaware Valley Chefs Association.
Dawn Viola, CEC, owner, This Honest
Food, Clermont, Florida, and corporate chef for
Tupperware Brands US and Canada, won the
$10,000 prize on Food Network’s “Cooks vs.
Cons” Sept. 18. On the show, two chefs and
two chef imposters compete in timed rounds
of intense cooking with unfamiliar ingredients.
Viola, a member of ACF Central Florida Chapter,
won for her unique take on scotch eggs.
acfchefs.org 61
2017 ACF Regional Culinary Salon Competitions
These competitions decide who will represent each region for Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year and
Student Chef of the Year. Winners are announced immediately following each competition.
SOUTHEAST REGIONAL SALON
Johnson & Wales University
Charlotte, North Carolina
January 13 – 14, 2017
CENTRAL & WESTERN REGIONAL SALONS
Joliet Junior College
Joliet, Illinois
February 3 – 5, 2017
NORTHEAST REGIONAL SALON
The Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College
New Rochelle, New York
February 24 – 25, 2017
62
General Session Keynote
Sweet Home Chicago!
Pastry chef Casey Shiller, CEPC, CCE, AAC,
traces his professional journey from and back
to St. Louis, with stops in Providence, Rhode
Island, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Westchester,
New York, Amelia Island, Florida, and Chicago.
Discover how mentors helped shape his food
inspirations, now being taught to the next
generation of pastry professionals. This two-time
winner of Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” and
2012 ACF Chef Educator of the Year embodies
how passion and creativity play a critical role in
creating sweet rewards in life and on the menu.
General Session
Embracing Diversity, the
Key to Success
Costa Magoulas, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC, dean,
Mori Hosseini College of Hospitality and
Culinary Management, Daytona State College,
Daytona Beach, Florida, opens ChefConnect:
Chicago with a presentation about the nation’s
changing workforce as more women, racial
and ethnic minorities, and LGBT individuals
contribute to the success of businesses. The
hospitality industry is one of the most diverse
in the country, and the key to future success
in the industry is to learn the dynamics of the
workforce and embrace diversity.
Hands-on Workshop:
Modern Confections with
a Savory Twist
Engage in creating confections using uncommon
ingredients such as vegetables, peppercorns and
African spices translated through the mediums of
chocolate, caramel and nougat. Explore the value-
added benefit of juxtaposing savory components
with sweet to enhance both flavor and interest.
Presented by: Erika Webb, CEPC, pastry chef
instructor, Kendall College, Chicago
Classical vs. Modern
Korean Cuisine
With Korean flavors becoming an emerging
mainstay in contemporary American cuisine,
this presentation showcases a classical Korean
dish interpreted by modern techniques.
Presented by: Wook Kang, CEC, associate professor/
culinary instructor, Kendall College, Chicago
The Next Echelon of
Bar & Beverage
Ascend to the next level by combining molecular
gastronomy with chef-driven bar and beverage.
Develop new ideas, concepts and income streams
while watching, learning about and tasting a
variety of 21st-century beverage concepts that
incorporate mise en place such as liquid nitrogen,
flavored caviar, foams, infused liquors, dehydrated
fruits, homemade pickles and trapped smoke.
Presented by: Nathan Dirnberger, CPC, CEC, president/
CEO, Pineapple Republic, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Smoking Meats 101
Walk through the process of smoking meats
by learning to start early, use the low-and-slow
approach, regulate heat and not overdo it. Also
learn how to keep the airflow going through
the cooking process and, if possible, let the
bark get dark.
Presented by: Lamar Moore, executive chef, Smoke
Daddy, Chicago
Creating an Urban Farm
Track the path of creating an urban farm in
Downtown Los Angeles from conception to
funding to building runway, seedlings and a
delivery network for super-premium produce grown
right in your organization. Connecting chefs,
products and guests in a symbiotic relationship.
Presented by: Eric Ernest, CEC, CCA, executive chef,
USC Hospitality, Los Angeles
Four Steps to a Fulfilling
Culinary Career
Many chefs and culinary professionals are only
surviving in their careers, hoping that the next
new job, position or salary increase will finally
lead to more job satisfaction. Discover a vision
of what it could look like to be completely
fulfilled in your job regardless of your title or
how much you make and the four steps you’ll
need to take to get there.
Sponsored by: Adam Lamb, owner/business management
consultant, Foodwerks, LLC, Pompano Beach, Florida
ChefConnect: Chicago
chefconnect: chicago
Feb. 5-7 | Hilton Chicago
acfchefs.org 63
General Session Keynote
Exploring Lamb Dibi
Kevin Sbraga, chef/owner of Sbraga Dining,
Philadelphia, explores and showcases a modern
version of lamb dibi from Senegal, a classic
street food item that he has refined to serve
at his upscale American restaurant Sbraga,
Philadelphia. Food culture was prominent in
Sbraga’s life growing up in the family bakery
with his African-American father and Italian-
American mother. From making meatballs with
his mother and snacking on collard greens
and candied yams with his father to gathering
around the supper table to enjoy a multitude of
dishes, his upbringing continues to influence
his cooking philosophy today. Sbraga is also
chef/owner of The Fat Ham, Philadelphia, and
The Fat Ham, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Hands-On-Workshop: Field
Peas to Foie Gras
Discover the Americas and explore the culinary
landscape where traditional Southern cuisine
meets classical French. Learn classical knife
skills and cooking methods, and note the
similarities of Southern and French cuisines.
Join in a discussion about the colonization of
the Americas from a culinary point of view, and
review cooking terms, recipes and methods.
Groups of participants will prepare menu items
and then share a communal meal.
Presented by: Jennifer Booker, owner/executive chef,
Your Resident Gourmet, Atlanta
Modern Mirror Glazing
Techniques & Geode Wedding
Cake Presentation
Learn to properly decorate a wedding cake
with a mirror glaze and geode sculpture using
rock sugar. Gather technical information about
ingredients and correct temperatures for using
product. Watch a demonstration of different
glazing effects applied to a wedding cake,
carving a cake and applying rock sugar to form
a geode effect, as well as applying gold leaf in
powder and leaf form.
Presented by: Lisa Mansour, owner, NY Cake, NY Cake
Academy, NY Cake Show, New York
Lead Like a Chef
Explore the power of becoming a leader, what
that means and how the best chefs are the best
leaders. Learn a step-by-step process of what
it takes to lead your kitchen. Review examples
of good and bad leaders and how everyone can
learn from them.
Presented by: Christopher Hill, chef/author/speaker,
Bachelor Kitchen, Atlanta
Modern Pâte à Choux
Applications
Pâte à choux is a classic dessert that has seen
a recent revival within the pastry community.
This presentation will encompass classic and
contemporary applications of choux in a variety
of shapes and styles. Focus will be on modern
garnishing/finishing techniques and classic
flavor combinations.
Presented by: Susan Lagalle, CEPC, associate instructor,
Johnson & Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island
Telling Stories about Food: An
Alternative to the Kitchen
Join a discussion about the myriad ways to tell
stories about food. The professional kitchen
isn’t the only place to work in the culinary
industry. What better way to discover and
witness the spectrum of what gastronomy
offers than to tell stories about food? The
culinary industry needs storytellers who are
knowledgeable about foodservice and trends.
Learn how to use your culinary knowledge and
skills outside the kitchen.
Presented by: Karlana June, lead graduate research
and teaching assistant, University of South Florida, St.
Petersburg, Florida
Cuisine Bordelaise
Learn about the native ingredients and traditional
preparation of the cuisine of Bordeaux.
Presented by: Eric Pellizzari, CEC, CCE, culinary/pastry
faculty, the Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe
College, New Rochelle, New York
ChefConnect: NYC
chefconnect: nyc
Feb. 26-28 | New York Hilton Midtown
64
Select the conference(S) you plan to attend:
Conference and date: ChefConnect: Chicago (February 5-7) ChefConnect: NYC (February 26-28)
Early registration deadline: December 25, 2016 January 15, 2017
Name: Member ID:
Current mailing address: home or work
City: State: Zip:
Home Phone: Cell Phone: Preferred Email:
Employer:
Position/Title: Work Phone:
*If provided you may receive email notices of products and special offers from ACF sponsors and exhibitors.
full regiStration package includes access to 1-hour seminars and demos, General Session, Welcome Reception, 2 breakfasts, Awards
Lunch, Chef Professionalism Award Lunch and Awards Gala. Does not include AAC Dinner, chapter events or hands-on workshops.
Member Status Early Rate* Standard Rate On-site Rate
ACF Member $600 $700 $800
Junior/Senior/Student $400 $400 $450
Non-ACF Member $850 $950 $1,050 =
Spouse/Guest Name: (same rate as member) =
*Early Rate restrictions: must be an ACF member in good standing, register and pay by early registration deadline listed above for each conference.
a la carte regiStration optionS (see conference schedules for dates and times of meal functions)
One-Day Conference Program Badge includes breakfast for that day. Note: Program badges may not be purchased with full registration.
Early Rate* Standard Rate On-site Rate
Members Day 1 Day 2 Qty: x $175 = Qty: x $225 = $275
Nonmembers Day 1 Day 2 Qty: x $350 = $400
Meal Tickets
Welcome Reception Qty: x $80 =
Awards Lunch Qty: x $75 =
Chef Professionalism Award Lunch Qty: x $75 =
Awards Gala (includes one drink ticket) Qty: x $130 =
American Academy of Chefs® Dinner Qty: x $130 =
Refund Policy: Request for refund must be made in writing and postmarked no later than 30 days prior to start of event. A $50 processing fee will be
deducted from refund amount.
payment made By:
I have enclosed a check made payable to the American Culinary Federation (ACF).
Please bill my: Visa MasterCard Amex Discover
Card Number: Name on Card: Exp Date:
Signature: Date:
family meal package
Family Meal Package (includes 2 breakfasts, welcome reception and Awards Gala) Qty: x $325 =
complete a Separate form for each
attendee (applies to full and program badge purchases)
2017 CHEFCONNECT REGISTRATION
regiSter online at www.acfchefs.org for additional workshops and a la carte meals.
mail or fax to:
American Culinary Federation
180 Center Place Way
St. Augustine, FL 32095
(F) 904–940-0741 | (P) 800–624–9458
total due for regiStration $
regiSter online at www.acfchefs.org
ChefConnect: Chicago
Feb. 5-7, 2017
Early rEgistration dEadlinE dEc. 25
ChefConnect: NYC
Feb. 26-28, 2017
Early rEgistration dEadlinE Jan. 15
FULL REGISTRATION PACKAGE includes access to 1-hour seminars and demos, general session, welcome reception, 2 breakfasts,
awards lunch, Chef Professionalism Award lunch and the awards gala. Does not include AAC dinner or chapter events.
Early Rate* Standard Rate Onsite Rate
ACF Member $600 $700 $800
Junior/Senior/Student $400 $400 $450
Non-ACF Member $850 $950 $1,050
*Early Rate restrictions: must be an ACF member in good standing, register and pay by early registration deadline listed above for each conference.
ChefConnect: Chicago
Hilton CHiCago • $119 + tax per nigHt
rEsErvation dEadlinE: Jan. 6
Book online at resweb.passkey.com/go/ChefConnect
or call toll-free (888) 236-2427. Ask for the ACF rate.
From blues and jazz to film and comedy, and from sports to parks,
Chicago is a lively, exciting city. It has some of the world’s best food, and
the local food scene presents an array of ethnic influences, including
Greek, Polish, Italian, Chinese and Indian. Come to explore new ideas
and flavors, gain experience and keep up with the industry’s top trends.
ChefConnect: NYC
new York Hilton Midtown • $165 + tax per nigHt
rEsErvation dEadlinE: Jan. 31
Book online at aws.passkey.com/event/14803516/owner/6708/home
or call toll-free (800) 774-1500. Ask for the ACF rate.
Known as the center of the universe for all things food, fashion and
business, New York has an abundant, diverse food scene, home to culinary
trailblazers and some of the most renowned chefs in the world. The New
York Hilton Midtown is within walking distance of famous attractions that
include Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, MOMA and Broadway.
ChefConnect: Chicago and ChefConnect: NYCChefConnect: Chicago and ChefConnect: NYC
SponSorS
Denotes National Partners. Call the ACF national office, (800) 624-9458, for more details.
acfchefs.org 65
Select the conference(S) you plan to attend:
Conference and date: ChefConnect: Chicago (February 5-7) ChefConnect: NYC (February 26-28)
Early registration deadline: December 25, 2016 January 15, 2017
Name: Member ID:
Current mailing address: home or work
City: State: Zip:
Home Phone: Cell Phone: Preferred Email:
Employer:
Position/Title: Work Phone:
*If provided you may receive email notices of products and special offers from ACF sponsors and exhibitors.
full regiStration package includes access to 1-hour seminars and demos, General Session, Welcome Reception, 2 breakfasts, Awards
Lunch, Chef Professionalism Award Lunch and Awards Gala. Does not include AAC Dinner, chapter events or hands-on workshops.
Member Status Early Rate* Standard Rate On-site Rate
ACF Member $600 $700 $800
Junior/Senior/Student $400 $400 $450
Non-ACF Member $850 $950 $1,050 =
Spouse/Guest Name: (same rate as member) =
*Early Rate restrictions: must be an ACF member in good standing, register and pay by early registration deadline listed above for each conference.
a la carte regiStration optionS (see conference schedules for dates and times of meal functions)
One-Day Conference Program Badge includes breakfast for that day. Note: Program badges may not be purchased with full registration.
Early Rate* Standard Rate On-site Rate
Members Day 1 Day 2 Qty: x $175 = Qty: x $225 = $275
Nonmembers Day 1 Day 2 Qty: x $350 = $400
Meal Tickets
Welcome Reception Qty: x $80 =
Awards Lunch Qty: x $75 =
Chef Professionalism Award Lunch Qty: x $75 =
Awards Gala (includes one drink ticket) Qty: x $130 =
American Academy of Chefs® Dinner Qty: x $130 =
Refund Policy: Request for refund must be made in writing and postmarked no later than 30 days prior to start of event. A $50 processing fee will be
deducted from refund amount.
payment made By:
I have enclosed a check made payable to the American Culinary Federation (ACF).
Please bill my: Visa MasterCard Amex Discover
Card Number: Name on Card: Exp Date:
Signature: Date:
family meal package
Family Meal Package (includes 2 breakfasts, welcome reception and Awards Gala) Qty: x $325 =
complete a Separate form for each
attendee (applies to full and program badge purchases)
2017 CHEFCONNECT REGISTRATION
regiSter online at www.acfchefs.org for additional workshops and a la carte meals.
mail or fax to:
American Culinary Federation
180 Center Place Way
St. Augustine, FL 32095
(F) 904–940-0741 | (P) 800–624–9458
total due for regiStration $
regiSter online at www.acfchefs.org
66
ConAgra Foodservice has announced that all
Angela Mia® tomato products and sauces are
now Non-GMO Project Verified and feature
the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal. California
vine-ripened and sun-nurtured tomatoes are
hand-sorted, exposed to thorough quality
checks and steam-peeled. Packed at the peak
of the growing season for tomato products with
superior flavor, color, texture and consistent
recipe performance. For more information,
visit www.AngelaMia.com.
FETCO by ELEMCO’s new Frozen Granita
Machine offers state-of-the-art, self-serve
frozen beverage equipment to help operators
meet growing demand. Create a multi-
flavored slushie and on-trend iced coffee
and smoothies. The frozen granite machine
is crafted with horizontal and vertical augers
to ensure a reliably fresh taste. Available in
single, dual and triple 3.2 gallon dispensers.
For more information, visit FETCO.com.
Kraft Heinz now offers KRAFT® Ranch
Dressing and BULL’S-EYE® Barbecue Sauce
in a condiment dispenser format for topping
sandwiches and salads or for dipping. Kraft
Ranch Dressing complements a variety of
cuisines, and Bull’s-Eye Barbecue Sauce
has an intense barbecue flavor and a thick
molasses base. The condiment dispenser can
be used in cafeterias, limited-service venues,
and recreation or retail foodservice. For more
information and rebate details, visit
www.kraftheinzcondiments.com/dispensers.
tomato products
frozen granita machine
condiment dispenser
Mann Packing introduces the company’s new
Fresh Leaf Farms brand and logo for its leaf
lettuce line: Better Romaine™, Better Green
Leaf™, Better Red Leaf™ and the proprietary
Better Burger Leaf®. Lettuces are hand-cut in
the field, convenient and multi-use, washed
and ready to use, preservative-free and verified
non-GMO. The modified atmospheric tray
allows for a fresher product throughout its 16-
18-day shelf life. For more information, visit
veggiesmadeeasy.com.
leaf lettuce
Lotito Foods announces Folios™, the newest
addition to its imported Italian and domestic
cheese line. Folios are lightly baked sheets
of cheese made from all-natural, part-skim
Parmesan, Cheddar or Jarlsberg®, carb- and
gluten-free and high in protein. Crisp in
microwave or oven and crumble to use on salads
and soups, or eat alone as a crunchy cheese
snack. Mold into an edible bowl for salads or
pasta or melt over omelets or soups. Available in
10-packs, cases of 12. For more information, visit
www.lotitofoods.com and www.cheesefolios.com.
cheese
Create nachos that stand out with Mission® Pre-
Cut Unfried Chips, available in white, yellow,
blue and tricolor varieties. Made with 100%
whole-grain corn, these gluten-free, kosher-
certified precut triangle chips reduce prep time
and offer a canvas for signature appetizers.
Menu nacho recipes such as: Chorizo Verde
Nachos, Hatch Green Chile Chicken Nachos
and White Cheddar and Shishito Nachos. For
more information, visit missionfoodservice.com
or call (800) 443-7994.
nachos
acfchefs.org 67
................................
(800) 323-1908 • www.anfponline.org
..................................................
(800) 542-3032 • bonewerksculinarte.com
............................
(610) 268-0500 • www.edgecraft.com
electrolux professional inc. .........
(866) 449-4200 • www.electroluxusa.com/professional
............................
info@unileverfoodsolutions.us • ufs.com
...........................................................
(800) 437-4654 • vitamix.com/commercial
index of advertisers
iPad | iPhone | iPod Touch | Amazon Kindle Fire | Android smartphones
www.acfchefs.org/sizzle
Don’t wait
until you are
at a computer
to read Sizzle.
Get the free app!
Access real-time updates, recipes, culinary articles, inter-
views with leading chefs and more … all at your ngertips.
Download our free app today in your mobile market store.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ADVERTISING IN
MARKETPLACE, PLEASE CALL
OR EMAIL .
68
FEBRUARY 5-7, 2017
HILTON CHICAGO
Early rEgistration dEadlinE dEc. 25, 2016
February 26-28, 2017
NEW YORK HILTON MIDTOWN
Early rEgistration dEadlinE Jan. 15, 2017
Visit acfchEfs.org for morE information or to rEgistEr to attEnd.
ChefConnect:
Indy
ACF SIGNATURE SERIES
ChefConnect:
Baltimore
ACF SIGNATURE SERIES
ChefConnect:
Indy
ACF SIGNATURE SERIES
ChefConnect:
Baltimore
ACF SIGNATURE SERIES
