by Stephanie Bourgeois, September 2, 2010 | permalink |
When ICE President Rick Smilow and Anne E. McBride wrote Culinary Careers: How to Get Your Dream Job in Food they discovered a plethora of food jobs they had never heard of before. Since the book’s release, they have been discovering even more interesting career paths in the food world. DICED shares some of them with you in a reoccurring feature, “Unique Culinary Careers.”
Among the chefs and entrepreneurs profiled in the book, there are several culinary careers in education. There are a multitude of career paths for instructors and teachers working in colleges or culinary schools, whether teaching career programs, recreational cooking classes or even working with private clients. In the culinary industry, an important part of education is invaluable experience that comes with working in restaurants. ICE’s Chef Instructors have worked in some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants. Recently, ICE welcomed alum (and Alumni Hall of Achievement inductee) Caryn Stabinsky to our roster of dedicated and experienced Chef Instructors. Chef Caryn first completed the Pastry & Baking Arts program at ICE before working at Oceana and wd-50. She is the Executive Pastry Chef at Monkey Bar, where she was part of the opening team. Before she starts using all that experience to help shape the next generation of pastry chefs, we asked her about her experiences in industry and designing a pastry menu.
How would you describe your job?
At Monkey Bar, I was the opening chef. I started here when they had nothing on the walls. One of the very first things I did was spend 2 weeks testing and developing recipes. The owners had a very clear idea of what they wanted in the dessert menu. The style is simple Americana. It was great because I’m a person who starts with a recipe and plays and messes with it until I get what I want. I did everything from scratch. Now, we make our own bread from our own recipe and an array of plated desserts. We make everything ourselves, including fresh ice cream and sorbet. (more…)
Up through Wine Essentials session five, Director of Wine and Beverage Studies, Richard Vayda, has taken us on a worldwide, whirlwind tour of the wines of France, Italy, and Spain. Session five grounded our palates back in the U.S. of A., with Vayda’s introduction to the wines of our own true terroir.
The class was a true education in getting to know what’s lying right here before us, whether from California, New York, Texas or even Arkansas. Grapes are growing far and wide through our fifty states and they’re here for the drinking.
Tastes ranged from a light, summery, picnic-friendly pinot gris through hearty, substantial, tannin-filled cabernets and syrahs. Throw a Carneros pinot noir into the mix, and you realize that just how versatile American wines can be. (more…)
by Hillery Wheeler, September 1, 2010 | permalink |
There’s a lot more to Spain than running bulls and a World Cup title. Most notably: paella. While the promise of mastering this crowd-friendly dinner was my initial attraction to ICE’s Spanish Surf-n-Turf recreational class, I learned much more than just the wonders of a well-made paella! For example, the evening was the beginning of what is sure to be a life-long love affair with piquillo peppers (it also helped that our recipe called to stuff them with my absolute favorite ingredient on earth, goat cheese). Here’s some more of what I learned in the class: (more…)
by Stephanie Bourgeois, August 31, 2010 | permalink |
The butchering team hard at work selling different cuts of meat.
The food world is buzzing with talk about the opening of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich’s new venture, Eataly. A spinoff of Turin’s famed Eataly, the 50,000 sq. ft. marketplace is stocked with cheeses, salamis, breads, wines, pizzas, produce and much, much more. The giant specialty food store is directly across 23rd St. from ICE. President Rick Smilow ventured out to the grand opening celebrtion and snapped a few snapshots. Take a look.
A view of hanging meats and fresh mozzarella inside Eataly.
A large meat slicer for charcuterie.
Mario Batali being interviewed by a member of the press.
I’ve walked by (and into) many bakeries in my day, especially living in the Village back when the old-school places were still trying to hold on to their space as increasing rents threatened to drive them out so the next Marc Jacobs store could find its home. While others looked forward to window shopping the hottest new trends in fashion, I held on to the vision of pastries that lined the windows of the bakeries along Bleeker Street and throughout the neighborhood. The treats in the window seemed to have been made by magic — their layers, textures and tastes holding the secrets of centuries’ worth of dedicated practice and artistic perfection.
Are you ever surprised, once you’ve eaten something, to learn of how it’s made? Lately, it has been happening to me quite a bit in my Pastry & Baking Arts class. For instance, cannoli and sfogliatelle. Who knew to make cannoli you had to wrap dough around a metal rod and drop it in hot oil until huge blisters developed on the shell? I didn’t. I just loved picking one up and biting into the textural combination of a crunchy shell and creamy filling with chocolate chips. Then there’s sfogliatelle, those layered “lobster tails.” Who knew you had to roll dough out very thin, coat it with lard, roll it up and then eventually slice and form layered cone shapes that are filled and baked? I didn’t. I just loved looking at them and wondering how in the world they made all those onion-like layers in the baked dough. New York City’s famed San Gennaro Festival isn’t until September 16, but now that I know how cannoli and sfogliatelle are made, I luckily don’t have to wait to feast on those two delicious Italian treats! (more…)
Last week ICE alum Gail Simmons was striding down the halls at ICE for one of our ICE Chefs’ Advisory Council meetings. Yesterday, she was striding down the red carpet at the Emmy awards in her role as host of Top Chef. After four years of consecutive nominations without a win, she didn’t expect the show to walk away with an award.
To her surprise Top Chef took home the award in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category at last night’s award ceremony. The James Beard Award–winning show ousted The Amazing Race after their seven-year winning streak. Executive Producer Dan Cutforth accepted the award with the rest of the production team with him on stage. He was sure to thank all of the show’s talented chefs for their hard work on the show. Gail was smiling from ear to ear the whole time.
Congrats to Gail, ICE’s friends at Magical Elves and the Top Chef team!
by Stephanie Bourgeois, August 27, 2010 | permalink |
ICE is very proud of the focus our curriculum places on different cuisines and techniques from around the world. Our students are exposed to the cuisines of France, Italy, India, China, Japan and Thailand among others. As a special supplement to these in-class lessons, ICE also offers students and alumni the chance to travel and sample cuisine of other cultures and places.
Coming up this December, Director of Student Affairs, Chef Andy Gold will take a group on an extraordinary tour of Vietnam. The trip is open to all Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, and Culinary Management students and alumni (significant others are also welcome). The group will travel from south to north, eating and sampling as the cuisine changes with the landscape. With trips and tours of museums, cities, towns and landmarks as well as hands-on culinary excursions, the group will be immersed in history and culture to enrich their understanding of Vietnamese food. Viet Nguyen, owner of VietOrient Tours, designed the tour with Chef Andy and ICE President Rick Smilow to give ICE students and alumni a well-rounded experience. The group will land in Ho Chi Min City on December 24, then travel up to Danang, through Hue (the ancient Imperial City) and into Hanoi before returning home on January 2. (more…)
by Stephanie Bourgeois, August 26, 2010 | permalink |
Last week, our Life as a Pastry Student correspondent Deanna wrote about making doughnuts. She said, “fried dough is delicious, and our doughnuts were no exception.” Those words (and the photos) left us drooling and wanting more. After a quick look at the curriculum, we found this easy chocolate version. Try them at home and serve with a big cup of coffee for dunking.
by Stephanie Bourgeois, August 25, 2010 | permalink |
Some of you may have caught ICE Chef Instructor Mike Schwartz on Inside Edition late last week. He gave some advice on egg safety, emphasizing that the easiest way to ensure your eggs are safe is to make sure they are fresh and stored properly. In case you haven’t heard the news, up to 39,000 people may have been sickened from eggs contaminated with salmonella and half a billion eggs have been recalled. To put this in perspective, the total production of eggs is around a hundred billion.
As we tried to wrap our head around those numbers, we watched Chef Mike reach into a fridge full of eggs and wondered just how many eggs go through the kitchens at ICE in a year? They are used in everything from soufflés, cakes, omelets, sauces or sandwiches, as well being served poached, scrambled, fried, hard-boiled or any other of the plethora of ways to prepare an egg. It boggles the mind to think about all the different uses for eggs. Just imagine how many different ways eggs are used here at ICE in a single day.
To satiate our curiosity, we calculated how many eggs ICE uses in a year. For a little fun, we thought we would ask and see if you could guess how many eggs are used at ICE in a year? The closest correct guess without going over will win a gift certificate for a recreational class at ICE worth $100. To enter, simply include your egg estimate when you retweet this post. For example, “65,000 eggs RT @iceculinary How many eggs does ICE go through every year? Guess right for a gift certificate! http://bit.ly/aOu60t .” Be sure to include “@iceculinary” so we can see your guesses. We’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, September 7. Get cracking!
by Stephanie Bourgeois, August 24, 2010 | permalink |
When ICE President Rick Smilow and Anne E. McBride wrote Culinary Careers: How to Get Your Dream Job in Food they discovered a plethora of food jobs they had never heard of before. Since the book’s release, they have been discovering even more interesting career paths in the food world. DICED shares some of them with you in a reoccurring feature, “Unique Culinary Careers.”
Identical twin sisters Lisa and Debbie Ganz once owned a one-of-a-kind restaurant staffed by identical twins. Now, they are owners of one of the leading casting companies in the country for reality television, Twins Talent. They’ve combined their skill for casting with their love of all things culinary as the senior casting producers of the hit shows Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, starring celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. On September 13, they will be hosting a demonstration at ICE to discuss their roles as casting directors and give guests a peak inside the world of reality TV. They’ll be bringing some of Hell’s Kitchen’s memorable contestants (including Kevin Cottle, Jason Santos, Van Hurd and Robert Hesse) with them to give a insider’s view of the shows.
But before the event, we sat down with Lisa to learn some more about how she and her twin sister created the job they do today and their interesting and unique position in the food industry.
How would you describe your job? We are casting directors for unscripted reality television. We’re an integral part of selecting of contestants for both Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. While we cast all types of programming, our personal passion is the food and culinary area. As part of our business Twins Talent, we also specialize in casting twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc. for film, print and commercials. (more…)
