He Said, She Said: Extreme Local and Seasonal Dining

by Julia Heyer & Vin McCann, April 23, 2012 | permalink |

ICE’s Culinary Management Instructors are seasoned industry professionals who are still active in the industry, working on their own projects while teaching classes at ICE. With such a wide range of experience between them, we decided to ask Julia Heyer and Vin McCann to take a closer look at the business of running a restaurant and sound off on some of the hottest topics in the restaurant world. Today, they tackle if it is feasible for a restaurant to offer hyper-local and seasonal cuisine.

Julia Heyer
We all hear about seasonal, local and hyper-local cooking. (Hyper-local in NYC always makes me wonder why I would want this. Where did the vegetable come from? The small patch of grass between the sidewalk and Second Avenue? Why would that be something guests would covet?)

Be that as it may, hyper-local, seasonal and fresh is certainly a trend and this week Restaurant Management Magazine online wrote about taking it to the next level.

Now, Vin, we have given our share of opinions about proclaimed experts — be they mixologists, food writers or PR mavens. It is another “expert opinion” that renders parts of the article problematic and caused my eyebrows to approach my upper hairline. A proclaimed finance expert with restaurant experience claims that “true freshness” requires clearing out of all produce and vegetables at the end of each night. Every night! Say what? (more…)

Meet the Culinary Entrepreneurs: Marc Glosserman of Hill Country

by Ashley Bain, April 20, 2012 | permalink |

Marc Glosserman, CEO & Founder of Hill Country Hospitality, stopped by ICE this week to speak with students as part of our Meet the Culinary Entrepreneurs series. The series is a chance for ICE’s Culinary Management students to learn about operating a culinary business from the people behind incredibly successful businesses.

Glosserman lived in Texas at a young age and though he later moved just outside of DC, he made many trips back to the south to visit the meat markets. His favorite was Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX and he was always nostalgic for their food and family atmosphere. Hill Country was born out of his lifelong passion for BBQ, family, belt buckles and cowboy boots.

Glosserman shared four important tools for opening a restaurant:

(more…)

Spring Lamb Primer with Master Butcher Rudi Weid

by Stephanie Bourgeois, April 19, 2012 | permalink |

Spring is the time of year for fresh flowers, bright colors and seasonal ingredients like asparagus, peas, and lamb. The fresh and bright flavors of spring bring renewed energy and life into the kitchen. Knowing how to use different cuts of lamb can make a springtime dish truly amazing.

It’s not something that you see often, but ICE career-training students recently saw a demonstration of how to butcher a whole 80-pound organic lamb. Master Butcher Rudi Weid spent yesterday afternoon breaking down a lamb into its primals, sub-primals and ultimately into roasts, portions and by-products. Armed with a sharp knife and a handsaw, Chef Rudi demonstrated the whole process, starting from the head of the animal all the way to the back leg. Each section, cut and muscle was discussed. For example, he showed the students the proper way to make a boneless leg of lamb by tunneling out the femur bone so that the final roast would make nice slices. (more…)

Modern Scandinavian Cuisine

by Susan Streit, April 16, 2012 | permalink |

What do you think of when you think of the food of Sweden? How about Norway? What defines the food of Denmark? ICE Recreational Chef Instructor Vicki J. Caparulo began ICE’s Modern Scandinavian Cuisine class by discussing how to define the flavor profile of a cuisine, “When I talk about tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, the cuisine you associate these flavors with is Italy. And scallions, ginger and soy sauce associate with China.” To us Americans, Scandinavia, which refers to the cultural-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, is best known for its flavorful gravlax and iconic meatballs. But Scandinavia’s flavor profile goes far beyond salmon and dill. Caraway, vinegar, licorice, root vegetables, foraged berries, fatty fish and gamey meats round out this intriguing cuisine. We broke into groups and began to prepare ten authentic recipes using these flavors in uniquely Scandinavian ways.

Our meal began with Chef Vicki pouring the class a drink of aquavit, a clear, caraway-flavored liquor which is Latin for “water of life.” In Scandinavia, drinking aquavit during a meal is a formal procedure known as snaps. For this traditional ritual, the host pours shots of the liquor and leads songs before the drink is taken. Luckily, we had some Swedes in class to help sing. Swedish-born siblings Magda and Gustav, along with their mother, led us in a snapsvisa, a traditional Scandinavian drinking song. Between snaps we snacked on a delicious smoked salmon tartare. (more…)

Unique Culinary Careers: Ed Debiec

by Stephanie Bourgeois, April 12, 2012 | 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 culinary career paths. DICED shares some of them with you in a reoccurring feature: “Unique Culinary Careers.”

We’ve already met some professionals who have dedicated their passion for the culinary arts to helping others learn to cook or find careers in the restaurant world. But there are also careers that put a passion for food to work helping to feed the hungry. Ed Debiec, a 2006 ICE Culinary Arts alum, is the Demonstration Chef at the Desert Mission Food Bank, a part of the John C. Lincoln Health Network in Phoenix, Arizona. There, he helps educate the food bank’s clients about nutrition and cooking to promote healthy eating. Debiec graduated from the ICE program when he was 62 years old and has gone on to find a career than makes him in his own words “a truly happy man.” After he stopped by to catch up with his old Chef Instructors a few weeks ago, we asked him about his line of work and what it means to him.

How would you describe your job?
The Demonstration Chef’s job is varied, challenging and interesting. Mainly, the job is to deliver nutrition education to clients and students — presenting recipes, providing samples for clients to taste, delivering outreach programs to schools and community centers, cooking demonstrations, serving as a resource, quality control, healthy eating and sanitation all make up the chef’s job. (more…)

Gumpaste Venetian Mask with Master Decorator Toba Garrett

by Stephanie Bourgeois, April 11, 2012 | permalink |

Award-winning ICE Chef Instructor and Master Cake Decorator Toba Garrett makes decorating look incredibly easy. She has been practicing the art of cake decorating for over 30 years and teaching classes for almost 20 of those years. She literally wrote the book on cake decorating with her book Professional Cake Decorating. Her book, Wedding Cake Art and Design, won the 2011 International Association of Culinary Professionals Award in the Professional Kitchen category. Her classes on decorating are incredibly popular with professionals and students, as well as serious-minded bakers.

Yesterday, she shared some of her decorating techniques and secrets in a demo for ICE students and alumni where she covered how to make a stunning Venetian mask entirely out of gumpaste. Venetian Masks are traditionally worn during the Carnival of Venice. They come in various colors with lots of gold details, relief work and lots of feathers. Chef Toba demonstrated how to mold a mask and how to airbrush and decorate it to perfection. She walked the audience through how to make two different masks with different techniques such as airbrushing, piping, painting with edible gold paint, and crafting details such as ribbons and feathers. (more…)

Recipe: Healthy Breakfast Granola

by Stephanie Bourgeois, April 10, 2012 | permalink |

Dried Apricots

In all of ICE’s programs, students learn the importance of techniques rather than strict recipes. This gives them the freedom to experiment and tinker with ingredients to create brand new recipes. This granola recipe from the ICE career-training Culinary Arts program is a perfect example. The recipe contains no specific times for cooking. Rather it gives visual and taste cues to tell when the granola is ready. It also includes several notes for ideas on how to play with the recipe such as baking a second time or adding seeds. Try it out for a healthy breakfast that you can really make your own.

Ingredients
10 ounces rolled oats
3 ounces wheat germ
1 ounce nuts (any type except peanuts)
1 ounce unsweetened shredded coconut
3 fluid ounces honey
2 fluid ounces oil
2 ounces brown sugar
3 ounces dried fruit such as apricots, cherries or figs
1 ounce raisins (more…)

ICE on Location: Buttermilk Channel

by Susan Streit, April 6, 2012 | permalink |

I’ve had lots of opportunity to take classes in ICE’s kitchens. Our Chef Instructors have taught me a variety of hands-on cooking skills. From gluten-free baking recipes to using vegetables and herbs in cocktails, I’ve learned some amazing things. But ICE has also given me the opportunity to explore some of New York City’s very best dining hot spots. A few weeks ago, I was able to get a peek behind the scenes at popular eatery Buttermilk Channel.

In addition to a three-course lunch we got to see the team in action in the kitchen and hear about the philosophy behind their food. Both owner and manager Doug Crowell and chef Ryan Angulo really emphasized the theme of Buttermilk Channel being an American restaurant, taking traditional dishes and giving them a local and seasonal spin. Our first course was popovers, demoed by Angulo for us. He talked about how they are an American interpretation on British Yorkshire pudding that puff and rise but require no leavening. After that we moved on to a grilled kale and radicchio salad with croutons and anchovy vinaigrette — a bold and distinctive take on a traditional Caesar salad. Angulo served it with a cold soft-boiled egg. The third course was trout stuffed with sautéed leeks and wrapped in thin slices of cured American country ham, which is very similar to prosciutto, served with a mustard sauce and goat cheese grits. All of the ingredients were sourced from American small farms. Keeping in line with their dedication to American ingredients and dishes, we were poured three all-American wines to pair with the courses, including a sparkling rosé from New Mexico. (more…)

Taste Test: Chemicals are our Friends

by Chef James Briscione, April 5, 2012 | permalink |

Well, it finally happened. After nearly a year of being a skeptical observer Chef Chris Gesualdi dragged me kicking and screaming into the big, scary world of Hydrocolloids. After poking and prodding around for a bit I realized something — it turns out it’s not so scary after all.

Hydrocolloids need a better publicist or an image consultant at the very least. They don’t have a flashy name or a description that rolls off the tongue. But those are things better left for someone smarter than me. There is a lot of necessary fear around “chemicals,” especially when it comes to food. So what are hydrocolloids, and why does everyone call them chemicals with a hint of terror in their voice?

The fact is that hydrocolloids simply refer to a category of substances that form a gel in the presence of water. What does that mean? Here are some examples of hydrocolloids and chemicals you might find in your own kitchen: Hydrocolloids commonly found in the kitchen are flour, cornstarch, pectin and gelatin. To assuage any fears you have, “chemicals “commonly found in the kitchen are baking soda and baking powder. (more…)

STREETS International Annual Fundraiser

by Rick Smilow, April 4, 2012 | permalink |
Streets Chef Competition

Tim Love, Kerry Heffernan, Lauren Glassberg, Mark Maynard Parisi, Daniel Holzman, ICE President Rick Smilow and Neal Bermas

I’m a big advocate of supporting relatively small, entrepreneurial, and spirited non-profit groups that, in their own way, make the world a better place. One such charity is Hoi An, Vietnam–based STREETS International, founded in 2007 by Neal Bermas, a former ICE Culinary Management Instructor, and Sondra Stewart.

STREETS held its annual fundraiser at Astor Center on Thursday, March 29th. And I was lucky enough to attend with a group from ICE. The event included a walk-around tasting with modern street food, a chef cooking competition (for which I was a judge) and a short film about STREETS. Restaurants that participated in the street food tasting included Red Rooster, Morimoto, Bua, Rosa Mexicano, August, Blue Smoke and more. (more…)

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