2014 05 02

Volume 33, No.43

May 2 2014

Alumni Kwame Onwuachi Competes to Win New Restaurant

BY: Diane Lam, AOS Culinary

The Culinary Institute of America births some pretty obvious rising stars, from the worldrenowned to the household names, our track record is pretty impressive. We all came to this school to be “something,” to create a mark in this world. We aim to do so, eagerly and painstakingly awaiting graduation so that we can fulfill whatever personally manifested destiny we seek.

While in school, we receive constant reminders of how our CIA education has benefitted the alumni. Recently Corey Siegel was featured in La Papillote as a prime example for how much we can accomplish within one or two years after graduating.

Alumni Kwame Onwuachi, from the class of October 18, 2013, is another rising star. A New York native, Kwame was very involved with “work life” as a student, using his catering business to pay for tuition while juggling the time commitment of being a full time student. His endeavors were very much altruistic, but that alone did not define his contribution to the culinary world. After his time with his catering business, he was offered a job at the elite Manhattan restaurant, Eleven Madison Park. He traveled every weekend to the city to work long hours as a prep cook in order to gain the experience and become immersed in the city’s amazing culinary scene. Much like living a double life, he spent the last two months at the CIA being a student and working at EMP. Upon graduation, he was bumped up to work the line—and so his new career officially began.

As a line cook at EMP, Kwame still felt the urge to do more with his creativity. “I didn’t feel like I was being creative at EMP, I felt like I was doing one thing day in and day out. The cooking wasn’t really “cooking,” a dish was compiled by many separate stations and pick up comprised of heating up prep, and another cook plates.” His outlet? Pop-up restaurants. As a sole-proprietor, he did what he knew best and created pop-up restaurants that best represented his personal style and cooking techniques. His efforts soon became a topic of interest for many.

Just googling his name will give you enough literature to read for hours.

It gets more interesting. A company called Dinner Lab is holding a competition. They have selected ten Chefs, Culinary Culture

all of which will compete against one Top: A Dinner Lab another for a chance to win a restaurant, Event, Dinnerlab.com; one that the chef can design and create Right: Chef Kwame alongside the investors of Dinner Lab. preps for his event It is the first competition of its kind and our very own Kwame Onwuachi has been chosen. Kwame recently hosted a Dinner Lab event where he was scored highly by his guest and thus chosen as one of the youngest competitor representing New York City.

Dinner Lab is a private supper club. Clients pay for membership and receive invites to their pop-up restaurants, set up all over the US. Their major areas are New Orleans, Austin, Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. Their focus is centered on the chef who creates the experience that is directly linked to their food. The concept is revolutionizing the way we view restaurants. Typically food and restaurant atmosphere are secular entities that work together, and what Dinner Lab hopes to accomplish is a more synergistic approach which allows chefs to expand their creativity through this innovative medium.

The youngest chef to compete, Kwame will tour across the country to hold pop-up restaurants in each city where Dinner Lab operates. Chefs will be rotated weekly from city to city, and will create menus while being mindful of personal budgets.

Each time, they will be handed a new kitchen staff to manage.

At the end of the dinner, guests will score the dinner in many categories ranging from food quality to atmosphere. At the end of the tour, the scores will be tallied to find the victor and the winner will receive the chance to create their restaurant of choice, in their city of choice!

Below is a sample of his menu that will be offered in Atlanta, Georgia, his first stop on the tour:

Corn and sage soup Corn veloute, fried sage, candied bacon marmalade Curried Prawns Curry hoisin glazed prawns on jasmine rice risotto Steak and eggs Double cooked beef cheek, poached quail egg, mushroom duxelle, potato aligot, marsala wine sauce Bacon, egg, and cheese Toasted brioche mousse, crispy guanciale, st marcelin cheese, smoked egg yolk, brown butter emulsion Strawberry Cheesecake Cheesecake bavorois, graham cracker ice cream, strawberry pate de fruit, speculoos crumble

Kwame recently left his job at EMP and leaves for the tour in mid-May and will return at the beginning of August. There are opportunities such as these waiting for all culinary students if you work hard and stay dedicated like Kwame.

Marinated Cucumbers Cucumber ribbons, warm ricotta, tomato confit marmalade, charred pearl onions

P3

FOOD & BEVERAGE

“What Would McCue Do?”

P 4-5

P 8-9

“Valley of Unsustainability”

“Restaurant Design with Adam Tihany and Charlie Palmer” ON CAMPUS

CENTER SPREAD

“Fashion Timeline #2: Handlebar Mustaches”

P 6-7

BACK PAGE

P 12

“All in Good Taste”

LA PAPILLOTE

2

THE NEWSPAPER OF THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA SINCE 1979

May 02, 2014

PUBLISHER

The Student Affairs Division

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Amy Zarichnak

LAYOUT EDITOR

Diane Lam

ADVERTISING MANAGER CONTRIBUTORS Crystal Tan Chef Freddie Brash Daniel Jarosz Francis Maling Arianna Goarin Gareth Alonso Maxine Lambiase

Sue Haug

Kyle Longeran Stephanie Kirkland Gabrielle Thomas Andrew Vinegar Chef David McCue Irena Chalmers Emilio Cerra

COMPACT

La Papillote, the Newspaper of the Culinary Institute of America since 1979, is dedicated to respecting the mission, history and values of the college. Our primary purpose is to report the news of the institution to the students and other members of the campus community. We examine contemporary issues of the food service and hospitality industries to inform, challenge and develop the minds of students as they aspire to leadership roles in their chosen profession. We reflect the diverse views of the student body and provide a forum for civil discussion.

Above all else, in our reporting and features, we strive to be accurate, fair, unbiased and free from distortion. Whenever we portray someone in a negative light or accuse a party of wrongdoing, we will make a real effort to obtain and print a response from that subject in the same issue. We will not plagiarize.

Articles and features are expected to be independent assessments on a topic by an individual author. The views expressed are those of the author’s alone. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of La Papillote or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The Culinary Institute of America, or any entity of, or affiliated with the college.

FOOD REVIEW POLICY

As a valuable part of our content, La Papillote offers restaurant reviews. It is in the best interest of our readership to be honest, accurate and fair in providing information and judgment on these establishments. Reviews will reflect the writer’s opinions about the menu, atmosphere and service. Whenever possible, reviews will be conducted with complete anonymity. Permission from the restaurants will not be secured prior. All issues of La Papillote are available online, therefore, the critiqued restaurants, along with the public, can view editions at anytime on the web.

EDITORIAL POLICY

La Papillote welcomes submissions of work from students, chefs and outside professionals. The decision to print is based on the following criteria: quality of content, value of content to our readers, quality of writing, originality, objectivity, layout, and verifiability.

Besides the Editor, there are two Copy Editors who read over submitted articles. Major changes will be reported to writers before the issue goes out. However, any other changes that need to be edited close to the deadline may or may not be forwarded to writers. This is due to the fact of lack of time. It is asked for writers to trust the Editor’s decision at this point during layout. Please direct all submissions to: Amy Zarichnak, Editor-In-Chief at lapapillote.culinary@gmail.com.

LETTERS POLICY

Letters to the Editor may not exceed 250 words and they should be exclusive to La Papillote. In selecting letters, the editors try to present a balance of views. We reserve the right to edit for space, clarity, civility and accuracy, and will send you the edited version before publication. If your letter is selected, we will try to reach you in necessary cases to verify the letter’s authenticity, to clarify your motivation, to clarify your relation to the subject for our readers or to verify facts or sources. Letters to the Editor may be sent to LaPapillote@mycia.net with “Letter to the Editor - For Publication” in the subject line. Please include your phone number.

The “What Would McCue Do?” article is back in the paper this issue.

There were a number of reasons that it did not appear in the last issue, and none of those reasons include censorship. Students seem to get really fired up about the issue of censorship on our campus, and a lot of people believe that there is censorship in La Papillote.

For the most part, my staff and I decide content. If something isn’t covered in the paper, it usually means that we just didn’t have anyone available to cover it. If something is covered in the paper, it means that someone was able to make the event amidst our ever-changing schedules, which are a challenge to work around.

I worked at the University of Pittsburgh for over five years. I know how conservative and buttoned-up universities can be, especially in regards to their image and how the school is portrayed. The thing about The Culinary Institute of America is that for the most part, the students are creative, individual, a little to the left, and have a little mad scientist in them. There aren’t a whole lot of cliques here because I think the majority of us are loners and are comfortable being that way. The culinary industry is full of mavericks who have paved their own way. We can be a foul-mouthed, politically incorrect, tatted-up crew of hooligans. And while I am educated and professional, I still include myself in that. We are not conformists and most of the time, we are not genteel.

I struggle to reconcile the image of the school with the actual students in it. On one hand, we’re one of the best culinary schools in the world. On the other hand, our students are not corporate drones. I want to present a polished image to our constituents through the paper. I also want to please the students, who are my main audience and focus. However, I am very aware that parents and grandparents pick up the paper at graduation.

So the question becomes, how appropriate is it, really, to address bodily fluids in Chef McCue’s column?

Is it funny? Sure. But is it appropriate?

My newspaper advisors are Dean David Whalen and Eric Howard. I honestly cannot look Dean Whalen or Dean Schuster, who is Dean Whalen’s boss, in the eye and fight for the right to put that in the paper. I have a twenty-plus year marketing career behind me. I know that perception is reality. What we put in the paper is going to shape the perception of our school.

That being said, because of how busy we all are, the last two issues of La Papillote have come right up against deadline.

Dean Whalen is a conservative man. Chef McCue is decidedly not. I’m probably smack dab in between their personalities as a measured risk taker. I’m adventurous, but I’m not haphazard or careless. I often read Chef McCue’s unedited columns and think, “Ohhhh, boy, this is funny as heck, but this is sooooo going to get us in trouble at some point!” I even said to Chef McCue at one point, “If I ever end up in an office on the third floor, all I know is that you’d better be right beside me, and I’m letting you do the talking!”

With the last issue, Dean Whalen pondered the suitability of some of the questions and answers. He decided that we should cut portions of the answers, and because we were smack up against deadline, there was no time for a re-write. Instead of putting a watered-down version in the paper, Chef McCue and I decided to pull the column for that issue so that we could take our time to properly address it. That’s all it was. It really was that simple.

However, coincidentally, at the same time, I was pulled out of my first day of wines class by Dean Macheska to speak with Provost Erickson. There is nothing like turning around and seeing Dean Macheska pointing at you telling your professor that he needs to speak with you. I was completely taken by surprise, and I definitely had a moment where I instantly started to sweat. Anyone who knows me also knows that I’m pretty cool with anything that happens to me as long as I get a good story to tell out of it. So, part of me was also utterly amused, because I knew the only reason that I would be getting called to the Provost’s office was because of Chef McCue’s column.

I thought, “Here we go!”

The meeting was about as anti-climactic as you can get. There were no orders handed down from the Provost, there was no chastising, and there was no criticism. In fact, we weren’t even given any rules to adhere to. Basically, what we were told was that due to Title IX laws, which are basically equal opportunity laws, we have to be careful with our wording.

So, we weren’t even told not to talk about the topics we were talking about. What we were told was to imagine someone’s grandmother picking up the paper and reading McCue’s column, and if they would come away with the impression that their grandchildren would be safe at the school.

I think that’s reasonable.

The thing is, this is not my publication. I’m the editor, so it’s my vision, sure. But it’s not my personal Amy Z newspaper in which I could put whatever I wanted. It’s the school’s publication. It’s news, yes, but it’s also part of the marketing of our school, and I completely understand that, coming from a marketing background. We have busloads of tourists that come through the school and they pick up the newspaper. Some donate money to the school. We want to put our best food forward. I have no issue with this. In addition, the handbook states that the school reserves the right to edit or address, in print, all content in the student newspaper.

If something was going on at the school that the students needed to know about, but that the school tried to tamp down and not allow us to print, I would consider that censorship. The nature of this is very different from that, though. It’s about what is and what isn’t appropriate in a school newspaper. I don’t disagree that we should not be discussing student’s sex lives in vivid detail in the paper. I know that part of what makes Chef McCue’s column popular is the fact that it’s racy and risqué.

We have to ensure, though, that racy and risqué doesn’t dissolve into disgusting and inappropriate.

Sometimes that line is a fine one. We aim to seek that balance.

Regardless, please enjoy Chef McCue’s column this issue. Chef McCue does a great job of giving real-world advice combined with his signature humor. Keep the questions coming, as I’m finding that truth really is stranger than fiction.

Amy Zarichnak az772942@cia.culinary.edu “Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” ~ Voltaire

NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment. The CIA does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, or any other protected group or classification under federal or state laws. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Joe Morano HR Director-Faculty Relations Telephone: 845-451-1314 Email: J_morano@culinary.edu Maura A. King Director-Compliance Telephone: 845-451-1429 Email: m_king@culinary.edu

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Diane A. Lam Layout Editor

Stephanie Kirkland Copy Editor

Gareth Alonso Copy Editor

May 02, 2014

3

The Real Devils Contract

BY: Kyle Longeran, AOS Culinary Being accepted to The Culinary

perfectly cut vegetables, and a knowing nod to your sous

Institute of America is both an

chef who you have molded since you saw raw talent in

As you progress, you begin to live for small victories,

honor and a hard-earned privilege.

that lowly dishwasher who is now your loyal cohort willing

to humble yourself in the eyes of a constantly evolving

Despite the many trials and paths in

to follow you through hell and back. If you’re dedicated

world. Giving your very soul to every plate you send out

life we have traversed to get here,

enough and talented enough, chances are, the media will

is no longer about depleting some intangible reservoir,

it seems many of us have not quite

find you.

and instead your job becomes motivating, finding new

accepted this.

encountered or acknowledged the

If you choose not to bury your memories of orientation

ways daily to become an endless well of consistency and

true toll this industry is prepared to

at culinary school, much like your first major kitchen

creativity. Amongst all this controlled chaos and media

take on us.

injury, you may recall the seemingly endless lines, lectures,

campaigning, we must find solace in the moment we found

Much of the civilian

redundancies, and Gregorian-like chants and cheers all

our true calling. We must “think big” but temper it with

population is under the erroneous impression that our

too familiar in those first few weeks. The memories of

humbled knowledge and experience. The first “rock star”

industry is full of glory and impassioned chaos. While

the once bright-eyed novice slowly becomes increasingly

chef, Marco Pierre White, spoke of this in his 1990 book

these qualities certainly increase recognition and lead to

drained, as we stretch our legs tirelessly and fight off the

White Heat: “I’ve worked over ten years for recognition,

increased business, when you truly examine what forms

overwhelming urges to fall asleep in our own folded arms

and now I’ve got it. I’ve got money now, but I’m no

the basis of our profession, you see some seemingly

under the weight of our celebrity chef fantasies that still

happier. It’s not material things that bring me happiness.

contradictory prerequisites.

run around in our all-too-crowded brains. The point is,

Perhaps that’s why I work with food, with growing things.

While no day is truly the same in our line of work, it

it never gets easier, you just learn how to cope better.

I can’t make a carrot, nor can you. It’s natural. Without

often can require mind numbing repetition in daily tasks.

Your legs will burn, your back and head will ache, your

food, there’s no life. My respect and admiration for life is

Every meal must be perfect and consistent. It must look,

eyes and the tiny, sometimes unperceivable cuts will sting.

coming from food, through food.”

taste, smell, and feel just like the last. Your pride should

Your regular roster of friends may quickly dwindle as you

never begin with a dish pick-up or a good review. It starts

become busier.

with your prep, and it always boils down to the basics.

weekends while you waltz into just another day of work.

The world will take their holidays and

Glory is not a script and a TV crew. Glory only comes

You soon realize that being a foul-mouthed dictator is

after much hard work, and is a mise en place ready for the

not the true key to success. It’s frightening to think that

most intense service of your life. Thousands of glistening,

many who apply to the CIA have not yet experienced or

Restaurant Design with Adam Tihany and Charlie Palmer BY: Andrew Vinegar, AOS Culinary

The CIA campus was graced and include Restaurant Daniel (Daniel Boulud), Spago-Las with the presence of world Vegas (Wolfgang Puck), Dinner (Heston Blumenthal), and renowned restaurant and hotel both Per Se and Bouchon (Thomas Keller). “If the place designer, Adam Tihany, and one of looks good and the food tastes good, then everything is good the great American chefs, Charlie and people come back,” says Tihany. “A restaurant’s food Palmer ‘79, on Thursday, March 27. and design must be in sync in order to create the perfect The Marriot Pavilion hosted the comfort zone.” Palmer agreed that the “comfort zone” is key discussion of restaurant design, to a restaurant’s which Tihany began with an success, and overview of his career and why this is what has food and design go hand-in-hand. made Palmer so After his required three years in the Israeli military, successful over Tihany moved to Italy the years and why to study architecture. he has a great Gaining experience relationship with during his time in Tihany. The “ego,” Europe, he eventually as Tihany called it, came to the United is what he draws States and began to inspiration from design hotels and when designing for restaurants. As his chefs. Their “ego” work gained more or personality is Images Courtesy of TihanyDesigns.com and more attention, the restaurant, and he met and befriended Charlie Palmer and the two have since become colleagues.

Tihany has designed both of Palmer’s Aureole restaurants – one in New York and one in Las Vegas.

Both are famous for their wine cellars, which are the focal points of the restaurants. Aureole-Las Vegas is home to the world famous “Wine Tower”, a glass and stainless-steel structure that houses 50,000 wines and requires “wine angels,” which are acrobats on a structure of wiring that go up and down the tower to pick out the wines. The idea for the tower came to Tihany while he was watching Mission Impossible in his hotel room during the meetings on the both the food and the atmosphere should be complementary construction of Aureole-Las Vegas. The flagship Aureole-New when the restaurant is planned out. “When you design a York, was redesigned in 2008 by Tihany, and has an upper restaurant, you are going for a timeless atmosphere,” says glass mezzanine that stores its wines. The designs of these Palmer. “Look at Aureole-Las Vegas. It’s fifteen years later restaurants are just a few of the many designed by Mr. Tihany. and it has the same appeal of the new modern restaurants The list of restaurants he’s designed is long and impressive that are being built.”

It is ultimately up to you whether you sign on that dotted line, but it just might save your sanity and soul when you accept there is no going back after this.

HOT TIP!

Get faculty member Irena Chalmer’s book Food Jobs Kindle version on Amazon.com for $1.99!

Sale ends on May 11th.

Log on now to get yours!

Note: Kindles are not needed to download and view e-books. Just download the app and view on your laptop, tablet, or phone!

Let’s Shake Hands BY: Irena Chalmers, CIA Faculty Contributor

Networking is different from selling. The objective of networking is to establish and nurture relationships. You are simply making a connection — offering a handshake that will last forever.

If you buy a lottery ticket and don’t win gazillions of dollars, you don’t think it is your fault. However, if you apply for a job and you don’t get it, you begin to think there is something wrong with you. There isn’t. Only one person gets the job. You are one of many who didn’t. It just wasn’t the right job for any of you.

If you apply for a job that is posted online or in a magazine, your chances of even getting a response to your inquiry are about the same as winning the lottery. The possibility of getting an answer to your cover letter and resume or receiving an invitation to come in for an interview is less than one percent. In other words, there is a one in a hundred possibility you will be able to get your foot in the door. If hundred and hundreds of qualified applicants respond to the same advertisement for the job, your chances are even dimmer.

Alas, all too often, it is all about who you know.

Having an ever-expanding network of colleagues and friends is far more important than having money in the bank. Figure out how to meet people. Be nice.

Being nice is far more important than being clever!

4

LA PAPILLOTE

5 Methods to Be Successful in a Kitchen or Pastry Class.

BY: Freddie Brash, CIA Faculty Contributor

1. Every block students come to me to complain about their team in a production kitchen because their partner does not come in prepared. Come on, chefs! We know that we are supposed to review the recipes the night before. You can’t wing it. Not here at the Culinary Institute of America. It’s necessary to not just write down your recipes, but to write them down to memorize them and really understand them. Test yourself or with your teammate by reciting the recipe by memory. Impress your chef instructor!

2.

Attitude. Go to class that day with an attitude of gratitude. Attitude is the only thing that you can change, and of course, you can only change yours!

Stay positive even if the going gets a little shaky.

A positive attitude will bring results.

3.

Perspiration. You have to sweat a little and move in the kitchen. If the pot sink fills up, go and help out. If you are in a production kitchen feeding our fellow classmates, we have to speed it up. No plate goes in the window unless you taste it first and know that it’s well-seasoned.

4.

Let go! If you have prepared really well and your brain and heart are in the right place, then you have to let go and wait for the results. Sometimes waiting in the hallway for another door to open is the toughest.

5.

Wait a minute, did I say five ways? One more -- try to have fun and enjoy yourself. The CIA is fun, but requires real work. “Success” does not always mean an “A” or a pat on the back. Success can also mean that you did the best that you could on that day. However, if you let your teammates know that they did a good job that day, then you may also hear it back in return. Pay it forward and affirm your teammate’s talents to be a real team.

BY: Maxine

G u i l d o f Te a’s BY: Guild of

Ear l y S pr ing Tea Recommendat ions

Tea, CIA Club

The Guild of Tea is The Culinary Institute of America’s tea-passionate student organization dedicated to spreading knowledge about and love for tea. It is currently spring, and as the weather changes, our preferences for tea consumption change along with it.

Sencha is a Japanese green tea with a luxurious hue. The aroma of sencha is slightly botanical, reminiscent of spinach, and accented by underlying roasted notes like that of toasted bread. In regards to flavor, the vegetable-like aroma is further pronounced and accented by the essense of citrus.

In addition to Sencha, we recommend Mutan white tea, originating from Taiwan. Mutan is the perfect choice for daily consumption, being both delicate and smooth in flavor and body. Mutan’s aroma is similar to that of hay and cooked vegetables. Strikingly, the unique taste of this tea resembles steamed squash or leeks.

Both of these teas we have recommended were part of the tasting at The Guild of Tea’s last meeting. You may reach out to us through our Facebook or Google pages for more information, including our upcoming events and meeting times.

Photo Courtesy of: thegildedteapot.com

W hat Inspires Us?

Lambiase, AOS Baking and Pastry

Inspiration is not something you can easily explain, but everyone in this industry is motivated by something personal and individual. For me, my grandmother is my inspiration. She loved desserts and sweets, and when I made things for her and she liked them, that was all that mattered to me. She inspired me to try new recipes and put my own spin on things and make them my own. She is the reason I’m at the CIA following my dream, and I want people to enjoy my creations as much as she did.

I asked some students three questions about their inspiration for entering the industry and coming to the CIA. I spoke with Hannah Herdeen, Vanessa Berisic, and Maribeth Coons. They are all AOS Baking and Pastry students, and all are postexternship.

Maxine Lambiase: When did you start baking?

Hannah Herdeen: I’ve been doing it since I was ten years old, but got serious about it when I was about fifteen.

could do for the rest of my life that would make me happy and would allow me to make other people happy through my food.

Maxine Lambiase: When did you start baking?

Maribeth Coons: I started baking with grandfather when I was about six years old.

my

ML: What made it so enjoyable for you?

MC: I didn’t get to see my grandfather a lot when I was little because he had gone back to school and was also working full time. When he would bring me over to his home to bake with him it was really nice because it was time that I got to spend with only him. He always made everything fun.

ML: At what point did you think you would make this your career?

MC: I actually spent a lot of time flip flopping between going to the CIA and going somewhere else. I think the first time I said I’d come to the CIA was in 7th grade though. No matter what else I considered doing for a living, I always came back to being a professional chef.

ML: What made it so enjoyable for you?

Maxine Lambiase: When did you start baking?

HH: It gave me a way to connect with my uncle, who owned his own restaurant but died at a young age. I never got a chance to meet him.

ML: At what point did you think you would make this your career?

HH: Probably during my freshman year of high school, when I realized that this was something I

VB: It was an outlet for me to be able to express myself and get away from the stress in my life. Also being able to put a smile on someone’s face from something you made has continued to make it enjoyable for me to this day.

Vanessa Berisic: I used to bake when I was younger usually just helping out with my family but I actually really started baking sophomore year of high school in my culinary arts class.

ML: What made it so enjoyable for you?

ML: At what point did you think you would make this your career?

VB: I knew I wanted to make this my career when I realized that baking was much more than just a hobby or interest to me. It was something that I looked forward to each and every day and sought out every opportunity to be able to practice, especially with cake decorating and having my work show through and be appreciated.

Everyone here has a story who inspires them and why, and everyone’s stories are all very different. Start asking and you can find out a lot of interesting things about our students here. Whether someone is a sculptor, painter, hairdresser, or chef, we see their inspiration in their finished dish. Our audience, the customers, have wonderful culinary experiences because of the person or people that inspired us to follow our dreams at the CIA.

May 02, 2014

ON CAMPUS

What Would McCue Do?

5

BY: Chef Dave McCue, CIA Faculty Contributor

Editor’s Note: Chef McCue has a Facebook page up that highlights all the goings-on in his kitchens. Of course, the funniest ones are the catastrophes and the silly things students do. With his big heart and quick-witted tongue, we thought it would be fun to hear his advice on some of the students’ problems. We asked some students what was going on in their lives that they needed help with, and here are his replies. Need advice? Submit your questions to Chef McCue by emailing lapapillote.culinary@gmail.com.

Chef McCue’s Note: First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for considering my semi-vast accrual of selectively pertinent, and often trivial, knowledge as a psychological sounding board for the sophomoric shenanigans that students engage in on an all-too-frequent basis. Nevertheless, the fact that you are turning to a media source as a means of resolution can only mean one of two things: One, you realize this is solely for entertainment purposes and that this should be taken as seriously as financial advice from a Ouji board, or perhaps even skydiving advice from a turtle. Two, you really are at the end of your rope if this is all you have to go on. In which case, hold on, your life is about to get even more messed up if you listen to me. Welcome, one and all, to the WWMD advice page. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. I aspire to offend everyone equally.

Dear Chef McCue: The girl I live with is a pathological liar. It has gotten to the point where she was lying about health issues that I know she doesn’t have. I have tried talking to her about it. I have also tried to just remove myself from her presence as much as possible, but I am really losing my patience. How do I deal with her?

Sincerely, Karma

Dear Karma, You might try writing it all down. Someday it may make a great book. But if she really is bothering you that much, be honest with her. Tell Ms. Munchausen you just don’t care and her perceived valetudinarianism is destroying the remaining respect you have for her.

Dear Anonymous, Ha ha ha ha!! Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you, I just recalled a Food Network show where some idiot did exactly that! But truthfully, salt is a major enemy of fryer fat. To salt a fryer would cause the oil to break down prematurely, degrading the quality of the oil, and increasing the cost to replace the oil. In addition, salt is not soluble in oil. So the salt will not season the oil or the item, it will just sink to the bottom and remain there. It is best to season the product, bread it, and then fry it. Good question, though.

Dear Chef McCue: I have no game with the ladies. None. Zero.

Zippo. Nada. In addition, I have gynecomastia – you know, man boobs. Moobs.

This does not help. How can I feel confident enough to approach a woman?

Anonymous

Dear Chef McCue: Do chefs have more personality disorders than other people? Because I just got here, and everyone here seems completely out of their minds.

Anonymous Dear Anonymous, I’m not sure about the statistics on this. It sure seems accurate though. I can say one thing, whether we do or don’t possess a bevy of personality disorders, we do, at least, seem to be more capable of asserting ourselves more so than those in any other profession. Quite frankly, I don’t even see it as a disorder. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is a survival mechanism! You will too, someday. When it’s your kitchen, long, hot hours, being on your feet all day, and some young punk who just graduated from the CIA messing up your mise en place and “making your food better” will flip your switch, causing you to remedy the situation in what the average psychiatrist might label a “psychotic episode.” It’s not psychotic, it’s efficient and effective! Most times we manage to keep this under control, but every once in a while, you’ll witness an extra special moment that needs to be addressed as completely, totally, unequivocally unacceptable in the kitchen. Get used to it, Sunshine.

That’s #cheflife.

Dear Chef McCue: Why can’t I salt my fryer oil the way I salt my blanching water? I asked my chef and he just gave me a dirty look.

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous, Confidence. Con-fidem means “with-faith”. The trouble is, a lot of people lack confidence. Why? They have no faith. Faith in themselves, in their purpose, and in their truth. And the truth is, you need to believe in yourself first. Worrying about these things will make you crazy.

And if such things matter to some people, then they ain’t worth worrying about. Don’t worry about how people perceive you, concern yourself with your character. Then people are left to perceive a good character.

Dear Chef McCue: I’m kind of sensitive, and it ruins my day when my chef yells at me. Do I need thicker skin or do chefs just need to stop being angry? I mean, there are meds for that these days. My mom takes them, and it sure made her nicer.

Jessica, AOS Culinary Jessica, My first thought is that a medicated chef will never eliminate the need for good, old-fashioned preparation, focus, and determination on your part. Second, yes, you absolutely need thicker skin. Not just because chefs tend to yell a lot, but because the world you are about to enter as a young professional is brutal. Nowhere does it say that life will be easy. Anyone who tells you as much is misleading you. Chefs are not angry, by the way. We are some of the most caring, compassionate people you will find. We sink our souls into our work every day, and all we ask for is a little preparation and some basic listening skills. Here’s an idea, try giving your chef a reason not to be angry with you. I know you don’t try to make us angry, but you really don’t try as hard as you can not to, either. Look around. Is your chef angry with everyone, or just the ones who are messing things up because they aren’t prepared and didn’t ....Cotinued on page 8...

6

LA PAPILLOTE

CENTER SPREAD

Center Prune Restaurant Review BY:Jordan Kohn, AOS Culinary

Recently one Saturday, my

When it got to our table it appeared

a problem with it being tough. It was deliciously tender

boyfriend came to visit and we

almost red from all the paprika butter accompanying

and cooked perfectly, with a touch of pink in the breast.

went to Prune in New York City.

it. We took our first bites and were overpowered by a

The seasoning was spot-on, with the perfect balance of

Gabrielle

Hamilton

the

strong fish taste. The roe was fresh, and clean tasting,

salt and a slight spiciness from the liberal use of pepper.

Ever since I

but almost unpalatably fishy. However, the crisp texture

The quail was served with a small parsley salad that

read her book a couple of years

of the outside did help to make it a more pleasant eating

when eaten with the quail made the dish so bright that it

ago, I have wanted to go eat

experience. But, when lemon was squeezed over the roe,

was like being in a meadow with the quail. The parsley

there. I finally got my chance. We

it was truly transformed. The fishiness became muted

created a fresh, green aroma that paired so well because

arrived early, cold from walking

and the subtle flavors of the roe along with the rich

the quail themselves are hearty consumers of vegetation.

restaurant Prune.

owns

and pan-fried.

around for hours, and asked the

smoky paprika butter were allowed to shine through. In

When the bubbly, upbeat bartender cleared our plates,

hostess if there was any way we could be seated early.

addition to this, we ordered both a side of roasted Brussels

there was nothing left but a pile of tiny, clean bones.

She cheerfully obliged, offering us either the two seats

sprouts, as well as cauliflower with anchovy butter. The

There was a dessert special that night, a chocolate

at the bar, or a table squeezed so tightly between other

Brussels sprouts were cooked perfectly. They were halved

ganache cake. My boyfriend is the kind of person who

patrons that we might have bumped elbows while dining.

and then charred on the cut side. To me, that is the best

can never see a rich chocolate cake without trying it,

It was uncomfortable to even imagine being squeezed

way to cook them, but so many restaurants fail at this

so we ordered it, along with a side of their mascarpone

in that tightly to other people.

This is a measure of

even though Brussels sprouts are such a trendy menu

ice cream. The cake was the pinnacle of rich chocolate-y

Hamilton’s success, as she creates dishes so delectable

item these days. The cauliflower was roasted beautifully,

goodness.

that people will pack themselves in like the sardines that

and the flavor was concentrated because the water was

eat two bites. My boyfriend, however, loved it and just

appear on her menu.

cooked out and we were allowed to taste the true nature

about licked the plate clean. The ice cream was more my

It was so rich, in fact, that I could barely

The small space was charming and decorated with

of it. I have never been a lover of anchovies, until the first

style. It was smooth and creamy with no ice crystals or

items imported from France. Almost as soon as we sat

bite of this dish. The anchovy butter absolutely made this

evidence of mischurning. Flavor-wise, the mascarpone

down, a rustic silver bucket full of crisp, warm, papadum

dish, and I am a convert to their pungent, salty flavor now.

was divine. It was tangy but sweet, which is the perfect

was served to us. These were excellent, with the cumin

They added the perfect amount of brininess and umami

balance, and is so difficult to find in an ice cream.

highlighted without overwhelming the palate. At that

to the vegetables while still allowing the cauliflower to

When the check arrived, it came with two large

moment, I knew they were the perfect indication of what

take center stage. For a main course, we shared a quail

squares of dark chocolate. This was a nice touch that

was to come. They offered a shad roe special the night

dish. I had never had quail before, but I did know that

rounded out our evening very nicely. It was an incredible

that we were there.

After having just tried it during

there was a large risk of it being unbearably tough if

night at a great restaurant in New York City, and we left

fish class, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sample

overcooked. Two butterflied quail came on the plate, and

happy and full.

another preparation. The shad roe was dredged in flour

with the first cut of my knife I knew that I would not have

Fashion Timeline #2

BY: Diane Lam, AOS Culinary

Handlebar Mustaches

Facial hair is… interesting. style, but who wakes up and decides that they were going to sport this unique look.

It’s amazing how a beard, or lack let the sides of their mustache grow out and curl the tips?

Another interesting thing is that this look dominates thereof, can transform a face and How does one even start to grow this style? Are there special our industry. “Professional, but artistically whimsical,” is what allows for a great expression of style products? I’m not sure; all I know is that this look has caused this look screams. All the individuals that I’ve spoken to and identity. This is an opportunity me to do a double take when passing those in the hall who who rock this mustache have an artistic presence whether for most men to get creative it is found through their personality or interests, not to with their “look” since we all mention that they are a culinary student. know that most marketing I wouldn’t necessarily call these observations revolves around females. grounds for a full on behavioral study, but there Here at The Culinary is definitely a bridge between handlebars and an Institute of America, we have artistic person. I mean look at it - it’s definitely a loud to conform to the requirement that men be fresh statement! shaven with no facial hair. This isn’t necessarily What I’m really dying to know is their individual unfair, but it does limit men’s ability to express their journey was to obtain this look. You know the awkward individuality. From the swooning “scruff” to the full feeling when you are growing out your hair and the out “Duck Dynasty” beard, facial hair is arguably in-between stage where it just looks awful? Can you man’s best accessory. Without this freedom of imagine the awkward stage a mustache must go expression, Men are left to be admired for their…. through when trying to grow handlebars? I also wonder chin? Hairstyle? Let’s face it, there’s really nothing how many Youtube.com tutorials they had to watch in uniquely interesting about the short-haired, cleanorder to gain the confidence to grow the mustache. shaven male look.

Honestly, the thought puts a smile on my face.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that In the end, without these bold individuals, our world without facial hair men aren’t attractive. I’ll be the would be less interesting and filled with drones. Cheers first to claim that all forms of the male species have a to the men who found an exception to our dress code lot to offer. Stylistically speaking though, there really and are using it to retain their individual expression isn’t much to work with. of style. Thank you for taking that extra time in your

So, this article seeks to profile the men routine to groom and shape your mustache with what who think out-of-the-box and sport styled mustaches, I believe to be extremely small and unbelievably sharp specifically those with “handlebars.” I do not know scissors, possibly marketed as “scissors for mustaches,” how or when this phenomenon started, but there is a not to mention the special attention to detail while wave of retro, hipsteresque, handlebar mustaches that shaving the rest of your face. It’s men like you that cut a Men of all types sporting handlebar mustaches: Top Left to Bottom Right: recently flooded our campus. path for the fashion-driven male —you’re an inspiration!

Jackson Nugget, La Papillote editor Amy Zarichnak’s father Earl Zarichnak,

Where did this come from? Most who, at age 77, has sported this style since 1976, Ezio Bertellio, and Derrick importantly, why is this cool? Props for expression of Foster.

May 02, 2014

7

r Spread C hef

C enterfold

Stuff Chefs Say

COMPILED BY: Andrew Vinegar, AOS Culinary

“Back then, you had to work your way up to dishwasher.”

Student: “Why don’t you toss your cooked pasta in olive oil, Chef?”

Chef: “Well, it’s a criminal act in Italy. Six months in jail and deportation.”

“Want a story? Talk to old people.”

“It’s so good you’ll push grandma down the stairs for it!”

“I inhale what you exhale. You inhale what I exhale. If you fart, I smell it. I’m eating microparticles of your turd… Welcome to your planet.”

“When I finally retire, I’m going to go back and be a dishwasher. I will be the world’s best f***ing dishwasher!”

“Olive Garden –now America knows what real Italian is!”

BY: Freddie Brash, CIA Faculty Contributor

Prof. Daryl Mosher Can you please tell us about your farm, Brittany Hollow?

My wife Debby and I bought our farmhouse and 10 acres right after we got married. Debbie wanted an old house and land for a large garden. Over time, our garden grew, and we bought another 60 acres. We both enjoy the out-of-doors and farming. After about ten years, we both quit our jobs and farmed full time as we raised our three children. When our daughter Brittany was born we named the farm Brittany Hollow Dairy, as we had an operating dairy at that time.

How did you come about to teaching at the Culinary Institute?

Early on we got connected with the culinary school through a meeting which took place in Sturbridge, MA, where we met Brad Matthews, the purchasing manager at school. Brad was speaking at a conference on institutional buying of local produce. When we returned home we met with Brad again and developed a growing strategy for produce that the school might purchase. Over the years we had a good relationship and although I sold many products to the school, I was their main potato producer. Through this connection, I met faculty and administration and at times would be an invited speaker on topics such as farm-to-table.

I had never considered an employment opportunity at the school, but when my children left for college and Debby became a teacher, I was ready for a change.

I was still farming during the season but in the winter took some part time work.

I was substitute teaching algebra in a program at Duchess Community College and was asked to do the same here at school. I came in for a visit and haven’t left. I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of our school and especially to be able to influence and help and develop our young students.

What is the most important quality a chef should have?

I don’t think the most important qualities for a chef are any different than what one needs to be successful in any career.

Obviously the core skills and techniques are special and I think we do a great job of teaching these, but the core qualities of hard work, honesty, and a commitment to the task at hand are what makes one successful.

What is your vision of the Foods Service Industry?

Farm-to-plate is more than a trend and is here to stay. It was piloted by our great chefs and now is being embraced by everyone. The reason is that you can procure a vastly superior product. Local growers select varieties for flavor and nutrition while large growers focus on shipping and shelf life characteristics.

High quality ingredients make everything else easier and from the chefs perspective, allows them to more easily please their customer. Farm-to-plate also had an implicit sustainability connection which is metric dependent, but nonetheless a large piece of its appeal.

What activities do you enjoy outside the farm and teaching?

Outside of school I have lots that I enjoy doing. Some of this is food related. Ch arcuterie,fermentation,barbecue,beer making/drinking, along with cooking and eating. I do a lot of reading related to sustainability issues, pure science, and food trends. Finally, I try to spend as much time skiing, fishing, growing, and bird watching. I may be the only one in the US to have observed an extremely rare incidental European Kingfisher, not to mention my daily bald eagle sightings from Anton Plaza. I try to travel to visit my children as time allows. Like everyone else, I am still trying to discover who and what I want to be when I grow up.

All I know for sure is that I will be well fed!

“I like opening coconuts… Maybe because it’s the only thing in here that I’m allowed to hit.”

“Can we turn that down some? Looks like Chernobyl…”

“McDonalds Chicken Mcnuggets consist of baby chicks, meat glue, MSG, and angel farts.”

“You just spent two hours polishing a turd!”

“Any chef can give you a zero. I’ll give you a one to let you know I thought about it.”

“I hate the word ‘fundies. ’ It sounds like something you’d purchase at Giggles.”

“Wash them gently, like a kitten with a broken paw.”

“I mean, this is cooking, folks. This is real food.”

“I had a few students come through here, they were afraid to taste the olive oil. Where do you think I got it? Chernobyl?”

“I’m serious!! I was there. The guy asked for his steak well done – they told him to go home!”

The Royal Jester’s Game BY: Anonymous

Bashfully so a jester bears a grin, a little girl laughing as he falls on his chin.

The joy from his trick makes her desire more whimsy from this man’s playful fire.

We focus our lives too much on ahead, never pausing to think of how we were led, from the children we once were, to the emotionless entities perceived as “mature.”

The light of this fool, this clown at heart a person who let his childhood never depart.

For his life shows as much meaning and purpose as those who become scientists, lawyers, and even nurses They are the key to a life long lost, to the nature of a world trying to pay down all costs cutting from the kids, the light of the new, forcing them to age faster than they grew.

The role of our clowns is as important as our cooks creating pure happiness, with not food but looks rewriting our traditions of the necessity and teaching our inner kids how to truly be free.

No longer just the shelter, the water, the food, but how we design and create to form our mood.

For we can all be jesters, be fools, encore.

Just like those who touched our hearts as kids before.

Never let your spirit face, let it ignite As we, the court jesters, break free from our plight.

LA PAPILLOTE

8

Valley of Unsustainability

BY: Brad Lancaster, AOS Culinary Winter is over and spring is here! Spring is one of my favorite seasons to be outside, the smell of new life is in the air, insects and animals are waking up from the cold winter, and the buds on the trees are telling me that this foraging season will be promising!

Growing up in the Hudson Valley will always be something I can’t forget. This relatively undiscovered, magical outdoor grocery store is located a stone’s throw away from New York City and expands all the way up to Albany.

Recently being marketed as the “Napa of the east,” it is really the “Sonoma of the east,” but that’s another article.

The Hudson Valley is a place where as a young boy I would sit on the side of one of the abundant extremely fresh water creeks in the area and fish for native brook trout.

The flesh was actually pinker than Coho salmon and it is the only trout truly native to North America. I would forage for mushrooms, berries and edible greens for a mid-day snack while hiking the Appalachian Trail, which I was lucky enough to have in my backyard. Before the sun began to set, I would start heading home with the days catch and some other delightful edibles to cook for dinner. Around this time of year I would butterfly the freshly caught trout and stuff it with a mixture of wild black raspberries, wild carrot, burdock

stems, ramps, and then brush it with a spruce needle infused oil. I would always make two side dishes, which usually included sauteed lambsquarters, (a wild green, similar to spinach in the chenopodium or goosefoot family) or garlic mustard greens with spring garlic and pureed burdock root Talk about cooking with the seasons! I still walk these streams today looking for a pool of trout, but they are getting harder and harder to find. Whenever I do find native fish, I try not to disturb them, or I practice catch and release because I know one day they may not be there at all. I can’t imagine not being able to admire the beauty of this disappearing fish.

Last year was the first year that I didn’t find any native trout, just stocked fish. Are these stocked fish to blame? Are they eating the whole food supply that was once only enjoyed by the brookies?

Currently the land that I have grown up on and loved is being exploited for housing developments, malls, and empty parking lots. It’s sad to see this. The American Farmland Trust says we are giving up land in New York at about an acre a minute. New York is 54,556 Sq miles, so that’s 34,915,840 acres. As culinarians, we need to step up and source our foods responsibly. Farmers need to start planting sustainable plants using sustainable methods. Methods that the Native Americans used, like milpa, which is a crop growing system that plants crops that are nutritionally or environmentally complimentary, are critical to sustainability. If it sounds like I’m preaching about sustainability, I am.

Here are a couple tips when foraging this season: 1) Only harvest 15% of the ramps from one given location.

2) Only harvest three of every seven fiddlehead sprouts.

3) Take only half of the morels you find, and make sure you carry them in a mesh/net bag to ensure that the spores can escape. This helps them by scattering the spores around the forest.

4) Watch where you step! Everything, including the edible plants that you dearly love, have symbiotic relationships with surrounding fauna and flora. Disturb your foraging grounds as little as possible.

5) If you pick it, use it. Please do not harvest anything and let it rot in your fridge. I’m always surprised when I see this being done, especially when someone took the time and effort to forage for an item. Think about our Garde Manger class and the methods of preservation. Fermenting and pickling items that will slowly deteriorate is a good idea.

Think about how good a jar of pickled ramps will taste in the autumn or winter.

If you would like to learn about sustainably harvesting ramps, and other wild edibles, you can contact me directly.

Every weekend I’m outside doing something!

Anyone interested can contact Brad Lancaster at BL1052003@ cia.culinary.edu!

What Would McCue Do?

...Cotinued from page 5

listen properly? Most likely, the latter. Yelling isn’t necessarily a display of anger. I yell every so often because speaking is not effective enough. Sometimes people listen better when you say things… loudly. Besides, I’d rather a chef be angry and yell, then you injuring yourself or others, by sayyyy… cooling the fryer down with a zip lock baggie of ice, storing knives on an overhead shelf, using TCM as finishing salt because you thought it was pretty, or digging a sachet out of a stick blender when it was still plugged in. Yes, I have witnessed all of these things happening. P.S. I may have come across angry when I was yelling at those students, but I wasn’t. I was trying to save lives.

Dear Chef McCue: I’m coming into your class next block. How can I prepare? I was told that I needed to work on not being offended by the F-word, but beyond that, what do you need from me?

Anonymous Dear Anonymous, First and foremost, my frantic first-years, don’t futilely fumble with fatigue! Familiarize yourself fervently with the fundamentals, and you won’t fail in my fine kitchen! Frequently, feigning familiarity with the food fouls customer fulfillment. Frankly, alliteration aside, the one true F-word one should concern themselves with in my kitchen, is FOOD. For mine or any class here, focus on your food. Know what you are doing, have a clear plan in mind to accomplish your goals, and work decisively towards achieving those goals. If you falter, own it, accept responsibility and learn. Do I use an F-word every now and again? Fairly frequently.

Dear Chef McCue: This is seriously messed up. My girlfriend is pregnant. However, the kicker is, we’re having a long distance relationship, and when I did the math… It can’t be mine. She insists it is. I don’t know how to deal with this. My mother is all excited about a new grandbaby. She simply won’t hear that it’s not mine. I feel like she’s conspiring to rope me into something that’s not my responsibility. In addition to getting kicked in the teeth by this chick, now my

mother wants to have a baby shower for her. What do I do?

Jack, AOS Culinary

Dear Jack, Settle down now, Dr. Jack. You are a Dr., right? An OB-GYN, I presume, and a mathematician to boot? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and risk calling the woman you may be spending the rest of your life with a liar. Besides, “normally,, women are told they are “ likely” to deliver their baby calculated at 280 days after the onset of their last menstrual period. But only four percent of women “actually” deliver at 280 days. A majority, only 70%, deliver within 10 days of their estimated due date. That leaves some 26% of women delivering not within the norm of human gestation.These stats hold even when the date is calculated with the help of ultrasound. Besides all this... it’s your girlfriend we are talking about! You told her you loved her in order to get into this position, perhaps it is time to start acting like it. If the chance exists for you to be the father (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) then you had better start owning up to your responsibilities. Really! You wait until now to question her fidelity? You had better straighten up and do the right thing, which is stand by her side right now. Whatever she decides is what you do. If you need more advice than that, stop by and I’ll spell it out for you.

Dear Chef McCue: I have decided that culinary school is not for me.

However, my parents go around bragging to anyone who will listen how I am going to the “Harvard of culinary schools” and that I am going to be on the Food Network someday. They also constantly remind me how much this is costing them. I have failed one class and hid it from them, and I haven’t done very well in the others. I hate every day of my life here. How can I explain this to them? I don’t have a plan B. Isaac, AOS Culinary for now but rapidly failing out

Dear Isaac, This might well enough not be for you. That is for you to decide.

It does complicate the matter that your parents have laid out significant resources to get you this far only to have their hopes and dreams of having a chef in the family broken like so many poorly executed hollandaises. Before you go though with your decision, stop by and see a counselor, your chef or even me to objectively go through your dilemma. Perhaps there is another part of the industry that is right for you. Perhaps not. But, if you really intend to leave, break it to them by finding the silver lining to that cloud: ”Hey Mom, Dad...I found a way to save you guys a bundle of my on my education...I’m quitting!” At least their blissful notion of saving money will help to soften the blow of the “we’re so disappointed in you” conversation that’s sure to follow, even if ever-so-slightly. Hating your life everyday is no way to go through one of the most brutal career paths on the planet. I get it, but quitting? Are you completely sure, or are you just having a bad couple of blocks? Have you sought help with your studies and skills? You may want to stick around though until you work up a plan B, find a mentor, and give it your best shot. Quitting is a hard habit to break.

Dear Chef McCue: I was dating a guy who I really liked, and I thought he liked me. Apparently he likes my roommate better, and now they’re dating, and I have to wake up to the two of them cuddling fifteen feet away from me every morning. This makes my brain explode.

Help.

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous, Wow. That’s creepy. To tell you the truth, I don’t understand why this would even bother you. If he is making the moves on your roommate while you’re in the room, then I wouldn’t even consider that a loss. Sounds like a real piece of work! Nice roommate, too, by the way. Try telling them this activity bothers you and you wish they would find another location. If that doesn’t work, sit up at night with the lights on, watching them while giggling and pretending to take videos and pictures of them “cuddling.” This might disturb them enough to the point where they might find another room and leave you alone.

May 02. 2014

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Lychee!

BY: Yisi “Crystal” Tan, AOS Culinary Summer is approaching and this is the perfect time to enjoy lychee! Lychee is a fruit that belongs to the family of Sapindaceae and is a seasonal tropical fruit that is found during the summer season. The outer surface is covered with a red, rough-textured, but easily removable rind. The inside consists of a translucent white, sweet, and juicy flesh with a sweet and light floral grape taste. The pulp has a single glossy brown nut-like seed. Lychee originated over 2000 years ago in both northern and southern tropical rain forests in China. The Chinese consider the red and somewhat heart shaped lychee fruit a symbol of romance and love.

Lychee means “gift for loyal life” and the benefits of the fruit date back to ancient Chinese books.

They contain many nutrients and vitamins that help fight against various diseases.

The fruit also has uses as a treatment for skin care, growth in children, and strengthens the immune system. One cup of fresh lychee fruit has only 125 calories, more of the antioxidant Vitamin C than oranges or lemons, about as much dietary fiber as an apple, and is loaded with potassium.

The properties of lychee are both varied and beneficial for the human body. Flavones, quercetin and kaempferol are powerful compounds in the fruit that help reduce the proliferation of cancer cells. It also contains high amounts of polyphenols

that promote heart health, and help stabilize blood pressure and heart rate. Antioxidants present in lychee help to improve disease immunity and slow down the advancement of cataracts. It is also rich in copper, phosphorus, and is low in sodium. It contains many B complex vitamins and is a good source of fiber as well.

Fresh lychees are available from May through June in the Northern Hemisphere. Lychee is a nonclimacteric fruit and as such it does not ripen further after being harvested. Over-mature fruits turn dark brown in appearance and lose their luster and flavor.

When choosing lychee, choose fruits that are bright in color, light red to deep red without blemishes.

The skin should be tough and leathery but pliable, and should not be dull, dry, or dark. The inner flesh should be fresh and devoid of cuts and molds.

To store lychee, keep at room temperature for up to five days and refrigerate up to five weeks. Lychee can also keep very well if frozen.

There are many ways to enjoy lychee. To eat it fresh, you must first puncture and peel the rough outer skin, then break the shell in half and squeeze to pop the internal flesh into your mouth. Peeled and chopped lychee slices can be added to fruit salads, or served on a cheese platter. It can also be added to ice creams, custards, or yogurts as a dessert. Dried lychees are known as lychee nuts and taste much like raisins, these can be eaten as snacks. Lychee pulp can be stuffed with cream cheese and orange rind for a refreshing finger food. Lychee iced tea, martinis, and lemonades make great refreshments.

The possibilities of using lychee in creative ways are truly endless.

Maybe, One Day…

BY: Arianna Goarin, AOS Culinary

Maybe, one day I’ll learn how to fly upon the wings of my own grace.

Soaring into the mountains to find that place never reached before.

Maybe, one day I’ll have a name, bigger than what it is now.

To utter my name or to hear it heard will remind me of great things I’ll do.

Maybe, one day I’ll find my own way becoming the guiding light for myself.

Then hopefully I’ll find, that it is wise, To turn to others to light their way too.

Maybe, one day I’ll stop saying that “maybe, one day” things will happen.

Because “maybe, one day” sounds uncertain in a way And has no true path to follow.

9

Educational Review:

Caffeine

COMPILED BY: Emilio Cerra, AOS Culinary

Caffeine is a “naturally occurring stimulant found in the leaves, seeds or fruits of over 60 plants around the world.” Caffeine is generally consumed for its “wake-up” affects and is found in beverages such as coffee, tea and energy drinks. How and for how long it affects an individual depends on several factors including gender, height,weight, whether or not you are pregnant, and if you smoke.

Although a moderate amount of caffeine (300 mg or approximately three cups of coffee) is not considered to have negative health effects, heavier use can lead to certain issues such as nervousness, sweating, upset stomach, anxiety, and insomnia.

This can happen at about 600 mg of caffeine (approximately six cups of coffee). Caffeine can also be mildly addicting in even moderate amounts, leading to withdrawal symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, depression, and poor concentration when not consumed for 18-24 hours. It can also magnify the side effects of certain medications. Frequent use can also lead to a tolerance, which causes the need to ingest larger amounts of caffeine for the same effects.

Common sources of caffeine: Coffee, brewed (16 fl. oz.)

Coffee, espresso (1 fl. oz.)

Black tea, brewed (8 fl. oz.)

Coca-Cola (12 fl. oz.)

Mountain Dew (12 fl. oz.)

Red Bull (8.5 oz. can) Excedrin Extra Strength (2 ea)

190 mg 64 mg 47 mg 34 mg 54 mg 80 mg 130 mg

Caffeine can be a safe and useful tool as long as it is taken with moderation and keeping in mind the potential negative effects of it. *All information came from Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals, 8th Edition by Karen Drummond and Lisa Brefere

LA PAPILLOTE

10

AOS Graduation Speaker: David Pasternack David Pasternack is the executive chef and co-owner

started fishing with his father at the age of five. Over the

for his incredible skill and creativity. In 2004, he won the

of ESCA, the renowned seafood mecca in New York City.

years, he was taken under the wing of various “old salts”

James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: New York

Part of the B&B Hospitality Group (Batali and Bastianich),

who taught him much of what he knows about fishing and

City. In a 2007 three-star review of ESCA for The New York

ESCA is known for food that is deceptively complex in its

fish. Fittingly, he began his cooking career when he was 18

Times, Frank Bruni called Pasternack the “fish whisperer,”

simplicity.

at the Jolly Fisherman in Roslyn, NY.

writing that Pasternack enjoys “some preternatural rapport

Born and raised in Rockville Center, NY, Chef Pasternak

He studied at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode

with the sea’s creatures, an extrasensory insight that can

Island, but even while there, he would drive home on

tease out their greatest performances.” That same year,

weekends to fish. After graduating, he began to hone his

Chef Pasternack co-wrote The Young Man & the Sea:

culinary skills at a number of New York City restaurants,

Recipes and Crispy Fish Takes from Esca. He is routinely

including La Reserve, Bouley, Steak Frites, Prix Fixe, and

featured in such publications as Gourmet, Esquire, and

Sam’s.

The New York Times.

In 1992, Chef Pasternack was hired by Terrance

Recently, Chef Pasternack partnered with Centerplate,

Brennan to serve as chef de cuisine at Picholine, near New

the leading hospitality provider to premier sports venues.

York’s Lincoln Center. The restaurant earned three stars

At Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, he

from The New York Times during his tenure there.

opened Fresco Fish Taco and Ti Dave’s Po’ Boys. At Citi

In 2000, together with Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich, Chef Pasternack opened ESCA. He continued

Field, home of the New York Mets, he opened Catch of the Day.

to fish on his days off and bring the catch to the restaurant

In addition, he oversees Il Pesce restaurant and Il

in plastic bags filled with ice, via the Long Island Railroad.

Crudo seafood bar at Eataly, the B&B Hospitality Group’s

Such was his dedication to having the freshest fish for

vast Italian marketplace in Manhattan. And in 2014, he is

service at ESCA. Today, he maintains relationships with

launching his first solo restaurant, Barchetta, which means

at least 50 fish brokers, wholesalers, gill-netters, dredgers,

“small boat” in Italian.

and rod-and-reel anglers to acquire all of his fish.

Along the way, Chef Pasternack has garnered accolades

AOS Graduating Class of May 02, 2014 Culinary Arts Group #1

Front: Evelyn Hetletveat Heejun Seo Eunbee Jang Elias Andrade Theresa Eickersheim Raquel Forman Briana White Rachael Orasco Brandon Mitchell Tiffany Jorgenson

Back Chris Robbinson Matthew Alongi Yong Seob Jang Jamie Yoo Thomas Napolitano Steven Mastero Dylan Henline Chris Benzinger Scott Bedard Daniela Traina Jenna Hartman Marie Suba

Culinary Arts Group #2

Front: Jusik Yoo Kiysandra Eapughe Liam Maclead Jason Hoang Paige Zelitski Rachael Pino Ryan Schaub Yuliana Villalobos Urena Ryan Hunter Kevin Hwang

Back: Nicholas Digula Michael Brennen Alex Lord-Flynn Austin Waiter Jaron Mentock Matt Bertoni Christian Latimer Geoffrey Thompson Megan Scrivner Si Young Jeon Hannah Russo Christopher Strayoach Robert Schultz

Culinary Arts Group #3 Front: Reed Grogan Joseph Bosco Chris Pappas Emma Pribish Gabriella Couterucci Abby Kitchen Kathryn Payne Jonathan Fisher Jongmoon Choi

Baking and Pastry Front: Carie Hampton Elana Schiff Regan Milmore Alexandra Artinian Joseph Broaden Kendall Zusman Ashley Stasso Emily Wright

Back: Andrea Prunella Melisa Varitimos Leana Dinh Jackie Beillvertz Jonathon Duncan Katherine Bern Regina Sanchez Amanda Kupiec Amanda Tunjian Briana Benson

Back: Jungyeun Lee Ben Fellenbaum Raul Ventura Zachary Dortenzio Scott Downey Jaejun Eom Kevin Conover Benjamin Greenberg Peter Mercer-Pontier David De La Cruz Steven Chang

POT LUCK

May 02, 2014

11

BPS Graduating Class of May 01, 2014

BPS Graduation Speaker: Richard Marriott

Richard Marriott is chairman of the board of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., the real estate investment sister company of Marriott International. Based in Bethesda, MD, Host Hotels & Resorts is the nation’s premier owner of real estate lodging, owning or holding a controlling interest in high-quality lodging assets in prime urban, airport, and resort/convention locations.

The Marriott family’s venture into the hospitality industry began in 1927, when Richard Marriott’s

parents, J. Willard Marriott, Jr. and Alice Marriott, opened a nine-stool root beer stand in Washington, DC. That humble beginning laid the foundation for what would become the Hot Shoppes dining chain.

The Marriotts soon added a food services division that supplied government, hospitals, airlines, and schools. Building on their success, they entered the hotel business with the purchase of a motor hotel in Arlington, VA. As the company continued to grow and diversify, its name was changed from Hot Shoppes to the Marriott Corporation.

The young Dick Marriott joined the family business at the age of 14, working part time in various positions, and at 16, he began work as a grill cook at the Hot Shoppes in Silver Springs, MD. In 1965, after receiving his BA from the University of Utah and earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, Mr. Marriott went to work full-time for the company. He started as manager of the Hot Shoppes restaurants, moving up the ranks quickly to upper-level positions in the Marriott Corporation. In 1979, he was elected to the board of directors and in 1982, the company acquired Host International. In 1984, Mr. Marriott was named vice president of the Marriott Corporation and two years later was appointed vice chairman. In the early 1990s, the company split into two separate entities, Host Marriott and Marriott International, which Richard and his older brother, J. Willard, manage, respectively. Host Marriott encompasses what was formerly the Marriott

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Corporation and the food services division, and Marriott International, the hotel and lodging aspect of the business.

Recognized for his achievements in the hospitality industry, Dick Marriott has received many awards, including Gold and Silver Awards from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and Hall of Fame honors from the Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA).

A firm believer in leading a life balanced between work, family, and community, Mr. Marriott is deeply involved in philanthropic work and serves as chairman of the board for both the J. Willard Marriott & Alice Marriott Foundation and the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities. In addition, Mr. Marriott is president of the Richard E. & Nancy P. Marriott Foundation.

Richard Marriott and the Marriott family have been longtime supporters of The Culinary Institute of America, with funding for scholarships and educational facilities, as well as J. Willard Marriott’s service on the board of directors and now as honorary trustee. The most recent example of their generosity is the new Marriott Pavilion, home to commencement ceremonies and other special events at the Hyde Park, NY campus.

All In Good Taste

A Commentary on Life at the CIA as a Non-Traditional Student BY: Amy Zarichnak, AOS Culinary

I have learned so much since I got here over a year ago.

I started on January 3rd of last year.

I came from a chaotic, disheveled marketing career that culminated in five layoffs in five years. The last “layoff” wasn’t exactly a layoff, but I signed a confidentiality agreement and can’t discuss it. Suffice it to say that it was even more tumultuous than the previous four layoffs, and when it happened, I knew that I could never set foot back into an overly-corporate environment, a cubicle, or a marketing job in an industry that I didn’t care about. I knew that I had to segue my career over into something that I was passionable about, something that I was good at, and something that I would be interested in enough to be able to do it for the rest of my life as a career.

Food has always been something that I have been overly enamored with. I honestly don’t remember much of my high school days, but I remember the lunches that I loved in the cafeteria. I remember when my French class went to a French restaurant (and I swooned). I remember making pistou for French class in the Home Ec classroom at my high school. At the time, my best friend and I didn’t know the difference between a clove and a head of garlic, so we used the whole head in the pistou. Obviously the dish came out completely overpowered by the garlic, and I still remember the pucker on my teacher’s face when she tasted it. I remember my first week at college when I was 18, when I had precious little money but found a Persian restaurant with their menu hanging in the window that I was so beguiled by that I felt that I needed to spend my last $20 there. I begged my parents for more money after that, and they told me that I needed to get a job. I have never regretted, and still do not, any penny that I have spent on food. In my world, I am buying bliss for as long as the meal lasts.

However, to work in the culinary industry, I needed an education. In fact, I needed a life makeover at the time that I came to school here. I had had one calamity after another beset me for about nine years prior to coming to school, and then I went through the series of layoffs, which did nothing for my psyche, confidence, or happiness. For all intents and purposes, I was likely depressed from 2009 until 2012, but blessedly, I didn’t even realize it, otherwise it probably would have depressed me further. I knew that I had zero energy, and I knew that I was drinking too much. I didn’t know, however, what would make me happy, or what to do about my situation. It’s difficult to change your situation when you don’t have any money.

I ended up getting a windfall that enabled me to come to school. I knew at that time that going to school was going to make me happier, and I knew that I was going to be following my passion, which would make getting a job I loved possible. In my entire 20-plus year career, I pretty much hated every job that I ever had except for my last one, where, while I didn’t hate my job, I hated my boss. So, the prospect of getting a job that I loved was a new one, and one that I was looking forward to.

I had no idea the journey that I was about to go on, and how it would change me.

I am now less than three months away from graduation, and that person who entered culinary school a little over a year ago is so foreign to me now. That person was hopeful but brokenhearted over so many disappointments and hurtful events that had

happened over the years. That person was a little broken inside, she had some habits that weren’t healthy, and she was unsure if she had the energy to be able to manage school. That person was strong on the inside but no longer on the outside, and had allowed numerous people over the years pick on her without fighting back.

That person had zero confidence in her ability to lead a team. At age 41, which is how old I was when I entered school, I had never managed anyone and, in fact, I had never been promoted in any job that I ever held. Nothing says, “You’re on the wrong path” like never getting a promotion in over 20 years of work history.

I had never joined a professional organization because I simply didn’t want to waste any more of my time outside of my 40 hour work week involved in professional activities that I despised. I needed more than an education: I needed to be motivated, I needed to be inspired, and I needed to somehow get enthusiastic about what I was doing.

Last year was the best year of my life. However, it wasn’t that it was full of fun and shenanigans and carefree moments.

Last year had different phases, and there were different stages of development and learning. It was a busy year. I had much less time to myself than I normally do, and the time that I did have to myself was spent deep in thought, healing and cleansing my life of the more sordid things that happened to me over the years.

The first phase was the first quarter of last year, in which I became familiarized with the fast pace of this school. I was still stinging from losing my job, and although I landed in culinary school, which is exactly what I wanted to do in my life, I still needed to process the unpleasant events that led to my job loss.

Through this time, what I realized is that I had let too many people in my life bully me and pick on me. You may or may not believe in God, but I do, and interestingly, I found myself up against a number of situations where I would either have to stick up for myself, or I was going to be a victim of someone’s toxic personality. It was a gift, and it forced me to learn. Freshly coming from this type of situation at my last job, I was determined to never let it happen to me again. I needed to be in control and manage how people treated me. I had multiple opportunities to find my voice and stick up for myself here at school. It was revelatory for me, the youngest in my family who got things taken out on her when anyone in my family had a bad day, and I was the girl who got bullied for years in high school without ever sticking up for herself. To realize that bad things were going to continue to happen if I didn’t take a stand in the kitchen, and in life, and actually step up and say to someone, “No, you’re not going to treat me like this,” was a new concept for me. However, it was one that I had to learn quickly if I was going to manage my workstation, my learning experience at school, and ensure an even-keeled personal life.

By late spring and early summer of last year, I started to relax a little bit more after the first four nail-biting months at school, trying to keep up, get good grades, and figure this new experience out. I realized that sticking up for myself was something that needed to be standard in my life, and I stopped being afraid of doing so. During our break in July, I went home and had a horrible situation unfold with old friends at home. I gave them all a piece of my mind, and I was so proud of myself for not falling into old patterns with old friends. What it has yielded is a situation that, while still not completely resolved, has improved the friendships the whole way around in my group of friends who I graduated with from high school.

Then came breakfast class, in which the schedule alone makes you feel like you can handle just about

anything after that. It segued into externship, which also gave me more opportunities for sticking up for myself. I noticed that I had far more energy than I ever had, and that I was genuinely happy for the first time in my life.

In November of last year, Dean Whalen invited me to interview for the editor position of La Papillote. I had previously been an employee who didn’t do anything extra in my positions. I was nervous about the time commitment (and as I’ve discovered, rightly so!), but knowing that it would be great for my future career, I decided to move forward with interviewing.

I got the position, and it required a time and energy commitment that I was not used to making. There is no doubt that I have found myself thinly spread since my return from externship.

There have been things as editor that I could have done better. I have been short-tempered with people who didn’t deserve it, as I navigated this newly-busy life that I had. I continued learning about how to manage the intense workload we all have here.

However, my newfound skill of sticking up for myself came in handy as I learned how to manage my staff at the newspaper.

The managing techniques that I was using as the editor of the newspaper were also coming in handy in my classes, where I found myself working with a variety of personalities and people I didn’t know very well. For the first time in my adult life, I found myself finally understanding the big picture, and then breaking down the smaller tasks and delegating so that we could get things done. I was taking initiative, I was getting involved, I was sticking up for myself, and I started to learn to manage people. At this point, I realized that I learned far more than just cooking here at culinary school. I have learned to become an effective business person, I’ve learned how to lead, how to follow, and how to manage.

These things are incredibly critical to know how to do in your career, and they have come as by-products of my education at this school.

In looking back on my experience here, these things could not have come at a better time in my life or as part of a more cohesive experience. People my age (42) are fond of saying that if they could go back and make different decisions in their life, they would. I absolutely would make different choices if I knew then what I know now. I realize that everyone comes from a different set of circumstances, but for those of you who believe wholeheartedly that this school is where you belong, I encourage you to make the most of your experience by getting involved.

Your education will be greatly enhanced by the school activities that you engage in here on campus. There are so many things to learn and so many different ways to get experience in the things that you love to do here. At my age, I have finally gained skills that are going to be absolutely necessary to have as I navigate my career from here forward.

Management, assertiveness, getting involved, and taking initiative are not part of the AOS curriculum at The Culinary Institute of America. But you can build these skills here just as a function of the clubs, committees, and organizations that are available to join on campus. Round out your education by finding something that you are passionate about and getting involved. I’m not a CIA cheerleader; I’m a real person who had major problems in her life prior to coming to school. By being dedicated and focused here, I have been able to completely transform my life just by focusing on what I love to do.

What do you love to do?