Interview with a Culinary Dietitian A M A N DA SAU C E DA MS, RDN, CLT CHAIR
For my chair letter, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chef Abbie Gellman about her experience pursuing culinary arts along with combining those skills with being a dietitian.
Q: What was the process of pursuing culinary arts like? School, training, etc. A: I am a career changer who was working in corporate America with an interest in food and nutrition and decided to pursue culinary school instead of a MBA. It is easy to apply and get accepted to culinary school but the program itself is very intense. My culinary program was part-time and a year long. A typical day in the program was cooking during the day and then going home and cooking more to practice. During that time I was also working in food-service restaurants in both the front and back of the house. There are supplies that you’ll need to purchase like knives, clothes, etc. In fact, I had to learn how to use a 14-inch chef’s knife. If you can use that properly, then anything else will be easier.
Q: Can you describe how you use your culinary arts background as a dietitian? A: I’ve worked with a restaurant and culinary consulting group, partnered with a chef at a behavioral center to help revamp recipes and menus, and worked as a private chef specializing in helping people with different health conditions. Creating nutrition and cooking videos has been a large part of what I do as well and that has led to paid opportunities with a variety of brands and commodity boards. Speaking is another aspect and it was after speaking at FNCE® in 2018 that I have also branched into teaching dietitians culinary skills.
Q: What would be the time and financial commitment to pursue culinary arts? A: This can range depending on the program and path. The cost can be anywhere from $18,000-$40,000 and will usually also require working in a restaurant for a couple months for free as part of an externship.
Every dietitian needs a Q: What inspired you to do culinary arts? Was culinary arts before or after becoming a dietitian? A: Culinary arts did come before nutrition but the interest was always there. I had to take a cooking and food science class in college and knew there had to be a way to cook that didn’t involve tons of butter and cream. When I got pregnant, I was working on Wall Street and decided to go back to school to become a dietitian. In grad school, I realized that I was the only one who had a culinary background. I did a clinicalfocused internship to see if I liked clinical and it confirmed that culinary nutrition was going to be my path.
base in cooking skills.
Q: Why should a dietitian look into adding culinary arts to her/his resume? A: Every dietitian needs a base in cooking skills. We have to be able to cook food based on recommendations. The sky’s the limit here - every RD can use culinary skills many different ways. In private practice, culinary arts can help you teach your clients cooking skills. It’s a practical way to put medical nutrition advice into action. As a retail or corporate RD, you’ll do a lot of cooking demos. These skills support your recommendations, and the expertise can help you make more money because you are able to get better results for your clients and/or a variety of work.
Q: Cooking demos: What is your best quick tip for doing a live cooking demo via Zoom? A: Have everything prepped ahead of time in glass bowls. Know your recipe; you can’t read off a sheet of paper. You need to be able to have a conversation and be personable while being able to cook. If you’re not comfortable enough with the cooking part of it, you won’t be able to deliver a good demo because you’re going to be watching yourself prep the food, read the recipe, etc.
Q: What is one culinary skill that you have that makes you feel like a boss? A: I can cook a steak perfectly every time to whatever temp you want and don’t need a thermometer. Amanda Sauceda, MS, RDN, CLT, loves pizza. She has a running list of her favorite places and places that she wants to try. Her number-one pizza place used to be a luggage room in the golden days of Hollywood and has a fermented sourdough crust that is to die for.
Chef Abbie Gellman, MS, RD, CDN, is a spokesperson, recipe and product developer, educator, and nationally recognized culinary nutrition expert. She creates, produces and hosts cooking and nutrition videos and works with a wide variety of food brands, commodity boards, foodservice operators, health professionals and private clients. She appears in local and regional broadcast media and contributes to many publications as both an expert and an author.
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