Greetings from the Program Chair Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts

Greetings,

I believe we have done an excellent job this semester bringing industry to the classroom and taking our students out into industry.  Here are a few examples of the many opportunities that have been afforded our students so far this semester:

  1. Partnering with the Embassy Suites Hotel in Frisco to expedite part of the menu for the Collin Cabaret.  Chef Lewis’s class took care of all the appetizers for the event, and Chef Brown’s class created 60 one-of-a-kind center pieces for the dining tables.  In addition hospitality students assisted with seating Collin’s guests
  2. Practical rotations in the Principles of Food & Beverage Management class took students to the following operations for two weeks: Zea’s Woodfire Grill, Embassy Suites Hotel, Presbyterian Hospital – Plano,  Sodexo at JC Penney corporate headquarters, Stonebridge Country Club, and Market Street.  The purpose of the rotations was to give students a better understanding of the various foodservice environments.
  3. In the Hospitality Human Resources class industry professionals were invited on campus to interview students.  I believe the students gained valuable insight from the following professionals: Garwin Freeze and Laura Gigl with Compass-USA, April West and Kent James with Marriott International, Lisa Loera with Brinker International, Nicole Krasa with John Q. Hammons, Jim Pickett with Carlson World Wide, Taylor Bemis with Club Corp, Hillary Wynn with Westin, and Natalie Race with Joule Hotel.

 It was good to see a couple of culinary students down at the Texas Restaurant Associations meeting at the Marriott Quorum Hotel last week.  It is very important for students to get involved in the industry above and beyond the classroom.  I am please to say that Zach Fuchs and Wil Wilbur will be entering the Ben E. Keith food show culinary competition under the tutorage of Chef Lewis.

I also saw one of our students at the Research Chefs Association (RCA) conference in Dallas.  I am keen on seeking accreditation with the RCA along with our partner school, Texas Women’s University.

The new Culinary Arts Facility is coming along very nicely.  Colors for walls, floors, and carpet have been picked.  Collins purchasing area is working with me on specs for some of the equipment and smallwares.  Overall, the pace of meetings is stepping up… so we must be getting closer!

Below are few pictures of the architectural renderings put together by Corgan Associates Inc. for your viewing pleasure.

Have a lovely spring break.

Cheers!

Karen

  
Culinary Arts Facility Architectural Renderings By Corgan

 
A Message From HCSA
 
…please help with INTERNATIONAL DAY EVENT - GREEK TABLE
 
An international event will be held on March 26th at the spring creek campus.
Hcsa is having a greek theme table for that event. We will need some volunteers to take care of the set up, wrap up and some representative at the table from 9 am to 2 pm (we will do shifts. It doesn’t have to be the whole time.) If you want to be part of this great event, please send me an email with the time you will be available. Maite @ mdpalma@yahoo.com And i’ll get back to you with more details.
 
Greeks – the original foodies!
Zeus Xenios is the Greek God of Hospitality.
 

  
Culinary Trends And Issues
The Slow Food Revolution Begins with Education
By Chef Cheryl Lewis
 
 
“Two hundred years ago everybody made his or her own clothes. Nowadays we haven’t time to do that—we go out and buy our clothes. Nobody makes their own clothes unless it’s their hobby. The same thing will happen with food: I estimate that in about 50 years time dinner will be something people will go out and buy, and nobody will cook, unless it’s their hobby. We in the food industry are working towards that.” -  Food Industry “expert”
 
          I wish I could find that food industry person and throttle him. Consuming food is visceral, and goes beyond necessary nutrition. It is the joy of choosing or growing good ingredients, and then preparing them in a dish that is meant to nurture the body, and seduce the taste buds. It’s not just because I’m a chef that I love the act of preparing a meal. It’s because preparing food gives pleasure; that of presenting self-made happiness to yourself, friends or family, or to a customer who is there only to eat your food. Preparing food is primeval, in a way that making your own clothes is not.  
 
            The Industrial Revolution changed everything, and a new set of ethics took over: it is the duty of a business to make a profit within the law. The food industry is concerned with making a profit, and as long as they’re not breaking the law (and those industry experts are also Washington lobbyists), they have the right to convince the world to stop cooking our own food. We may as well stop trying to find true love.
 
            How does one define “good food”? Good looking produce sells, so using insecticides, most of them harmful to humans too, is an accepted practice. Unless one wants to pay high prices for packaged ready-to-eat food (and very few of these foods are organic), we have to accept putting insecticides into our bodies. What about other variables? Foods that are touted to be “low-fat” have been discovered to be frauds – but they taste good. Just yesterday, I saw a loving mother feeding her toddler high fat, high salt, non-nutritious Cheetos. She is helping him define his perception of good food – food that just tastes good, without concern for it’s worth and conception.
 
            The answer, of course, is education. School children must learn what good food is. They must learn to think beyond what tastes good. Where do the ingredients come from, and how are they processed. Is satiety the only goal in eating? Feeling full is a basic human desire, but we have the ability to define our own sense of pleasure, and then pass that knowledge – that pleasure – onto our own children.

  
Culinary Book Review
The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional01/28/2009 Written By: Glenn Rinsky and Laura Halpin Rinsky
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons 2009
Taken from www.cheftalk.com:
 
 
The Pastry Chefs' Desk Reference
We'll call this one the PDR, the Pastry Chefs' Desk Reference, not to be confused with that other PDR, the Physicians' Desk Reference, although both books are invaluable to the practitioners of the respective arts.
 
So what did you do on your summer vacation? Did you write the pastry chefs' desk reference, with 4,800 terms and definitions from around the world plus ten appendices? I didn't think so, but then, neither did I.
 
The story goes that Glenn and Laura Rinsky, while working towards their Master's degrees, and having a baby, came up with a hobby, The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional, was the result.
 
Amazing what you can do once you put your mind to it. Both authors are graduates of the CIA in Hyde Park, NY, and both have extensive experience teaching culinary arts and running kitchens around the country and the world. Both are certified by the American Culinary Federation as Executive Chef or EC, Executive Pastry Chef  or EPC, and Culinary Educator or CE.
 
Being instructors, they wanted to compile a list of pastry terms. "How hard could it be?" they thought. How hard indeed. They took notes from their kitchens, lectures and students and created a comprehensive handbook that not only gives definitions for thousands of terms but also provides a list of classic and contemporary flavor combinations, troubleshooting guides for subjects from butter cream to yeast breads, and, of course, weight and volume equivalents. After two years of work, they had what they set out to create: a wide-ranging handbook for the pastry artist, beginner to advanced.
 
Now, if a student happens to forget the difference between "biscuit" and "muffin" as a mixing method, and is fortunate enough to have this book, they can look it up and find, on page 183, concise descriptions of fifteen different mixing methods that are used in the modern bake shop.
 
This book is a potential time-saver for instructor and student. Instead of: "Chef, how do you spell lekvar? How do you pronounce lekvar? What the heck is leckvar?" my inquisitive student will find the answers to these questions on page 164.
 
While the answers are useful, they are concise morsels, not meals. It is meant to be a quick reference book, not the end-all definitive tome on the history, manufacturing, moisture content and dietary usages of lekvar. (By the way, lekvar is "a thick, intensely flavored pureed fruit spread used to fill pastries and cookies. This Hungarian favorite is traditionally made with prunes or dried apricots cooked with sugar.") I happen to love lekvar for its replacement value for fats in baking. It grants a smooth mouth feel and is a real food alternative to man-made fats or straight white sugar.
 
Part dictionary, part encyclopedia The Pastry Chef's Companionpastry chefs, chefs, food enthusiasts, confectionary artists and students. It the first reference book that I have encountered that is sufficiently comprehensive yet appropriately sized to be the definitive portable handbook for the pastry arts. was developed for bakers,
 
Within the pages of this book are useful answers in an easy to use and easy to retrieve format. In the hands of a busy baker, professional or aspiring, this book can be a great time-saver and deserve a place on the kitchen shelf. It is a very good companion to any baking or pastry textbook and a wonderful tool for the student.
 
Along with my other favorite book, the Baker's Handbook, 3rd Edition, by Joe Amondola, The Pastry Chef's Companion will be on my desk and in my bakeshop at all times.

  
Student Spotlight
Interview with Olga Mead, a culinary student of Collin:
 
Tell us how you become a student in our program? I like to bake and I decided to take baking classes to be a pastry chef. I researched the classes available in Dallas and discovered the program available at CCCC.
Name three things you enjoy most in life. I enjoy being with my family, I like to socialize with my friends, and I like to cook.
Where do you usually eat during weekends? I like Brio in Allen, Olive Garden, and Uncle Julios.
Tell us about your favorite movie you recently  saw. I liked the movie Pink Panther.
What online activity do you think you are most addicted to? I like to do research for graphics for my cakes.
If you have a good sum of money where will you spend it? On jewelry and clothes.
What qualities you look for in making new friends? Honestly and kindness.
What’s in your iPod ? I don’t have an iPod.
What is your greatest achievement? My son, Bernard who is a 3rd grader.
Where will you be and what will you be doing in five years?  I will live in Allen and will be making the most exclusive cakes in the DFW area on a very limited basis.

  
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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Program Chair Hospitality & Foodservice Management

9700 Wade Blvd.

Frisco, TX 75035

972.377.1672

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If you are interested in submitting an article, a thought, any events you want to promote within the hospitality and food industry, or if you simply like seeing your name in print, don’t be shy, we would love to hear from you! For more information on any activity in this mail, please contact Karen at kbolanos@ccccd.edu For more information about CCCCD and its Hospitality & Food Service Management programs, please contact Karen Musa at kmusa@ccccd.edu or 972-377-1672 or visit the web site. 
 
 
 
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