Culinary Trends
What are some of the current short-term and long-term culinary trends that you discuss with your colleagues?
I like to share items that are hot in the industry, talk about new types of restaurants that are popping up in the area.
Lisa,
It is so important for Chef instructors to do this. Sometimes instructors believe that students are investigating these subjects when they are not in school, but this is not necessarily the case. In addition to informing the students, I believe there is the added bonus of keeping the Chef instructor current as well, while adding interesting content and over-delivery to the course content.
Jae Gruber
I feel that the longest standing and most valuable current food trend is farm to table/ local/ sustainable or Alice Waters New American Cuisine. I have a garden club with which I use to discuss starting a garden, maintaining a garden, storing, drying, canning or otherwise preserving the harvest, saving seeds (heirloom), composting usable food scraps (decreasing carbon footprints is a popular topic), using fresh herbs in cooking, sharing recipes for using fresh and preserved foods from the garden etc.. The list of additional teaching opportunities is to big to mention in a forum. We do community service projects as well to help network and show the importance of community service.
Nathan,
That's fantastic! It sounds like you are truly involved in sharing excellent topics with the students - one that will help them both in their personal and professional lives! Many Chef educators are bringing this important topic to the classroom or doing workshops outside of class to engage students in this important culinary direction.
Jae Gruber
I think these are huge trends and invaluable to get exposure to. I cannot emphasize these enough in the classroom. I like adding snout to tail and molecular gastronomy to the lineup as well, at least for the exposure.
This conversation goes back to an interview with Thomas Kellar in Lucky Peach when he was asked if culinary school is worth it. His response was absolutely, as long as the college environment was advanced and in the forefront of the industry.
As with this class, I concur that we must stay ahead of the industry or we risk doing an inservice to the student.
Matt,
Great response! Indeed, instructors should be prepared to discuss and/or demo the latest and greatest trends. Not only is it paramount to giving the best education to our students, but it also provides an exciting opportunity for the instructor!
Jae Gruber
The reemergence of charcuterie on local menus has been a wonderful discovery. House-made Pate is regaining its rightful place as a showpiece for the chefs talents and creativity.
June ,
I agree! Also head to tail use of animals and butchery in general. As I always say, everything "old" evenutually becomes "new" again at some point. What may be viewed as an out-dated technique today, may well be a "cutting-edge" trend in a few years!
Jae Gruber
Current topics I discuss with my other chef instructors in Pasadena LCB are sustainability, molecular cuisine, farm to table movement, sourcing procucts locally, the advent of television and technology on cooking and how we eat.
Larry,
These are all excellent topics. It is also interesting to move into the topic of beverage trends and how those trends are affecting cooking or how the beverages are used in cooking.
Jae Gruber
I go to Culinary Association meetings and attend as many presentations as possible to learn about new trends or to refresh my knowledge on things I have not done in a while. I take the handouts home and share them with other Instructors.
Klaus,
The more instructors can share information and best practices with each other, the more the entire faculty benefits as a whole, which of course ultimately benefits the students!
Jae Gruber
I recently added "secret menus" to the menu lecture and last week a student saw an article on the internet reinforcing information that I had covered. We discuss pop up restaurants, secret dining establishments, and gluten free baking .
Kimberly,
These are all great trends to share with students. Sometimes students are not aware of current trends, simply because they are not aware of internet sites that provide the most cutting edge information.
Jae Gruber
The one that i have discussed recently is use of Molecular Gastronomy Techniques in a practical restaurant enviroment. This is something that has many short term trend options and a few long term trend options because they theory and craftsmanship is valid but not all applications are able to be used in a conventional kitchen.
We talk about food trucks and pop ups as a way that cooks can test a concept or start a new business without the capital expense of a restaurant
Amy,
Great ideas Amy! Often students are not aware of the numerous "behind the scenes" costs of opening a restaurant!
Jae Gruber
What I discuss with both colleagues and students is the understanding of the science of what is happening to food as it is being cooked versus molecular gastronomy and other trends. By understanding what is actually happening one can better decide what techniques, both classic and modern, to use.
Niel,
There seems to be a growing interest amongst both Chefs and students, beynod merely Research & Development as to "why" certain techniques create particular outcomes and what makes food react a particular way. I'm class you are one of the instructors that is engaging in this type of conversation.
Jae Gruber
