February 2026 Issue
Gold Medal Classroom:
The official ezine for CAFE | February 2026 issue
FEATURES:
2025 Gold Medal Classroom replay. Revisit tools for culinary educators including stories, videos and classroom-ready resources you may have missed.
McCormick for Chefs® unveils the 2026 Flavor of the Year: Black Currant. The annual forecast also predicted three global trends that will shape the upcoming year.
Caramelization is worth the wait. Correctly caramelizing onions takes time to do it right and there is no beating the right way.
FUTURE THINKING IN EDUCATION:
Teaching systems thinking. Educators have a chance to increase the success-to-failure ratio by integrating systems thinking.
Teaching a sense of urgency thinking “A higher rate of urgency does not imply ever-present panic, anxiety or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent.” – John P. Kotter, author and professor emeritus of the Harvard Business School
CHEF PROFILE:
Chef Kevan Vetter
Executive Chef and Senior Director of Culinary Development
McCormick & Company
Chef Vetter is also a key member of the McCormick Flavor Forecast team.
BREAKING NEWS:
IPC’s call for innovative potato recipes is closing in February. Enter IPC’s 2027 national advertising campaign to win a $1,000 honorarium and all-expenses-paid farm tour.
Instructors and students are invited to enter the 2026 CAN DO Challenge. Pacific Northwest Canned Pear Service is accepting contest entries until May 1, 2026.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES FROM THE GMC ARCHIVES:
Experiential learning uncovers the multi-dimensional CA walnut. Lesson plan reveals the texture evolution from bite to mastication to mouthfeel.
Lesson Plan: fresh craft sausages with ground American lamb – not your usual grind. Chef, butcher and longtime American “Lambassador” Mark DeNittis shares an easy and approachable lesson plan for teaching about lamb sausages.
Lesson Plan: timed chicken lab from fabrication to plating. Chef Daniel Pliska delivers a detailed timeline and ingredient list to teach 101 culinary students how to manage time and create a multi-layered chicken dish.
Lesson Plan: evaluating various fruit product formats. Teach students how to evaluate different fruit product formats including fresh cut, frozen and canned for menu development.