Crossword and word-search puzzles can be fun, effective tools for familiarizing students with important terms.

By Adam Weiner, JobTrain and the Sequoia Adult School

We all get in a rut. Line cooks start turning out dish after dish, caring less for the quality because they have done it over and over again. Customers go to the same places and order the same thing, not because they are afraid to try something new; they are just stuck on their tracks like a street car. Teachers have the same problem, and when we do, the students turn on their I-pods and tune us out.

I am always looking for new ways to teach the same old thing. New tricks to pull out of a hat. One of the things that I have found is the very effective use of puzzles in teaching.

Occasionally, I start a class with a word- search puzzle with all of the terms I am
going to cover in the class. I end the class with a “test” of a crossword puzzle using the same terms. It is, I have found, incredibly effective. The best part is that there are many places on the Internet where you can create puzzles for free.

One thing that separates professional cooks from their moms is how they present food. Here are five things students should remember when plating

By Adam Weiner, JobTrain and the Sequoia Adult School

Students new to cooking go through three stages of trauma. First, they worry about making enough food; second, they agonize on how the food tastes; and finally, they stress about how the food looks. Much of the presentation pain comes from most of the new generation of cooks experiencing “presentation” as bags of fast food in a car seat and “plating” by ordering at the mall’s food court.

I have found the best way to minimize the pain of the third stage is to tell students not to prepare anything until they have in their minds (or better yet, a drawing on paper) how the final plate will look.

Students think this is strange. They feel that if they start cooking, the plating and presentation will fall into place. I explain that if I asked them to build a car, they wouldn’t just pick up some screws, tires, sheet metal and glass and start hammering. They would first have a picture of the finished car. To build a car or a plate of food takes a picture and a plan.

In curriculum development, although enrollment-management departments like to promote courses that concentrate on attractive ancillary skill sets, insufficient dedication to teaching strong foundational abilities will negatively impact student employability and success.

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

Marketers have long understood that promoting what excites people is the best way to sell a product. The classic mantra has been: “The sizzle sells the steak.” This can be problematic when the steak is sacrificed for the sizzle in an effort to increase sales. Eventually, the customer will become dissatisfied with the results.

Colleges have adopted this classic marketing strategy over the past few decades with significant investments in physical plant and amenities that are far removed from the primary mission of delivering a valuable education. This has, in some cases, even crept into curriculum development.

A collegiate culinary-arts program in South Florida earns top honors for exemplary practices in—and innovative teaching of—ecological sustainability.

The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) and Chicago-based Kendall College presented the 2014 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award to Miami Culinary Institute (MCI) in Miami, Fla., on June 20 at CAFÉ’s 10th-anniversary national Leadership Conference for foodservice educators, held in metro Salt Lake City.

Karin J. Davis, a chef-instructor and registered sanitarian at Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts, presented the award, which was accepted by Chef Ana C. Plana, BA, ME, an adjunct culinary instructor at MCI, at CAFÉ’s general-session breakfast at Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus in Sandy, Utah.

The Culinary Institute of America introduces an online learning experience focusing on the “blendability” of mushrooms at ciaprochef.com.

The Culinary Institute of America introduces a free online learning course, “Maximize Meals with Mushrooms!” available at http://www.ciaprochef.com/mushrooms/index.html?source=HomeBanner&segment=Mushrooms. Inspired by the meaty nature of mushrooms, the course highlights the creative potential of mushrooms blended with meat—an idea that boosts flavor, enhances nutrition and saves money.

“Maximize Meals with Mushrooms!”explores this concept of “blendability” in recipes drawn from global kitchens, from Mexico to Italy to China. The e-learning course includes chef-tested recipes, all downloadable and demonstrated in streaming video by CIA chef-instructor Bill Briwa, CEC.