"culinary institute of america" news and stories

Who wants to eat in a hospital? We're guessing most of you would rather head for a school cafeteria or an airline, if given the option. Anyone who's ever found themselves in a hospital bed quickly discovers that medical centers and rehabilitation facilities aren't exactly the best places in town to nab nutritious grub. To be fair, hospital kitchens are dealing with the pickiest stomachs on earth because of an endless variety of dietary restrictions. It's enough to make even the most skilled chef quiver. Enter Lynne Eddy, instructor for Food Service Management in Health Care, a first-of-its-kind course at the Culinary Institute of America.

"We're dealing with medications, chewing problems...we could talk for eons about it," says Eddy. She comes to the CIA as a registered dietitian with 25 years' experience in the industry, and this month, she'll send off her first batch of graduates equipped to serve as entry-level managers in health care facilities.

Fudge is one of the easiest candies to make, and the dense chocolate treat tucked into a cool tin is a perfect holiday gift. We've got recipes for you, for a good classic chocolate fudge; one with a hint of espresso powder, to create a latte variation; and even a white-chocolate Key Lime fudge. If candymaking isn't second nature to you, watch this how-to video from the Culinary Institute of America. And bring along your candy thermometer.

One of the nation's top cooking schools (and one the "expert" resources to KitchenDaily, Slashfood's sister site) has dramatically increased its commitment to Latin cuisine, opening a 30,000-square-foot campus in San Antonio dedicated to promoting "the true quality, depth and breadth of Latino cuisines in the United States."

The Culinary Institute of America has more than quadrupled the size of its Texas facilities, according to Nation's Restaurant News. The new digs not only offer more teaching kitchens and classrooms, but spaces that were specifically designed to teach traditional Latin American cooking techniques, such as an outdoor kitchen that includes a wood-fired clay comal, a parilla grill and an in-ground barbeque pit.

On May 7, Dr. Kathy Merget will preside over her 159th graduation ceremony at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY.

Before you start doing the math on Dr. Merget's age (just how old is she, 175? 180?), you should know that the CIA gives out degrees -- associate and baccalaureate -- at least three times a year, so it comes out to 19 ceremonies a year.

Dr. Merget, the school's dean of liberal arts and business management, has been handling the honors since 2002 and is even scheduling an operation around the graduation calendar so she doesn't break her streak.

So does she ever look at her watch and wonder "when is this thing going to wrap up?"

"No," she firmly told Slashfood. "And I mean that with all sincerity. Although my emceeing is more rote, each speaker is different, the graduates are different and the audience is different. The mood at each is different. Sometimes the graduates are very quiet and sometimes they're very vocal and rambunctious in a great way."

Have you heard of the Bocuse d'Or? A year or two ago, the answer would probably have been a firm no. But over the last couple of years, it's been popping up in the news and around the dinner tables of foodies more and more frequently.

Maybe you caught the "Top Chef" episode, where contestants competed in a Bocuse d'Or-inspired challenge. Or perhaps you've read about Andrew Friedman's just-released book "Knives at Dawn," which tells the tale of the most recent American team -- from the rigorous training to the big competition, which involves preparing two ridiculously complex dishes served on enormous mirrored platters.

The contest, often described as the Olympics of the culinary world, began in 1987 in Lyon, France, under the leadership of Chef Paul Bocuse, who Tim Ryan of the Culinary Institute of America described as "Elvis Presley and the Beatles rolled into one" at Monday's semifinals announcement. Despite America's recent thirst for cook-offs and throw-downs, the high-end culinary competition has been slow to gain recognition in the United States. But last year, heavy-hitters Daniel Boulud, also from Lyon, and Thomas Keller got behind the American effort to change all that.