McIllhenny Co., maker of Tabasco Pepper Sauce, has launched the 2009 Hottest Chef Contest, inviting professional chefs, sous chefs and lead line cooks in the United States and Canada to create and submit an original menu item using easily sourced, fresh ingredients. To qualify, entries must include Original Tabasco Pepper sauce, Tabasco Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce or Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. Additionally, featured dishes must be considered profitable for a restaurant to sell. Entries can be submitted online at www.tabascofoodservice.com until July 17.
The professional chef with the winning recipe will receive $10,000. For more information, visit Tabasco's Web site, or call 1-888-HOT-DASH.
Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence (CIVP), an organization representing more than 750 vineyards in Provence, France, has condemned a new European Commission initiative that would accept the blending of 5 percent red wine and 95 percent white wine to produce rosé. If the proposed ruling is approved on June 19, the blending technique could go into effect as early as Aug. 1. The European Union says that allowing the creation of a blended rosé would open additional export markets for Italian and Spanish wine producers who have an oversupply of red and white wines.
French winemakers create dry rosé by briefly macerating red grapes and removing the juice before it becomes heavily colored, giving the wine its unique flavor profile. Thus, the CIVP says that simply mixing a solution of white wine "with a dash of red" is by nature not true rosé, despite its pink color, and that it will mislead consumers.
"It has taken man years of patience, professionalism and exacting attention to quality control to persuade consumers that rosé is a distinctive, refreshing selection for wine lovers throughout the world," said Francois Millo, director of CIVP-Wines of Provence, in a statement. "This proposal will destroy the true wine's hard-earned image and undermine a time-honored tradition of production excellence."
For more information, visit www.vinsdeprovence.com.
The Research Chefs Association (RCA) recently announced the results of its recent board of directors election for the 2009-2010 term.
2009-2010 Board of directors:
- President: Harry J. Crane (executive chef, Culinary Center of Excellence, Kraft Foods Global; photo, right)
- Vice President: Terry Van Winkle (vice president of sales, TIC Gums Inc.)
- Treasurer: Janet Carver (culinary group leader, National Starch Food Innovation)
- Secretary: Marilyn Carlson (senior manager, research & development, Oberto Sausage Co.)
- Immediate Past President: Stephen A. Kalil, CEC, CRC (corporate executive research chef, Culinary Innovation Center, Frito-Lay)
Directors:
- Kevin Anderson (director of global product development, Burger King Brands Inc.)
- Alison Brushaber (president, Chef Consortium)
- Michael Cheng (director/associate professor, Southwest Minnesota State University)
- Robert Danhi (executive chef, Chef Danhi & Co.)
- Dianna Fricke, CRC, CWPC (executive chef, Simplot)
- Melissa Haupt, CRC (executive chef, Applebee’s Services)
- Christian "Kit" Kiefer, CEC (director of culinary services/corporate executive chef, Schwan's Foodservice)
- J. Hugh McEvoy, CRC, CEC, ASB, MBA (president, Chicago Research Chefs)
- Kurt Stiles (executive chef and CEO, Intelligent Ingredients)
- Brian Yager (senior national accounts development chef, Cargill Dressings, Sauces and Oil)
Founded in 1996, the RCA has rapidly grown to approximately 2,500 members, including chefs, food scientists, technologists, writers, nutritionists, academicians, researchers, consultants, sales and marketing professionals, suppliers, co-packers, distributors and students. RCA is the premier source of culinary and technical information for the food industry, and is committed to the advancement of Culinology, the blending of the culinary arts and food science. For more information, please visit the RCA Web site at www.culinology.org.
Les Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI) is holding its first-ever Legacy Awards competition. The competition is open to women in the United States and Canada who have been working in the food, beverage or hospitality industry for at least two years. Applications are due May 15, and the winners will be announced on June 15.
The LDEI Legacy Awards winners will receive week-long internships with accomplished dames in the food, beverage and hospitality industry in New York City's catering scene, Washington State's wine country or at a premier hotel property in Dallas. For more information, visit www.ldei.org.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) called on all U.S. foodservice operators to apply for the 2009 Restaurant Neighbor Award. This annual award recognizes restaurants in four categories for their charitable contributions: small business, mid-size business, large business/national chain and cornerstone humanitarian.
This year, four national winners will receive a $5,000 prize to continue their charitable works. The deadline to apply is June 5. Restaurants may apply on their own behalf or employees, patrons and other community members may work with a local restaurant to apply for the award. For more information, visit the NRA's Web site.
Six of the nation's top chefs and mixologists volunteered to serve on Taste of the Nation Culinary Council, a group dedicated to carrying out Share Our Strength's mission to end childhood hunger in America.
The six chefs are: chef David Burke of David Burke Restaurants in New York City; chef RJ Cooper III of Vidalia in Washington, D.C.; chef Michael Kornick of MK the Restaurant in Chicago; chef Mindy Segal of Hot Chocolate Restaurant in Chicago; chef John Tesar of Fishtail in New York City; and mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim of themodernmixlogist.com.
More than 40 Taste of the Nation events are planned across the United States and Canada this year. All the events showcase top local chefs at tasting events or seated dinners, and 100 percent of ticket sales help ensure no kid in America grows up hungry. For more information, visit www.strength.org.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new Energy Star requirements for commercial refrigerators and freezers effective Jan. 1, 2010, the same date that the federal standards take effect. Under the new scope of products covered by specifications for Energy Star commercial refrigerators and freezers are glass door refrigerators and freezers, which qualified for the Energy Star label as of April 1.
Commercial refrigerators and freezers in the United States that meet the new requirements are more than 30 percent higher than minimum federal standards. If all commercial refrigerators and freezers sold in the United States met this standard, annual energy savings would reach $275 million per year in the United States. This would also prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the output of nearly 400,000 vehicles, according to the EPA.
For more information, visit www.energystar.gov/cfs.
The Madison Park Café turns 30 this year, and the Seattle-based French bistro is celebrating with a $30, prix-fixe, three-course dinner menu.
Owner Karen Binder and chef Rich Coffey are offering the special Tuesdays through Thursdays throughout the year, and guests can select from among starter, entrée and dessert choices. For more information, visit The Madison Park Café's Web site.
Megan Ketover, CPC, pastry chef of retail bakery outlet Bakery Hill at the Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati, was selected to compete in an upcoming episode of Food Network Challenge. The American Culinary Federation named Ketover the Northeast Region Pastry Chef of the Year after she won the ACF Northeast Regional Conference competition in February.
Ketover will compete in Food Network's Cereal Bridges 2 Challenge, to be filmed April 30. "I am excited to have been chosen to compete for Food Network's Cereal Bridges 2 Challenge, and I am gearing up to try to create something that seems impossible--a bridge primarily made of Rice Krispies," she said in a statement.
After filming the Food Network Challenge, Ketover will continue preparing for the national ACF Pastry Chef of the Year competition, which will take place during the 2009 ACF National Convention July 11 to 14 in Orlando, Fla.
About
Chef's Stirrings is the official blog of Chef Magazine, the industry publication for restaurant and foodservice professionals. The blog offers culinary news and online exclusives from the editors ofChef.
McIllhenny Co., maker of Tabasco Pepper Sauce, has launched the 2009 Hottest Chef Contest, inviting professional chefs, sous chefs and lead line cooks in the United States and Canada to create and submit an original menu item using easily sourced, fresh ingredients. To qualify, entries must include Original Tabasco Pepper sauce, Tabasco Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce or Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. Additionally, featured dishes must be considered profitable for a restaurant to sell. Entries can be submitted online at www.tabascofoodservice.com until July 17.
