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Nashville State Community College – Culinary Arts

Escoffier Society

Auguste Escoffier is considered the father of Modern French Cuisine (the cuisine that all culinary schools use). He is credited with organizing the professional kitchen into a chain of command, creating the five mother sauces, and simplifying the overly grand cuisine of the European Nobility.

    We are the Escoffier Society, and like our namesake we are dedicated to changing our community through food. Food is both an art and a craft. It takes a great deal of discipline to practice it as a career. We wish to recognize the dedication of those in both our campus and local community who do it on a daily basis.

Michael Ruelman visited them on November 16th as a guest speaker.

Art Institute of Tennessee, Nashville  Culinary Arts – Cake Club

The cake club at AI is a combination of 1st through 5th quarter students that voluntarily meet night and weekends to create cakes and cookies for companies and organizations that are in need of sweets for different occasions.

  Lead by Chef Kate Anderson, they volunteer their time and the school donates the supplies for the opportunity to work on their skills.  This fall they entered the Tennessee State Fair Cake competition which the theme was “101st Airborne “.  They took third place with their helicopter, helmet,  and dog tags cake.  Way to go Cake Club!

Natalie MacLean - At the World Food Media Awards in Australia, Natalie was named the World's Best Drink Writer find more wine tips and articles at www.nataliemaclean.com

Reading Between the Vines

Some people have anxiety dreams about falling off a cliff—mine are about restaurant wine lists. In my nightmare, I'm handed a large leather-bound book that looks like a prop from Lord of the Rings. Within it, somewhere, lies the Secret of the Ideal Wine, the one perfect drink for my friends and me.

I know I'm not alone in this dark vision: Most people would rather peel a thousand grapes than choose wine from a restaurant list. Here are a few tips on choosing a good wine from a restaurant list—and how to avoid what I call the Vinous Fly Traps; aspects of ordering and drinking restaurant wine that make you feel like a bug drowning in icewine.

Ask for help. Find someone to help you, usually the sommelier, the bartender or "someone who knows the wine list well." Most of us will ask how a dish is prepared or what its ingredients are, even though choosing between salmon and lamb is much simpler than picking one of thirty merlots. Ask which wines the sommelier is most excited about or, "What can you tell me about this wine? Does it pair well with some of the dishes on the menu?" You can help the sommelier by mentioning wines you've enjoyed in the past to give her a sense both of your favorite style and price range. Or you can point to something suitably priced on the list and say something like, "Do you have anything like this that's full-bodied and not too oaky?" (or whatever your style preference is).

Match Your Meal. Often you and your dining companion choose different dishes: You're having steak and she's having fish. If the restaurant offers the option, you can order half bottles or wines by the glass. Or you can try to find a wine that matches both dishes: Some wines such riesling and pinot noir can pair with a wide range of dishes because they are neither too full-bodied, nor too light. European wines generally tend to be more balanced and food-friendly than New World ones, which can be fruit-heavy and oaky.
 
Expensive Doesn't Mean Better. I use the Wolf Blass Yellow Label Index: knowing the retail price (about $17) of this popular but overrated cabernet sauvignon from Australia, I can usually figure out the markups up the other wines. Higher up the scale, I use my Veuve Clicquot Non-Vintage Champagne (about $58) Barometer. Many diners actually mistrust a moderately priced wine, assuming it's no good. But if you know the markups (100% is considered reasonable to cover a restaurant's operating costs), you'll know if you're looking at plonk or a fairly priced wine.

Drink Local. Focus on the area of the list that seems best stocked, which often is wine that complements the restaurant's cuisine. An Italian trattoria usually offers lots of chiantis that are great with pasta; or those red velour-draped steak houses will likely be strong on full-bodied cabernets that pair with meat. If you're dining in a winemaking region, such as the Niagara and the Okanagan, local wines are often a good bet. They're usually cheaper (because there's no import tax and shipping costs); they'll complement the local cuisine; and the owner may know the producers personally, and be familiar with the wines.

Go for the Best Values. Some of the best values are from lesser-known regions and grapes. Look for New Zealand and South African sauvignon blanc, German and Alsatian riesling and Chilean chardonnay. For reds, try South African and Australian shiraz; Oregonian, Canadian and New Zealand pinot noir; Chilean cabernet; Argentine malbec, Rhone grenache; Loire Valley cabernet franc and red blends from Portugal as well as the southern regions of France and Italy.

Conversely, some of the worst values are often the big-name grapes from big-name regions, such as California chardonnay and cabernet, or the red blends from Bordeaux. They're good wines but they command a higher price because they've become premium brands, much like you'll pay more for a BMW than a Honda Civic.
 
Beware of House Wines. That humble little house wine is often cheap and nasty stuff that you can use in a pinch instead of Liquid Draino. Not only are they bad to drink, they're also usually a bad buy—one of the biggest rip-offs on the list. Many restaurants price a glass at the full wholesale price of the entire bottle. With four to five glasses per bottle, that can be a 300% to 600% markup. Drinking most of them is like accidentally walking into a bad neighborhood: you're going to get roughed up and robbed—and you'll learn never to take that wrong turn again. Using the clues above, plus whether the list notes the wine's name, region and vintage, will tell you whether you can trust the house wine. Otherwise, stick to a bottle.

Choosing from a restaurant list doesn't have to be a high-wire circus act; rather it can be the start of an evening where the wine and food rise up to meet each other and bear you aloft on a cloud of sensual pleasure.
   

15th Annual Our Kids Soup Sunday Pro Am Chefs' Challenge

Local Culinary Arts students competed in the 15th Annual Our Kids Soup Sunday Pro Am Chefs' Challenge at LP Field on Sunday, February 24.  The event brought thousands of families out to taste soup and to raise money for the Our Kids Center.  The 1 1/2 hour competition began when the students were first paired with local Executive Chefs from Middle Tennessee.  Seven teams competed and awards would be given to the top three soups.  Culinary Arts programs from Blackman, Smyrna, Wilson County, Hunters Lane, Wilson Central and Gallatin were represented.

The team hand selected key ingredients from the provided secret pantry.  Products were donated by Robert-Orr Sysco.  Within the pantry were six mystery ingredients that received extra points if used within their soup.  The items were lemon grass, peanut butter, chorizo, honey and balsamic vinegar.  Several items such as oil and flour were eliminate from the pantry to test the students and chefs knowledge and skills. 

Blackman High School Mason Vickery teamed up with Executive Chef Maurizio from Opryland Hotel, Smyrna High School Clint Kremar teamed up with Executive Chef Mike Cox from Sperry's and Blackman High School Jermey Morris teamed up with Executive Chef Willie Jemison from Centerstone.  Students were required to bring all equipment from tools to pots and pans even the stove and presentation dishes.  Local instructor at Blackman High School Chef Daryl Mackin got asked at the last minute to fill in when one of the Chefs were a no show.  Rutherford County schools took away the stage winning first and third place.     Congratulations guys!
Mason Vickery from Blackman High placed FIRST "Autumn Soup with Lemon grass"
Clint Kremar from Smyrna High placed SECOND "Crazy Clint's Southwestern Chowder"


Blackman High School Chef Instructor Daryl Mackin
Smyrna High School Clint Kremar teamed up with Executive Chef Mike Cox from Sperry's
Blackman High School Mason Vickery teamed up with Executive Chef Maurizio from Opryland Hotel

Blackman High School Jermey Morris teamed up with Executive Chef Willie Jemison from Centerstone
Mason Vickery from Blackman High placed FIRST "Autumn Soup with Lemon grass"
Clint Kremar from Smyrna High placed SECOND "Crazy Clint's Southwestern Chowder"
 
Chef's Willies World

On Friday February 8,2008, the Johnson school culinary department and Ensworths high school visited the residents a Hadley park towers. They participated in annual meals on wheels, which provided hot lunches to the one hundred and twenty five residents.

The Hadley Park tower is located at 2901 John A Merritt Blvd it is a senior assisted living facility managed by the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. Peaches Manning is the resident association coordinator who help coordinate this event. Eula Mc Adam is the resident manager.

Enworth high school is located at 7401 highway 100. It has roughly 450 students in various service-learning project that day of which nine of which were sent to Centerstone’ community kitchen along with four culinary students from Johnson school. Roc Batton is Enworth Director of Service Learning. He and chef Willie Jemison Centerstone Coordinator of Community Kitchen; plan this service-learning event.

Johnson school is located at 1200-Second ave South. It is a metropolitan Nashville Davison county special education school for at risk students, where Chef Willie operates a culinary after school program. He teaches the student’s kitchen safety, sanitation skills, basic baking technique, Menu planning and preparation. He also enriches, empowered and enlightens the students to be the best that they can be.

The culinary students, along with the Ensworth students, prepared and served a healthy meal consisting of baked chicken, green beans, corn and corn bread. The ensworth students prepared the corn bread and the Green beans and the Johnson students prepared the Chicken and the corn. Chef Willie use the opportunity to teach healthy seasoning ideas

Using salt free products. The meal were a huge success and chef Willie and Roc Batton

Look forward to next year’s Meal on Wheel project.

Culinary Class Takes Its 1 st Road Trip

Chef Willie Jemison and students from Johnson School recently traveled to Siegel High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Chef Brenda Lewis to invited them Attend the Annual Advisory Committee Meeting for the Culinary Arts Program. The Advisory Committee meets Twice a year to discuss current trends, interest needs Ideas, as well as recommendations for the Culinary Arts Program.
Chef Willie proudly serves on the Chef Lewis Culinary Advisory Board. During the visit Chef Willie and the Johnson students met Assistant Principal Renee Martin and the culinary students.

The Johnson School Students assisted with the setup, much to the delight of Chef Willie! The refreshments were delicious and very appealing to the eye, and the students received many compliments.

After the meeting ended, the Johnson Students assisted in cleaning up and later were given a tour of the school, by Chef Willie. Siegel High School Has been in existence about 5 years, with a school Enrollment of over 1,600 students.

The Johnson students Were amazed by the size of the school and this ” tidbit” of information!


P.O.Box 22548   Nashville, TN 37202       615.865.2742