What Sex Is a Squash Blossom?
Future Chefs from Kendall College Immerse Themselves in “Farm to Plate” at Southern Illinois U.
CHICAGO, November 12, 2009 – Crop and dairy production, animal husbandry, aquaculture and more were on tap for seven bachelor’s-program students from Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts, who visited farms owned and operated by Southern Illinois University’s College of Agricultural Sciences in Carbondale (SIUC) for a week in September. The immersion in food harvesting and processing was the second-annual collaboration between Kendall and SIUC.
“Students experienced first-hand how raw food products are grown, raised, harvested and processed for consumption,” says chef-instructor Dana Cox, who organized the tour. “The Kendall group was exposed to conventional production methods that value efficiency, as well as family-operated, small-scale producers who utilize organic practices and focus on niche markets that appreciate the investment required in those methods.” For example, a visit to a farm that raises Texel-breed lamb, owned by Walter Stubbs in Cobden, Ill., demonstrated how grass-feeding impacts the health of the animal as well as the flavor and nutrition of the meat, which Stubbs’ private customers, who purchase the bulk of his stock prior to slaughter, demand, Cox says.
Additionally, Kendall students were exposed to the latest developments in vermiculture (worm composting), aquaculture (farm-raised fish) and viticulture (wine-making), hosted by SIU’s professors specializing in these studies. Two organic produce farms were toured, and students foraged for wild mushrooms with a fungus expert. They also learned about advancements in modern soybean production, and even discovered how to determine the sex of a squash blossom for germination.
Two wineries on the Shawnee Wine Trail—Owl Creek Vineyard and StarView Vineyards, both located in the only federally approved wine-growing region in Illinois—provided tastings and tours. Brad Genung, owner and vintner of Owl Creek Vineyard, grows and sources only local grapes. Scott Sensmeier, owner of StarView Vineyards, introduced Kendall students and three chef instructors—Cox, Dina Altieri and Heidi Hedeker—to hybrid grapes such as the Traminette, which produces a semi-sweet, floral, white wine (like Gewürztraminer), as well as natives such as the Norton, a hearty grape whose small size means high skin-to-juice ratios, which aid firm tannins.
By night, the group of Kendall students and faculty were housed at a local working farm, the “Green Retreat,” where they grilled their own meals on the farm’s open barbecue pit. Students also prepared an al-fresco dinner for 100 guests from the greater Carbondale community using local farm and agriculture-school products.
“I’ve always felt that a chef is really a steward in a sense, preparing the farmer’s harvest and passing it on to the customer at the end of the farm-to-plate cycle,” says Cox. “It is so valuable to understand as much of that story as we can, so that we can better fulfill our responsibility to the farmers, respecting their efforts as we cook. The dinner we prepared in Carbondale with foods we’d just seen in the fields was an amazing experience, and brought home the fact that we are all part of a food community. As chefs, we can create a market for real, artisan foods and help our customers to understand the value of such products.
“Farmers can only produce what consumers will buy, and chefs can have an enormous impact in enhancing awareness of this relationship.”
Plans are already under way for next September’s tour to SIUC with a fresh group of Kendall College culinary-arts students, Cox says.
About Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts
Founded in 1985, the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College is among the premier culinary-training programs in the United States, offering associate and bachelor’s degrees and certificates in culinary arts as well as associate degrees and certificates in baking and pastry. The school occupies a stunning “Riverworks” campus near downtown Chicago. The American Culinary Federation Education Foundation Accrediting Commission has accredited the Culinary Arts Associate and Baking & Pastry Associate programs since 1988. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009, Kendall College also operates Schools of Hospitality Management, Business and Education. Since 1962, it has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org, 800.621.7440). Kendall College is a member of the Laureate International Universities network.
Contacts
Amber Cerda, acerda@kendall.edu, 312-752-2472
Maria Alexandra Velez, mvelez@kendall.edu, 443-627-7112
