Culinary Jlhongm

Just about culinary information

Author Archive: blogger

Becoming a Gastronomic Perfectionist with a Culinary Management Course

October 27, 2018

Everyone around loves the food you cook. Your friends and relatives just look for an excuse to drop in and relish your food.

Don’t you want to transform your hobby into a rewarding career? Don’t you want to gain more skills and become a culinary expert? Do you fancy preparing international cuisine and working with hotels or cruise lines?

If yes, a career in culinary management may be the right choice for you. You will learn various culinary techniques that can help you bring international perspective to traditional cuisine.

If you think it to be a routine cookery course, let me tell you that it’s not. Culinary management is no longer limited to just preparing, cooking, garnishing and presenting food. It’s beyond that. It’s about understanding a unique relationship between cuisine, culture and religion.

It’s about understanding diverse cuisines around the world and their significance to the local crowd. It delves deeper into techniques and practices for food preparation, presentation and serving while ensuring absolute hygiene, safety and sanitation.

About a Culinary Management Program in Canada

A culinary management program in Toronto is a two-year post-secondary diploma program. It offers you a solid understanding of principles and practices of nutrition, basic and advanced culinary skills, techniques, procedures and practices, baking principles and practices and cuisine and culture.

You also get to learn about other aspects including sanitation, safety and hygiene, career planning and principles of food, beverage and labour cost controls. The program also helps you gain good understanding of diverse cuisines including European, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, South Asian, Southeast Asian and American.

You not only learn to cook diverse foods but will also be well versed in management strategies, sanitation practices nutritional principles. You are also prepared to manage the diversity in the workplace by understanding the unique relationship between eating habits of people, region and religion.

What Does the Program Include?

A culinary management course covers all basic food preparation techniques and helps students gain an understanding about international cuisines. It includes theoretical sessions on food and related practices, techniques and its culture association. The program also combines supervised cooking and baking in state-of-the-art labs, discussions with industry experts, food events, practical training and field placement. Seminars on different cuisines are also hosted from time to time.

How to Enroll in a Culinary Program?

You must have achieved a mature student status and obtained a secondary school diploma to meet the minimum eligibility criteria to seek admission in a culinary program. You also need to produce English Grade 12 C or University or equivalent certificate or scores.

Students enrolling in this course gain the knowledge, skills and attitude to carry out their duties well in a professional setting. They can seek employment in restaurants, hotels, cruise lines, airlines, resorts, clubs, schools, hospitals and camps for entry level positions. The exact job responsibilities may vary depending upon the company you work with.

This program offers you a sound culinary foundation. You can also consider establishing your small food or restaurant business and serve people in your locality with hygienically prepared international cuisine. You can also opt for a degree course later on if ever you feel the need or want to hone your skills further.

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The History Of Thai Food And Its Many Influences

October 24, 2018

Whether you like your food spicy, sweet, sour, or salty, Thai food has all these flavors and more. Unique in nature because it appeals to everyones food instincts, Thai cuisine is not just bursting with flavor, but every mouthful of it creates an explosive sensation in the mouth, whether its a stir-fry dish, a noodle/rice dish, or a curry. Undoubtedly, its this explosion of taste that is pushing Thai food on the list of most popular cuisines in the world as well as in North America. So who or what gets the credit of having developed such a fantastic blend of flavors that appeal to everyones taste buds? What factors inspired the Thai people to create such fantastic gourmet combinations and the seamless blend of flavors, tastes, and aromas? Why wait; lets find out!

The culinary culture of this royal country boasts of a rich and ancient history. History has it that Thais had already begun to enjoy the Siamese cuisine during the 13th century. Siamese cuisine consisted of servings of seafood and meat dishes along with fresh local vegetables, spices and herbs such as pepper and garlic, on a bed of rice. Due to open borders with neighboring countries, Thailands style of cooking started absorbing influences from India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, and China. Thai food began being cooked with spices, ingredients, and even cookware from these countries. For example, the Thais learned to use, now their most important culinary tool – the steel wok as well as learnt how to create noodles. India contributed in the form of turmeric, chillies, cumin, coriander, and many other Indian spices. However, in addition to adapting the best cooking styles from others, Thais didnt forgo their styles completely. Instead they combined the best of both worlds and created Thai food as we know of it today. An example of this fact is that though Thai food uses noodles in the dishes, these noodles are made from rice and not wheat or egg as with Chinese or Italian dishes.

Other important influences that contributed to the growth and taste of Thai food include spicy flavors of Burmese sambals or red chilly sauces; exotic rice dishes inspired by Indonesian cuisine, and Malaysian curries. In fact, interestingly, one of the most well-known Thai Red Curry dishes is called Penang after the Malaysian state!

Food, as with life, adapts, develops, and enhances itself with time and cultural influences. With the sharing of knowledge, ingredients, and interaction, cuisines mature just like Thai cuisine has.

For more such interesting information on Thai food history and other interesting facts visit our Thai Food website- http://www.templeofthai.com/

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Organic Herb Farms A New Trend In Agriculture

October 16, 2018

Getting into organic farming might seem to be quite a tough task, but it is not so if you start gradually and develop your knowledge and experience step by step. Starting with organic herb farm is easier than any other kind of organic farm. This is because herbs are easier to grow organically than many other crops; besides you dont need much land for them. A few acres of good land are enough to have a profitable organic herb farm. Consider a few things before buying land for your organic herb farm.

Climate

First of all you have to research what kinds of organic herb farms already exist in your area. Talk to the farmers and find out what the climate is like, and which herbs grow best there. Ask for their advice; they are experts; treat them well and they can help your organic herb farm to be a success.

Market

Make your research about the local market for your organic herb produce. How are other organic herb farms doing financially? Is there a large enough market for one more organic herb farm? How do others sell their produce? Do they sell herbal products as well as herbs? What equipment is needed to make those products?

These are the basic questions to you will need answers to. Just as you would with any business, do a thorough market analysis before deciding to start an organic herb farm.

Land

Prior to looking for land, decide a few things first. How much land do you need? Do you want cleared or wooded land? Do you want previously cultivated land? Is there an existing organic herb garden for sale?

You may choose to live on your organic herb farm in this case, you have to make sure there is a livable home on it. Check out the outbuildings to make sure they are adequate for your needs. If you are currently a city dweller, dont forget that you need to find out about water supply, electrical supply and septic.

Since you plan on starting an organic herb farm, try to find land that has not been treated with chemical additives. For this matter try to get the history of the land and get to know everything that has been done to it, at least for the past five to ten years. You will need this history in order to get organic certification for your organic herb farm.

Crop

With an organic herb farm you have a few options regarding the crops. Be aware that monoculture farming sets you up for disaster. It is better to have more than one kind of crop in case one doesnt do well.

You can grow perennial herbs on your organic herb farm, such as lavender, rosemary and thyme. You can harvest and sell the herbs directly to consumers, to food producers or to cosmetic and other industries. You can make herbal products, and sell them, as well. Popular culinary herbs, such as basil and oregano are grown hydroponically these days. You can also grow them in the ground. Culinary herbs proved to be a good cash crop.

The market for native or naturally growing herbs is expanding. You can harvest high value native plants wherever they grow on your land. Many of these herbs grow best in wooded areas, and you can interplant them in your woodlot. Ginseng, goldenseal, cohosh and Echinacea are all examples of native herbs that have commercial value. Most native herbs are used for medicinal purposes.

You dont have to possess a degree in agriculture to start an organic herb farm and become a successful organic farmer. Of course, you will have to learn a lot and put a lot of efforts, but you can start your organic herb farm with a relatively small investment and still achieve great results.

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Culinary Schools Acknowledge World And Regional Cuisines

October 11, 2018

Traditional culinary schools have evolved considerably since the 1950’s and 60’s. At that time, gourmet cooking was still based primarily on centuries of tradition firmly rooted in the European cooking tradition. Although there were culinary schools in the United States at that time, they were few and far between because many still felt that the world’s great chefs hailed primarily from Europe and France in particular. Times have changed considerably and the world of gourmet cooking has benefited greatly from the shift.

If you still remember Julia Child’s television series that introduced good cooking to the general public, you may also remember the cooking style she demonstrated which was traditional, satisfying and heavy foods. There were rich sauces and traditional French cuisine that was wonderful, however there was little variety in terms of regional dishes. French, Italian and Spanish dishes were often demonstrated, but Asian and American ethnic cuisines weren’t taught.

It isn’t surprising, like most chefs at that time, Julia Child was traditionally trained in the French tradition. The relatively small number of culinary schools in the United States at mid-century were all based on a traditional French pattern. Over the years, however, the demand for creative dishes and ethnic cuisines grew and culinary institutes began to respond. The finest schools continue to cover the basic and advanced techniques of European cooking, but now also give students in-depth understanding of regional cooking techniques, seasonings and styles.

In the last three decades, ethnic and regional food specialties have gained huge popularity. Where these foods were once found primarily in ethnic neighborhoods, they have now gone mainstream and been elevated to fine cuisine due to their increased popularity and the interest of great chefs around the globe. Culinary schools now teach students everything from unusual cooking methods to sausage making and everything in between.

In an increasingly small world where so many people travel to different cultures and try new foods, it isn’t surprising that the interest in regional and world cuisine has taken off. When travelers return home, they hope to find the delicious foods they’ve learned to love at home as well, and chefs are responding to this trend.

Today’s culinary schools cover a wide variety of food traditions, including French, Spanish, Italian, Asian, Polynesian, Creole and Cajun, as well as many sub-categories of each of these international cuisines. “Fusion” foods are also increasingly popular. Fusion is the combination of two distinct types of cuisine in order to create unique new dishes. Fusion restaurants are now some of the most popular in the country because of their skillful blending of many international traditions that produce flavorful new dishes to tempt diners.

If you enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and trying new ways to prepare traditional foods, culinary school may be the perfect career choice for you. Be sure to ask each school you are considering what kinds of cuisines will be taught. The best culinary schools have evolved and continue to do so in order to tempt the public’s increasingly discriminating and worldly palate.

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Cottage Food Laws Making Profits From Your Kitchen

October 7, 2018

If you search for a baking forum, several will pop up showcasing discussions about women worldwide using their home-based kitchens to bake cakes, cookies, pies, cupcakes, breads and more, all in an effort to make extra income and show-off their culinary talents. In 2002, Warren Brown, moonlighted as a cake baker, eventually leaving his job as a Washington DC lawyer to take his deliciously amazing cakes to the masses two bakeries. Today Brown has seven locations across Maryland, Virginia and the nations capitol.

Everyone knows someone who can create a delicious cake or pie; In fact, if you stroll through any community farmer’s market you will see folks selling their homemade baked goods, apple butter or heirloom candy? The ability to sell a food specialty is made possible in most United States (U.S.) communities by the existence of “cottage food laws;” a special law giving home food processors permission to make potentially non hazardous food products from the home kitchen. In the U.S., cottage food laws are different for every state so home food processor’s must check with their individual state regulatory agency to learn about specific food processing rules and food labeling requirements; while all other states may require the use of a licensed commercial kitchen.

Today eleven states currently have house bills pending, and the residents are hopeful these cottage food laws will pass bringing that much needed shot in the arm to their local economies. There is really no way of knowing how many home-based bakers and small food processors there are across America, however one thing is for certain, today the consumers desire for homemade, clean label foods with no preservatives opens the door for all food entrepreneurs ready and willing to become essential commodities in their community.

The list of states below have cottage food law legislation pending:

Arizona
HB2103 – 501R – I
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2103p.htm

Arkansas
The newest state to pass a cottage food law
http://www.arkansashouse.org/public/php/pdf_viewer.php?pdf=ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2011/Public/HB1323.pdf

Maryland
http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa12262.html

South Dakota
South Dakota Bill (HB1240)
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2103p.htm

Washington State
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2011&bill=5748

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