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Ten years ago here at the CIA, the students were in an uproar because there were dozens of kitchens on campus, but none that students had access to outside of class. They were complaining that they did not have anywhere to practice and study if they did not live on campus. While, the college remedied that by installing kitchens in each of the dorms and having them staffed by work study students for several hours each day.
I had the opportunity to use those kitchens this weekend. I was recipe testing for Indianapolis DINE. It's a gig that I have been doing for several years. Indianapolis DINE receives recipes from different chefs and then makes them usable in the home kitchen. Sounds easy, but it isn't. There are two big problems: one, most restaurants don't use cups and tablespoons, we use scales. The second problem is that a lot of places don't use recipes. Ask a chef how to make something and they will most likely rattle off a list of ingredients, the rest is left implied.
So, step 1, Casey at DINE get the recipes and will write in a lot of things that seem to be left out. She then sends them to me where I actually cook everything. In the process I try to convert the weights to measures and the temperature levels to be compatible with a home stove. And, frequently, rewrite the text, add little ingredients, etc.
So I spent about 4 hours hunting down all of the ingredients (this is normal when trying to find some obscure ingredients). Then I rolled into the dorm kitchen loaded down. The kitchen was also loaded down, with 18 - 21-year-old students. What I quickly realized was that this is where the students went if they did not look 21. They were all cooking in little groups, talking about different foods and experimenting. This is the first time since I have been here that I think the younger students are getting a better education. They were learning from each other.
When they found out I was stocked with a plethora of Cuban recipes and ingredients, they dove in. In no time, with the promise being able to eat what they made, the CIA youth were cooking Cuban. We cooked and edited 24 recipes. I loved seeing these kids cooking and critically evaluating the foods. We used techniques that were new to me, such as escabeche and played with ingredients such as malanga. You will have to look for the next issue of Indianapolis DINE to see the wonderful foods you can create from these Cuban recipes.
Several people have been asking for the vital statistics on the CIA so here you go:
Degrees Associates in Occupational Studies, Culinary Arts or Baking and Pastry Science
Bachelors in Occupational Science, Hospitality
Cost: $30,000/year.
# of Grads: 36,000 people have graduated from CIA
35% of all culinary instructors in the United States are CIA grads (that is consistent with Ivy Tech)
Admission Requirements: 6-months experience in the back of the house, High School diploma or the equivalent. If the perspective student has taken SAT's they do not have to take an entrance exam. A score of 550 or higher on each of the sections will allow you to skip A-Block, which are a basic math and English classes.
Average Age of Student: 24
Gender: 60% Male, 40% Female
50% traditional students directly coming from high school
of the 50% non-traditional students, 50% have another college degree
92% of students get financial aid
The big news is that in 2 weeks the school will be announcing MAJOR changes to the curriculum. They will be going to trimesters. It will become a 4-year institution with the cooking classes spread through the entire 4 years. I am interested in what the new program will look like.
So I went down to New York City for the weekend and played tourist (I was even able to score a table at Per Se, more to follow on that tomorrow). I just made it back to campus with an hour before class. Enough time to grab some lunch and reflect on my surroundings.
Lunch in the cafeteria at the CIA is not your normal lunch. With 50 kitchens on campus, there is a lot to choose from. 12 of the kitchens are open for students to eat out of, most for just a 30 minute window. The cafeteria just started a new format this 3-week period. It is now called “Volume Feeding” class. This class serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, each for 3 hours. You can go through the line and get thinks such as a smoked salmon sandwich, Mediterranean pizza, or even just a burger. They also have stations set up to make Panini’s, salads and pasta to order. While this may sound mundane, you have to remember, all of this is happening in the chapel of a 200 year old Jesuit Seminary. It is the religious experience of food.
10 years ago as I sat in this room there would be a class of students that had just started that would be eating on the stage of the room. These students had to consume 5 course classical French cuisine every day for 3 weeks. Remember the freshmen 15, well; this was the A-block 15. That is gone. 10 years ago the chef instructors were setting in the alcoves of the old chapel, eating their lunch, and watching the students. The students would be called out by anyone of the instructors for unprofessional behavior. That is gone; they now have their own lounge.
Setting here eating lunch I realize this is not the same experience. I see students walking around with their ear buds in (which is not allowed). I see students that are not in complete uniform, which would never fly before, not even in the halls. And, sadly, I see food that is not consistent and that has not been seasoned. People scurry in grabbing their food quickly and pile it in their face. No recognition of the learning opportunity that they could be experiencing by tasting and talking about the food with the people at the table with them.
So many students have been talking about the NY Times article today about the culinary school debt. The thing the students keep coming back to is the question, "what makes one school better then the next?" The CIA is roughly $50,000 for an associates degree. Is the cost higher because the instruction is better? Is the instruction better?
Talking with Chef Leroux, he believes, as I do, that the quality of a culinary school is in the first couple of kitchen classes. These are where the students learn basic techniques that are going to be applied to everything they do. Where students learn how hot a pan HAS to be to saute; that to poach the liquid HAS to be 165 - 180 degrees; that you braise tough cuts of meat. The basics will make a person a good cook.
You don't need a bright sparkling clean new kitchen to do these things. The students here are complaining that the equipment in most kitchens are older then 20 years. So What. The students are here to learn the foundations of cooking. The chefs make sure the students have that base. The instruction must be at the top of a quality institution. This is a tough thing for many chefs. At Ivy Tech we discuss quite a bit, how do we teach chefs to teach? This must be something that all culinary schools focus on to be able to give the students the best education possible.
When it comes down to it, is there a major difference in the education that you get at $50,000 CIA and $2,500 Ivy Tech? The skills we teach are the same. The equipment is actually newer at Ivy Tech. One thing Ivy Tech does not have is a beautiful sprawling campus situated on the Hudson River (the picture is from my dorm window looking down the Hudson). What Ivy Tech does not have is 1,000's of students that live and breath foods. The amount of learning from the students just talking around campus is extremely important. And, the big thing you pay for at the CIA is the diploma from the CIA. Those 3 letters open doors in the business.
In a recent post on Michael Ruhlman's blog Bob DelGrosso (My Gastronomy Professor at the CIA in 1995/1996) reviews an anthropological view of Food Celebrity, focusing on Tony Bourdain. It is a very interesting read, what is even better are all of the comments in response (currently 53 comments). The blog brought up several things that I find top of the mind in many culinary professionals, i.e. Cost of Education, Salaries, Professionalism.
Without a doubt many culinary schools are overpriced. I see schools, even in the Midwest that are charging over $40,000 for a 2 year culinary degree. It is insane for me to think about a recent high school grad going to these schools. They will graduate thinking they are going to be the next Emeril and end up making $10.00/hr working a line. They will wash out of the business in months. As the person mentioned on Ruhlman's blog, go to a community college and spend the $2,000.
Check out the NY times article that was just sent to me on this subject.
Now, this may seem very odd coming from someone sitting in a dorm at the CIA. But before I attended CIA, I had worked in the business and knew it was my passion. 10 years ago when I came here, I knew after I graduated I would be making more money because I had a CIA degree and experience. Today, probably 1/2 of the students in my class have told me they do not want to work in a kitchen after they graduate! I was sitting at dinner with a student last night from Korea. When I asked her what her plans were after graduation she said that she realized being here, she does not want to cook. "What, I am not sure I heard that right", was my response. She travels thousands of miles for an expensive eduction to realize she doesn't want to cook! She is going back to Korea to learn how to teach. Wow
Anthony Bourdain's tales in Kitchen Confidential were great stories that sold books. He knows what to say to push buttons and get people comin' back for more. Believe it or not, all chefs aren't behind the dumpster screwing the bride. Culinary professionals are, well, professional. They are people that manage people in a difficult environment who are under paid. They are people that love food. They love to create. They are perfectionists that take what they do VERY seriously. They wear a uniform with pride. I'll admit, I love to read Tony's books and watch his shows. He is entertaining. But, like watching professional wrestling, you know things are sometimes planned for the audience.
As a side note, I was looking through the bookstore last night and found 2 of his books in the bargain bin. Kitchen Confidential and Bone in the Throat were bundled together for $9.99. I wonder what the Bad Boy thinks of his books being discounted at his own school.
As I have Sunday and Monday without classes, I spent the weekend exploring all the places I used to visit. The school is in the middle of the Hudson River Valley, about 60 miles north of NYC. The area is packed with artisan farmers. I am reminded of being in Italy as I travel from place to place talking with the different farmers. These are people that love what they are doing and are very good at it. The techniques they use really make the food taste like is suppose to. If you go to these guys you get eggs that taste like chicken. Milk that tastes like what the cow is eating. Wines that have terrior characteristics.
People in Upstate New York seem to be much more aware of where their food comes from and what it should taste like. In Indiana we are "blessed" with HUGE grocery stores that have thousands of items. You would be hard pressed in a place like that to find a piece of produce that hasn't traveled 2,000 miles. Here, 3 guides are put together seasonally listing farms and festivals, even a nice little chart showing you what is in season (remember when you could only get strawberries in the spring?).
We have these artisan growers in the Indy area also. Everyone talks about Traders' Point. But, there are many more farms in the area. You can meet many of these people by attending a Slow Foods meeting or going to one of the many farmers markets around town. In New York the governments help the farmers advertise, in Indiana we are not as lucky. I encourage you to go out and buy meat from Debbie Apple at Apple Family Farms in McCordsville. Taste an egg that tastes like it should and actually has a yellow yolk by picking up eggs from Luella at Seven Springs Farms. Drink wine that isn't stripped of geographic character, drink some wine at Mallow Run Winery in Bargersville. Find Indiana's Bounty.
Now that everyone is dancing the kitchen seems to be humming along more smoothly. Students are wondering around the kitchen more tonight looking to see what the other stations are making. This is different from when I was here 10 years ago. Then, I felt, you had to keep your head down and get your work done. If you were to talk with other students the chefs would be unhappy due to the noise. I am happy the students are able to learn from each other now.
10 years ago it seemed as though the CIA was going through a transition. The older European chef instructors were retiring. In their places were going young, energetic chef instructors. These new instructors were excited about food. They loved to talk about food. That was very encouraging as I was leaving the school back in 1997. Unfortunetely, I did not have a lot of these thought provoking foodaholics. I had the instructor that liked to stand over you and tell you what you were doing wrong, must of the time in an elivated voice level.
In fact, in the first class where you produce foods that are eaten by the regular student body (intro to hot foods) I had a little Italian chef instructor. This guy was 5 foot nothin' and reminded me of Yoda. He liked to yell. So much so, one day in the middle of food service he has a heart attack! Not the first time it happened to him. Even as he was leaving the kitchen, hands clutching his chest, he was yelling.
Now, the school has chefs like sagely Chef Leroux. We now get to hear his wisdom, if we have question we can ask him for help. If we want to learn what the other students are doing, we just go learn from them.
Say "Day 1" to anyone who went to the CIA and they just shake their heads. Every 3 weeks at the Culinary Institute students start a new class. Here in this large culinary campus that means that students are in a new kitchen classroom. Cooking in a busy kitchen is a dance. When you get to know where everything is and know how everyone else around you moves it is graceful to watch. But, put 15 people in a kitchen that is foreign and ask them to cook food at a 5-star quality for paying customers, and, oh yeah, you only have 3 hours to get ready for them...that is ugly. The one thing that is constant is that the same 16 students are, pretty much, together for 21 months. They become a tight, highly functioning team.
So, my Day 1 was not nearly as bad as I remembered from 10 years ago. At 1 p.m., I met 3 other students in the store room to pick up the food we will need in the kitchen will I will be cooking. We take the foods to the kitchen and put them away before meeting in a classroom at 2 p.m.. There are 15 of us in the class. A couple of people have come and gone in the group, but 14 have been together for a majority of the time here. From 2 o'clock to 3 Chef LeRoux (yes that is his real name) lectures. from 3-5 we will do food prep. 5 - 5:30 we eat dinner and then go into dinner service. Last reservations role in at 9 p.m. and we finish service and clean-up around 11PM. This is the life of a student in the Back of the House (BOH) at the Escoffier Restaurant (E-Room).
The E-Room is a 5-star restaurant that is one of 4 restaurants on campus. We serve about 100 customers each night. The 15 students are broken down into classic brigade system stations. I am working the Saucier Station with a classmate Mark. For the next 3 weeks we will be making 2 plates for the menu: Supreme de valaille "Mousseline aux Morilles" Sauce Creme (Chicken Breast with "Morel Mousseline," Cream Sauce) and "Ramier" Poele, Puree de Pois Frais, Jus au Balsamic (Roasted Squab with Fresh Pea Puree and Balsamic Jus).
One thing that is shocking is that Chef LeRoux does not have any recipes written for the menu. During the lecture hour he described how he wanted the food put together and said, "go do it". This was a surprise for all of the students. They are used to being able to go to CIA's website and pull down the classes lecture materials and recipes.
It turned out to be a wonderful thing. I looked around as the students went into the kitchen. They were all talking about what they had learned in previous classes and how to do what Chef had talked about. This is the last cooking class all of the students will have. And, they were proving what they had learned. In 2 hours we had everything ready for service and the kitchen was not a disaster!
After Day 1, I am very excited about the next 3 weeks. The students are very cohesive and the know their skills. I am happy that our instructor is the same instructor I had for my first cooking classes 12 years ago; ironically, the first group he ever taught at the CIA. I am happy that 15 students danced on day 1 without stepping on each others toes.
After driving for 13 hours I rolled onto the campus of the Culinary Institute of America at 11 p.m. on Thursday. This is the first time in 10 years that I have been back. Ten years ago I walked across stage and received a hand shake from Ferdinand Metz, then President of the college. About a month after that I was informed that I had to retake a class. The CIA has very strict standards, and I had missed more then 1 day due to illness which meant I did not pass the class. Of course, by the time I had noticed that I had to retake the class I was working away. So, long story short I have returned to college to take a 3-week class.
So far, although around campus there are many structural changes, I haven't noticed much change to the school. Michael Ruhlman was in my class when I originally went to the CIA. If you have read The Making of a Chef then you read the story of my education.
As I rolled through campus on the why to my dorm, I was shocked at how many kids were walking around in a party-like atmosphere. I thought, this would have never have happened 10 years ago. Then I started remembering some of the things I was involved with and realized that the students were the same as me; age and actions.
Checking into the dorms I was shocked by to coldness of the cinder block walks and size of the room. My new 20-year-old roomy Woodrow was studying away for a final in Food Service Math (Algebra) the next day. He was on overload, an allnighter ahead.
I am excited about tomorrow, my first day of class. I know I will be looking at it through different eyes and wonder what I will see. What people say in the industry is that the students don't get the say experience today. I will see first-hand starting tomorrow.
