‘Simple Food, Healthy Eating’ is Theme of World Chef Culinary Conference at UMass Amherst, June 12-17

June 9, 2011

Contact:

Daniel J. Fitzgibbons 413/545-0444

AMHERST, Mass. - More than 200 chefs, college and university food service managers and representatives of major food manufacturers from across the United States and Canada are expected to attend the 17th annual Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference from June 12-17 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Two dozen guest chefs and food experts, led by Kevin Brauch of the Food Network, as well as Mark Miller, Roberto Santibanez, Jet Tila and Joanne Weir, are scheduled to participate as are faculty from Johnson and Wales University and the Culinary Institute of America. Other guests will include editors of national trade food magazines including FoodService Director, Food Management, On-Campus Hospitality and Flavor and The Menu.

The theme of this year’s conference is "Simple Food, Healthy Eating." Certified chefs, restaurant owners and leaders of food-service companies will give presentations and conduct workshops on simple food and healthy dishes from regions of America, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast and Northeast Asia.

"Our goal of this conference is to work with chefs and experts to provide more healthy choices to our customers through recipe testing, product demonstration and hands-on training," says Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass Amherst. "In addition, we will spend a considerable amount of time to develop recipes with little or no salt."

Healthy eating is one of the hottest topics in the nation; the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently replaced the confusing food pyramid with a colorful icon called MyPlate.

"In college dining, food is a serious business," says Toong. "Our customers are looking for simple and healthy foods (including beverages) that taste good and are good for them. Not only do we need to provide healthy choices, we also need to reduce sodium, offer more vegetables and fruits, reduce the portion sizes, be transfat-free, serve less sugary drinks, offer more protein from plant-based sources and encourage our students to make healthy choices and to exercise. When all is said and done, we want to make food that is simple to prepare, simple to cook, simple to serve and most of all, simply delicious."

New this year, there will be a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, June 15, with dining services directors from Stanford, Iowa State, Texas A&M and the University of New Hampshire providing their perspectives on the theme topic and making suggestions applicable to the wider audience of campus chefs, managers and directors.

The conference will culminate Friday, June 17, at the Berkshire Dining Commons with an Iron Chef-style team competition sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation. Seventeen four-chef teams will be given a mystery basket of ingredients and will have four hours to prepare 10 servings for a four-course menu based on the theme of the conference "Simple Food, Healthy Eating."

ACF-accredited chefs will judge the competition. Cooking starts at 6:30 a.m. The contestants will present their final dishes at 2 p.m. Awards will come in the form of medals and points toward collegiate chef’s credentials.

Events will be held in the Campus Center and at Berkshire Dining Commons.

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