Pennsylvania Culinary Institute Chef-Instructor Travels to China to Train Local Chefs in the Cooking Ways of America
Cooking Instructor Travels across the Ocean to Help Beijing Chefs Become Skilled in Western-Style Cuisine Techniques
Pittsburg, PA (PRWEB) June 13, 2005 -- In 2008, over a million people will
pour into Beijing for a few weeks of rivalry and contest, and will have American
meals close-by, should this be their choosing, thanks to a few of our locals.
Bill Hunt, The Dean of Culinary Arts at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, (www.pci.edu/index.asp),
and Byron Bardy, a retired chef for H.J. Heinz are back from China, where they
trained chefs on Western-style cooking techniques. They helped to create the
year-old Heinz Western Restaurant which is located at the Chinese government’s
Olympic sports training center in Beijing and offers American cuisine.
Several years ago, while in that country, Freddie Fu, head of UPMC’s
Center for Sports Medicine, was told that officials were interested in creating
a Western-style cafeteria for their athletes, in advance of the 2008 summer
Olympic games in Beijing. They wanted the world-class athletes be exposed to
different tastes, and also for the sports center to have a sophisticated
operation to show off during the 2008 games.
When Fu informed H.J. Heinz
of the plans, Heinz representatives called Byron Bardy, a certified master chef
retired from the company and now working as a consultant, he then recruited Bill
Hunt, the Dean of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts at Pennsylvania Culinary
Institute in Pittsburgh. Heinz, which has not disclosed how much it will invest
in the project, agreed to pay for costs such as those involved in hiring two
high-powered chefs.
The two men designed a kitchen and an 80-seat
cafeteria and created a two week menu, that would be taught to the chefs in
China. On the menu they included gumbo and clam chowder, as well as California
cuisine and even spaghetti and paninis. After nine months the restaurant was
built and the recipes translated. The American chefs led two five-week training
sessions with the local chefs at the center.
Hunt and Bardy, are
planning to return again this fall to teach new recipes to the now-seasoned
chefs. They are interested to see what the Olympic hopefuls have found to eat
since they were last in Beijing. When last there, they found that the gymnasts
loved the salads, the wrestlers favored steaks. Like athletes in the US, they
tried to stay away from the cream-based dishes but the spicy foods were a
favorite.
For over two decades, the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute
(PCI) has been a provider of culinary education preparing tomorrows chefs. PCI
strives to ensure that the chef instructors and programs are current with the
today’s progressive styles, foremost skills and industry current technology used
in the culinary world. It has a partnership with the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu
and has their internationally renowned programs as the basis for the curriculum
at this cooking school, offering prestigious curriculums in Le Cordon Bleu
Culinary Arts www.pci.edu/programs/culinary-arts.asp and Le Cordon Bleu
Pâtisserie & Baking www.pci.edu/programs/patisserie.asp and Le Cordon Bleu
Hospitality & Restaurant Management www.pci.edu/programs/hrm.asp.
Pennsylvania Culinary
Institute is located in the center of Pittsburgh's cultural district at 717
Liberty Avenue -- surrounded by many fine restaurants, theaters and art
galleries. Pittsburgh’s diverse and creative environment helps to make PCI the
easy choice to receive a fabulous and nationally-recognized culinary
education.
The details of the programs offered by the cooking school can
be found at www.pci.edu/index.asp or call 800-432-2433.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb250331.htm