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.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb250331.htm