The Center for Economic and Workforce Development in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture, hosted a two week Food and Wine training for eight chefs from China. The eight chefs (seven from Chengdu and one from Shanghai) were part of the Cochran Fellowship Program from July 31 to August 14, 2010.  The Cochran Fellowship Program is administered by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.  It seeks to provide training and support to help developing nations improve their agricultural systems and improve trading relations with the United States.  Dr. Jonathan Deutsch, who is the director of the Culinary Management Center at Kingsborough Community College, directed the two-week training.  

The Cochran Fellowship Program aimed to expose the Chinese Chefs to American cuisine.  The chefs spent their first week of the program in New York.  After an orientation and some time to rest from their flight the chefs began taking a series of cooking courses and wine tastings, some of which took place at Kingsborough Community College.   The Chefs were also taken to various markets in NYC where they could see things such as the produce, spices and chef tools that are sold there.   Before leaving for New Orleans, the chefs had an executive job shadow in partnership with the James Beard Foundation.  Facilitating the program were two chefs serving as trainers: Chef Thom Smyth and Chef Karen Lau Liu-Yan Taylor.  

The next two days were spent at the Carnival in the Kitchen Annual Foodservice Expo in New Orleans, followed by a Louisiana food and culture tour.  The chefs were then taken to California for the next few days for a food and wine tour.  They were given wine tastings, tours of wineries, and presentations on food and wine pairings.  During their time here in the US, the chefs learned more about our raw ingredients, cooking healthy, new techniques, and a better understanding of American food, culture and products.  They hope to be able to incorporate the knowledge they gained here into their businesses at home. Thanks to the Cochran Fellowship Program the chefs were able to enjoy a wonderful two weeks touring the US and experiencing American cuisine.

Written by Alessandro Alempijevic