September ; From the Latin word “seven” because this had been the seventh month of the early Roman calendar.
Our Chef of the Month
James Beard Chef Rising Star/ Chef Mashama Bailey

Mashama is a New York City girl – born in the Bronx and raised in Queens. Her maternal roots hail from Waynseboro, GA and as a result Mashama attended grammar school in Savannah at Charles Ellis and spent many summers at her grandmother’s in Waynesboro. Mashama learned to cook at the hands of the women in her family with grandmothers, aunts and her mom giving her the best kind of education – a real world one. She attended ICE to round out that education and has studied in France and travelled far for food. She spent a dozen years cooking throughout New York City the last four of which were at Prune on Manhattan’s Lower East Side under the tutelage of her friend and mentor, Gabrielle Hamilton. As executive chef of The Grey, Mashama has earned a number of accolades, including James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast award in 2019. She also serves as Vice Chairman on the board of the Edna Lewis Foundation, working to preserve and celebrate Edna’s legacy that heavily influenced her menu at The Grey. Mashama surrounds herself with family, friends and food and she is a firm believer in the old adage that you learn something new every day.

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Chef Mashama signature dishes.

Shrimp - Grits
Foie & Grits
Clams & Dumplings
The Cuban Sandwich
Spicy Roasted Eggplant
Beef Tartare
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Chef Mashama in Action

Ways to Get Vitamin "D"

7 ways to reduce stress and keep blood pressure down

Food link to better brain power

Just as there is no magic pill to prevent cognitive decline, no single almighty brain food can ensure a sharp brain as you age. Nutritionists emphasize that the most important strategy is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Try to get protein from plant sources and fish and choose healthy fats, such as olive oil or canola, rather than saturated fats.

Excerpts from “True North” by Bill George

Bill George thinks that most people struggle to understand the purpose of their leadership. What purpose will it serve? In order to find their purpose, leaders must first understand themselves and their passions. Typically some of you will take months, perhaps several years to determine what you want to do, as you gain valuable work place experience. Now for some of us it takes years to find the right place to devote our passions, the purpose and the source of our leadership. I urge you periodically to ask yourself; “what do I want out of my life?” If you continue to look inwardly, your ‘internal compass’ will point the way to the purpose for your leadership, the difference that you can make in the world, and the legacy that you leave based on your internal compass, your ‘true north’. You’re prepared to succeed, to take reasonable risks, to know the great enthusiasms and great devotions, and to commit yourself to a worthy cause. This is what Bill George called the fulfillment of leadership. You cannot find that fulfillment by observing leaders from the sidelines. He says that you must get in there, get your face marred by dust, sweat and blood. That is what life and leadership are all about.

Notes from a Purchasing Pro by Robert Dennerlein.

I am excited to post my first tip, on Purchasing for Profit. It is my desire that this information will assist the industry with practical wisdom and best practices.
Quality/Cost Control/Yields: For any operation to succeed it is important to provide customers with a consistent quality at a cost that allows profitability. Your distributor can assist with both quality and cost control. Request your distributor to do food cuttings and provide yield analysis, so you can determine the actual cost of product (EP vs AP). What matters is your EP, which can be 15% higher from one label to another. For example, a #10 can of diced tomatoes may contain 15% more tomatoes than a lesser AP/quality label. If the tomatoes of the higher label were 10% more expensive you have a 5% savings by utilizing the higher-grade product due to the yield or edible tomatoes.

 Robert Dennerlein, Robert is a Past President of the Las Vegas Branch many years ago, and has recently rejoined IFSEA.  Welcome back Robert and thank you for allowing us to publish this edited article.  

“The Beginning of Cooking as We Know It”
Taillevent (real name Guillaume Tirel, ca. 1312-1395) wrote the first cookbook (with some sections bearing a close resemblance to a book written before he was born). He is an inspiration to anyone in the cooking profession. He began at the bottom of the kitchen ladder as a spit roaster; endlessly turning the meats on the spit in front of an open fire. But he worked his way up quickly and was given a house, a tide, travel allowances, and a coat of arms—three little cooking pots. He ended his life as master cook to King Charles VI of France. .
Hot off the Press
Leading From the Top
When leaders mate a positive difference, people act like they own the place, and they bring their brains to work. Their managers encourage their newfound initiative. Leadership has two parts: vision and implementation. The visionary role is the leadership aspect of servant leadership. Implementation is where the servant aspect of servant leadership comes into play..
Your Next Leadership Superpower
It’s easy, free, and requires no special equipment. Don’t underestimate the power of praise to motivate people. If done correctly, it builds social capital and even loyalty, so people will follow you even when things get tough. It may seem counterintuitive to tell an employee on a difficult day that they’re doing a great job. After all, when you’re alone at the top, no one offers such words to you. But as a leader you take the brunt of your team’s defensiveness, their worries, their insecurities, their annoyances.
Remembering Chef Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, HOF

This week the culinary community has shared in a collective heartbreak as we learned of the passing of our fellow culinarian, Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, HOF. He was an amazing soul who brought inspiration and light to so many. Many of us came to know Michael from different places and for different reasons, or maybe you didn’t know him at all and are learning about him for the first time from this blog. As our world takes a pause to mourn the loss of Michael, we want to share with you a little bit about his story…

Our token of appreciation to our local sponsors , The Aegean Group, The Las Vegas Food Project and Smithfield Culinary, for participating on this amazing Las Vegas ACF National Convention !!

El Maestro De La Hospitalidad - Ed Manley

Ed brings to the hospitality world a depth of experience in leading transformational change in corporate, government, military and education settings to all. Ed would be the first to insist that credit for what is happening at hospitality, go not to him but to his team and the follower’s community of committed, inspired, creative, and caring people, those who have synergistically joined forces such as, business leaders, educators, administrators, and at least but no last, IFSEA members, to bring a measure of new hope to the field of hospitality education by providing wise input.
Additionally, I would like to extend heartfelt gratitude for his contribution and invaluable sacrifice, by providing visionary direction to the overall scope of this work.. He, along with his team at IFSEA, has offered significant insights. Their talents are exceeded only by their passion to help others to reach their goals.
His success in business always relies on effective, coherent and consistent communication. His vision is a vital tool for building trust, aligning efforts in the pursuit of common goals, and inspiring positive change to all!. Thank you Ed.
God Bless!

"The end of the American Restaurant "Leading Changes and the Sense of Urgency to Adapt to Challenges.
Now that I have your attention, let’s have a serious conversation. This is meant to be a chat with all the stakeholders: cooks, chefs, servers, bartenders, managers, owners, dishwashers, and customers. The end IS NOT near, in fact, restaurants have never been more important than they are right now. Yet, all we hear is negativity. We can’t find any employees, people don’t want to work anymore, restaurants treat employees like crap, the pay sucks and the benefits don’t exist, prices are too high, supplies are impossible to find, and profit is so small that it isn’t worth the sweat and tears. That’s a load of negativity to digest – no wonder the title to this article makes some people believe that it’s true. Wake up! Most problems are really challenges and challenges can be met with a willingness to listen, to analyze, and change. We all need to listen, analyze and change – are you willing? Hungry for more, visit the Harvest America Ventures website; https://harvestamericacues.com/ .
In uncertain and turbulent times, accepting that challenge is the only antidote to chaos, stagnation, and disintegration. Times change. Problems change, technologies change, and people change. Leadership endures. Teams, organizations, and communities need people to step up and take charge. Change is the province of leaders. It is the work of leaders to inspire people to do things differently, to struggle against uncertain odds, and to persevere toward a misty image of a better future. Education and development opportunities to assimilate the necessary personal organizational changes. Create• Stimulating development experiences for each employee. Off-line time to think. Exposure to challenging input about changes in other organizations and th .
Restaurants 21/22: The Year In Review + The Year To Come (by Zagat)

The movers, shakers, thinkers, makers, and innovators in this year’s stories are engaging with a restaurant industry radically changed by the pandemic. Last year’s pivots to delivery and outdoor dining have given way to major shifts in how the restaurant business talks about itself—from labor and compensation to kitchen culture, supply chains, pricing, and customer relations. Long-held assumptions are being re-examined and sometimes discarded in favor of ideas that would have been unthinkable just two years ago. And many people who work in hospitality are finding new strength and inspiration in reconnecting with community, service, passion, and purpose at the most personal level. As different as 2021 was from 2020 in the world of restaurants, 2022 promises no letup in the dizzying pace of change. Explore the Restaurants 21/22 storytellers below

Click here for more information

IFSEA news
I recommend to you a wonderful time saving tool created by- IFSEA Member, Executive Chef, F&B Director Lucio Arancibia – lnfoodsys is focused on inspiring and empowering Culinarians everywhere to exceed all challenges. They have tremendous resources at their disposal, but they face an acute scarcity in one critical area: TIME. The Recipe App will produce instant results, instead of riffling through complicated steps. One framework, one process. Full Story:

 Infoodsys Recipe App

A Kitchen Manifesto #1
RESPECT: All people are different – they bring their own set of baggage to work and to life. They may not agree with you or you may not agree with them but they deserve to be treated with respect as human beings. You can disagree, even disagree strongly, but they deserve the opportunity to look you in the eye and know that you do not feel superior because of that disagreement. Respect for the place where you work, those who own and operate the business and the physical property for which you are responsible is paramount. Just as is the case with the first paragraph – even though you may not agree with the actions of the business or those in charge – you should always respect that you work for them. You can disagree, take a stand, make your point, continue to have a unique opinion, but in the end – it is their business. If this violates your manifesto of beliefs and cannot be altered then look for another place to work – do not slip from your commitment to respect.By Culinarycuestblog.

Food for Thought - Cooking with Sumac

Turmeric has a bitter, slightly pungent flavor that works well with most dishes. Sumac, on the other hand, is more tangy and lemony, which is why lemon zest mixed with black pepper is often used as a sumac spice substitute. Sumac could be useful in infection due to its anti-inflammatory effect. Sumac was used as a herbal medicine for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders for centuries. Anti-inflammatory effects of Sumac were demonstrated in in vitro and in vivo stimulated macrophages. Sumac refers to any flowering plant that belongs to the Rhus genus or the Anacardiaceae family, which often consist of small shrubs and sumac trees that produce bright red fruits known as drupes. Sumac spice, however, is derived from the dried and ground berries of a specific type of sumac plant, Rhus coriaria. This bright and flavorful spice is often added to other spice blends. Health Benefits 1. Regulates Blood Sugar 2. Reduces Cholesterol 3. High in Disease-Fighting Antioxidants 4. May Reduce Bone Loss 5. Relieves Muscle Pain Hungry for more .”
Las Vegas ACF National Convention Photos Highlights
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The convention was filled with learning seminars, fantastic trade show, food, fun and reconnecting with colleagues & friends, in the exciting city of Las Vegas.
Convention wrapped up on Thursday, July 28th, with a call to action from our President Kimberly Brown, for all our guests: “Keep mentoring our future culinarians! Keep helping the community! Keep the faith,”
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Mate; latest hipster energy tonic

It’s called yerba mate (YER-bah MAH-tay) – an elixir that, as Dr. John says in his song “G1is-Gris;’ can “cure all y’all’s.ills.” In the U.S. mate is the latest hipster energy tonic. It’s marketed as coffee without the jitters, a potion that delivers health benefits ranging from better digestion to lower cholesterol. Recent studies seem to confim1the hype. Most gringos prefer their mate in tea bags like those fromTazo, its native harshness diluted by lemon or herbs. That’s all well and good, but as I learned more than a decade ago, there’s better, truer way to enjoy the mate. Mate is a high-maintenance amigo; it takes time to make correctly, so I stationed myself on a park bench in downtown Lima with my bag of Cruz de Malta, my trusty gourd, and hot water from a coffee shop. One afternoon session had the bug whipped enough to make me feel human again. Now, I’m no medicine-show man, but I’m here to testify: Yerba mate is the ultimate green tea, packing a holistic wallop that could sustain an entire commune of anemic hippies. It comes from a holly-like shrub that thrives in a region of Argentina. Use hot – never boiling- water to conjure the froth to the top of the gourd, a technique that helps free mate’s nearly 200 active components, and how to savor the smoky brew through a steel straw called a bombilla. The mate’ s healtl1 benefits, and is real kicker. The drink that makes you feel so damn good is actually good for you, with evidence going back long before 1964, when France’s Institut Pasteur reported that mate has “practically all of the vitamins necessary to sustain life:• But to truly evoke yerba mate’s power, pharmacological jargon just won’t do; it takes a poet like Dylan Thomas, who once wrote of “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower…[and] blasts the roots of trees.” He wasn’t talking about mate, but those words describe it to a T, and they also explain why I never go anywhere without my cowhide-wrapped gourd and my dented bombilla. Excerpts from “The Other Green Tea” by Eddie Dean .
Helping Hand

Your Business and your community can benefit from volunteers…taking your team out of the office to volunteer in the community.

For more related reading, please click here*

The Power of Repetition

Repetition has a bad reputation, We tend to think of it as dull and uninspiring. But this perception is titanically wrong. Repetition is the single most powerful lever we have to improve our skills, because it uses the built-in mechanism for making the wires of our brains faster and more accurate. Embracing repetition means changing your mind set; instead of viewing it as a chore, view it as your most powerful tool. As the martial artist and actor Brace Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.’
A helpful sheet for accuracy in recipe costing/ click below
Hospitality doesn’t start at the restaurant, hotel or airline. It start at home. In everyday life. Because is all about being hospitable.

Click here for more info.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall “become a company of dwarfs”. (David Ogilvy)
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Add healthful, flavorful sustainable foods steeped in tradition to your diet. All the world’s nations and cities are of course unique, each from the other. But Turkey and its queen city, Istanbul, can lay a clear claim to a special kind of uniqueness, a kind of “terroir d’histoire.” Turkey’s culinary history is really one of migratory cuisines, because the waves of people who washed over the Anatolian peninsula – as the Asian land mass of Turkey has long been known – brought foods and traditions from the lands they left behind, and took away with them the foods and traditions that they found there. Turkish cuisine is the very heart of eastern Mediterranean cooking, which demands excellent, fresh ingredients and careful, even laborious preparations. The ingredients are often very simple, but are of the highest quality, and in recipes they are harmonized with great care. Turkish farmers, herders and fishers bring forth a wealth of truly superb produce from this agriculturally rich land and its surrounding seas.” The entire world knows some Turkish foods: shish kebob, rice pilafs, yogurt. But dig a little deeper into Turkish cuisine. It offers interesting preparations with great flavor combined with the healthfulness of the Mediterranean diet. Like all traditional diets, the Turkish way of cooking is largely plant-based, making it just as good for the planet’s health as our own health. .  

WHAT’S COOKING TODAY?

Recipe provided by Chef Raymond Bar CEC-CCE-ACE

Hot Pork Pie, English Style

Pork, Fresh Shoulder Cuts Sliced 24 oz Parsley Curley Chopped 4 tbs. Pork Cooked Ham Lunch Meat 5 oz Sage, Ground / Chopped 3 tbs. Potatoes, Idaho Russet, 60 CT Sliced 1 lb. Onions Yellow Raw / Chopped 7 oz Salt seasoning Lawry's 1 tsp. Pork, Loin Fresh Cuts Sliced 24 oz Parsley Curly Chopped 4 tbs. Pork Cooked Ham Lunch Meat 5 oz Sage, Ground / Chopped 3 tbs. Potatoes, Idaho Russet, 60 CT Sliced 1 lb. Onions Yellow Raw / Chopped 7 oz Salt seasoning Lawry's 1 tsp.

Method

-1. completely cover the bottom and sides of a 9 in. pie dish( preferred cast iron) with ham. Lay out the pork loin and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and sage .Fill the prepared pie with and alternate layer of the pork, potato, and onion and finish the top with the pork. Add the water, cover with dough at 1/8 in Trim the dough and seal well the edges. Brush with beaten egg , decorate with the back of a fork and bake at 325Ftill done for about 1 hour.. .. Bon appétit! Yield 6 portions/ portion size 10 oz. / Calories per serving: 1160 The Nutrition Facts for this Recipe was done utilizing the INFOODSYS Recipe App.


Enjoy it!! / any question, please send us an email at [email protected]
Think Positively (Leadership)
TRUE NORTH

Leaders can build accountability by spelling out what’s expected from employees in terms of results and behaviors, monitoring progress daily and applying positive and negative consequences based on outcomes, says S. Chris Edmonds. “Without consequences, clear agreements and monitoring do not ensure either results or respect,” he says.

LEADERSHIP IS NOT A POSITION OR A TITLE, IT IS ACTION AND EXAMPLE
Profiles in Leadership: J.W Marriott / Executive & Chairman of the Board of Marriott International . Below is Bill's "guideposts"
Were written on separate sheets of stationery. There were 15 of them. 1. Keep physically fit, mentally and spiritually strong. 2. Guard your habits-bad ones will destroy you. 3. Pray about every difficult problem. 4. Study and follow professional management principles. Apply them logically and practically to your organization. 5. 5. People are No. 1—their development, loyalty, interest, team spirit. Develop managers in every area. This is your prime responsibility. 6. 6. Decisions: Men grow making decisions and assuming responsibility for them. a. Make crystal clear what decision each manager is responsible for and what decisions you reserve for responsible b. Have all the facts and counsel necessary-then decide and stick to it. 7. Criticism: Don’t criticize people but make a fail appraisal of their qualifications with their supervisor only (or someone assigned to do this). Remember, anything you say about someone may (and usually does) get back to them. There are few secrets. 8. See the good in people and try to develop those qualities. 9. Inefficiency: If it cannot be overcome and an employee is obviously incapable of the job, find a job he can do. 10. Manage your time: a. Short conversations—to the point. b. Make every minute on the job count. c. Work fewer hours—some of us waste half our time. 11. Delegate and hold accountable for results. 12. Details: a. Let your staff take care of them b. Save your energy for planning, thinking, working with department heads, promoting new ideas. c. Don’t do anything someone else can do for you. 13. Ideas and competition: a. Ideas keep the business alive. b. Know what your competitors are doing and planning. c. Encourage all management to think about better ways and give suggestions on anything that will improve business. d. 1). Spend time and money on research and development. 14. Don’t try to do an employee’s job for him—counsel and suggest. 15. Think objectively and keep a sense of humor. Make business fun for you and others. , .
Click the image below to watch Leadership Guru, Chris Edmonds
ACF Culinary Corner

Form the American Culinary Federation, your chance to create spectacular dishes and contribute with inspirational new ideas.

Click below for more information:

The 2016 Menus of Change Annual Report was released at the fourth annual Menus of Change leadership summit on June 14. It includes an analysis of issues at the convergence of public health, the environment, and the business of food, plus and updated Dashboard of how the food and foodservice industries have progressed—or not—since last year’s report was issued.

The World Culinary Arts Video Series
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La Finestra: Trends Spotting

Just like fashion, food trends come and go in the blink of an eye. Every year, we see a rise in these fads that inevitably affect the way we eat and plan our meals. From superfoods to juice cleanses, the modern dining pattern has undeniably been influenced by the presence of a health-conscious effort, which we see continuing into 2020.

Learn more 2020 Food trends according Chefs

Perspective Theories of Leadership

If you’re feeling forgetful, it could be due to a lack of sleep or a number of other reasons, including genetics, level of physical activity and lifestyle and environmental factors. However, there’s no doubt that diet plays a major role in brain health.

The best menu for boosting memory and brain function encourages good blood flow to the brain — much like what you’d eat to nourish and protect your heart. Research found the Mediterranean Diet helps keep aging brains sharp, and a growing body of evidence links foods such as those in the Mediterranean diet with better cognitive function, memory and alertness

Learn more by visiting: Types of Foods to Help Boost Your Memory

Meeting the Demand for Safe, Natural Products

Lately, while shopping at my local grocery store, I have noticed the increasing number of food products marketed as organic or preservative-free. More and more, consumers are demanding green labels and ingredient lists they can understand. Yet food safety — preventing food spoilage and contamination from microbial pathogens — must remain a top priority for food producers. The food safety industry faces many challenges if it is to transition away from the use of refined chemicals toward more label-friendly preservatives.

By Suzanne Osborne, PhD
Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Kale is one of the cruciferous vegetables, cancer fighters full of fiber and antioxidants. great addition to salads or you can bake it with a spritz of extra virgin-olive oil and sea salt for a crispy potato chip alternative.

Hail to the Kale!!
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Late last year, we talked to dozens of chefs who predicted trends that ranged from family-style dining to tasting menus with non-alcoholic juice pairings. Of course, no one could have predicted the way 2022 played out.

Hungry for more, click below:

2022 food trends predictions

Nutrition, Eat Better

Salt, Consuming the right amount, Most Americans consume more sodium than is good for their health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Learn more!

8 Tips For Avoiding Gluten Cross Contamination – PrimoHealthCoach

▪ Oils that have been used to deep fry battered foods will contaminate foods like French fries. Use separate oils, and ask the chef when dining out if the same oil is used for battered foods.

▪ Cutlery, utensils and potsand pans must be thoroughly cleaned before cooking gluten-free to avoid cross-contamination.

▪ Toasters and ovens that have been used for glutenous breads can contaminate gluten-free breads. At home try to keep two separate toasters.

▪ Grills and barbecues can easily cross-contaminate foods if not properly cleaned. Many sauces used to barbecue have gluten.

▪ Sifters used for both glutenous and gluten-free flours will cross-contaminate. At home if you use both types of flour, keep separate properly labeled sifters.

▪ Your mayonnaise, peanut butter jar, jams and jellies are easily contaminated when making sandwiches.

▪ Glutenous flours have a tendency to stay airborne for some time after use. Cooking in a kitchen shortly after preparing foods with glutenous flours is risky for the sensitive person. Because of this I find it very hard to believe that you can get a truly gluten-free pizza from a pizza restaurant that makes regular pizza as well.

▪ Any foods not prepared in a gluten-free facility, including your own home, runs the risk of getting cross-contaminated.

Goodness!!

Avocado oil; this silky fruit oil helps fight joint condition and promoted soft skin.

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Categories: Food Safety

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