Sven Mill goes West with his Royal Blue

The launch of IACP’s cookbook For the Love of Food was held in Dallas 2005 during the IACP Conference. As one of the contributing authors from Europe, Sven went over for the book signing. On the way he made a stop in Chicago and visited Art Smith, who earlier that year had been to the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Grythyttan, Sven’s home village. The two souls had found each other around the buffet table of game, various salmon dishes and blue cheese. Sven served an opening dinner at the medieval castle in Örebro. Later the same year he was one of the local hosts of the IACP Culinary Experience to Grythyttan and Sweden.

Art and Sven met again when Gourmand Awards was celebrated in Beijing 2007. Sven gave a work shop on blue cheese and air dried game. Now Art invited Sven to come over again and back to Chicago. Art was about open his restaurant Table 52. Art introduced this gifted craftsman to some selected persons. To Mike McCloskey it was obvious the skills of Sven were perfect for further developing business opportunities and quality cheese at Fair Oaks Farms.


Fair Oaks Farms is owned by 9 local dairy farm families, one of which is the McCloskey family. Located in Northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago, it is one of the largest dairy farms in the country. Fair Oaks Farms is home to some 30,000 dairy cows. Fair Oaks Farms also opens its’ farm to visitors so they can see for themselves 21st Century dairy farming and processing at work. Environmentally sound farming practices are used to protect the soil and water for future generations; and more than 3,000 acres are set aside to protect the streams and watersheds, while providing habitat for wildlife. All cow manure is processed in anaerobic digesters to become methane gas and ultimately electricity to power the farms and milk processing plants.

Now Sven is starting up production of his famous Royal Blue Cheese and also smoking and air drying local game and making spicy sausages. So far the reactions from restaurateurs in Chicago and Washington have been very positive. Now the rumor of a terrific new cheese has started to resonate among the thousands of visitors that come to Fair Oaks Farms about the marvelous Royal Blue…


Back in 1972, Sven started his professional career in the kitchen of Loka Brunn, a Swedish resort that got its royal privilege from King Adolf Fredrik in 1632. He formed his own company Mills Ost & Vilt. Many of the products from Sven’s personal production were used by Michelin stared restaurants and others in Sweden. He became an important contributor to the chefs of the New Nordic Cuisine era. Mills Cheese & Game produced wonderful offerings from the region’s bountiful supply of wild and fresh resources. His Royal Blue was an ecological cheese crafted from cow’s milk. During many years Sven delivered a buffet to His Royal Highness the King of Sweden in celebration of the Swedish National Day. Now he has sold the Swedish branch and put all his creativity into developing tasty product for the US market.

World Gastronomy Summit

Nobu Mastuhisa, Ferrán Adriá, Joel Robuchon and Heston Blumenthal

by Yukari Sakamoto

Tokyo was the host to the World Gastronomy Summit on February 9-11, 2009. Top chefs from around the world presented, many of them including Japanese ingredients or techniques in their cuisine.
Former Prime Minister Junichi Koizumi opened the summit stating, “There is nothing better than eating delicious food that is good for us”.
Chef Joel Robuchon praised Japanese cuisine and its use of seasonality ingredients, delicate and meticulous presentation and use of umami. He also said that he noticed the reverence and pride Japanese have for produce and ingredients. He said that the cuisine has influenced his food.
Chef Pierre Gagnaire was enthusiastic about the quality of seafood in Japan. In particular, he is currently fascinated with tairagai, a large shellfish with a rich texture. He said that in Paris now, ingredients like yuzu and kombu are very fashionable ingredients.
Chef Nobu Matsuhisa talked about trying to get foreigners to eat raw fish thirty years ago. And, as people weren’t familiar with the texture, or even the concept of eating raw fish, he created some of his signature dishes now similar to sashimi salads with rich dressings, searing the outside of the fish, or creating ceviches.
Chef Ferrán Adriá said that Japanese chefs Seiji Yamamoto of Nihonryori Ryugin, chef Tokuoka of Kitcho and chef Nobu have changed his life. “Japanese food is pure and simple.” And that in his kitchen now he is using many sea vegetables and citrus fruits like yuzu.
It was evident that many non-Japanese chefs are curious and passionate about Japanese cuisine. They all agreed that there is so much to learn and that seasonality is key, the respect for ingredients, and the high quality of seafood, so fresh that much of it can be eaten raw. Many chefs have been influenced in their own cuisine with Japanese ingredients and techniques and that the will continue to explore the cuisine and culture of Japan.

The Splendid Table in Mexico City

Lynne Rossetto Kasper interviews Mexican chef Margarita de Carrillo

The Splendid Table is a culinary, culture, and lifestyle program that celebrates food. On Saturday Feb. 28 award-winning host Lynne Rossetto Kasper will lead listeners on a journey of the senses through Mexico City with some of its most famous chefs.

Congratulations to Lynne and her crew for surviving such an intensive week long schedule intent on capturing the Mexican culinary soul.

Read more about Lynne's visit to Mexico City in Ruth Alegría's blog.

UPDATE: Listen to this show's podcast here.

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Tokyo Taste - The World Summit of Gastronomy

Feb. 9-11, 2009

Top Chef's Tom Colicchio Saves fellow IACP member's life

Top Chef's Tom Colicchio Saves Life
By Gina DiNunno

Tue Jan 20, 8:44 AM PST
Top Chef head honcho Tom Colicchio may be considered the "bad guy" when it comes time to axe one of the cheftestants during judge's table, but for now this restaurateur could be called a hero.
The reality-show judge saved fellow foodie Joan Nathan from choking to death during the "Art. Food. Hope." benefit in Washington, D.C. on Monday, according to the Internet Food Association. While being cornered by some bitter Top Chef fans who where less than thrilled about last week's elimination of Ariane, Colicchio heard a cry for help from another famed chef, Alice Waters, and immediately ran over to perform the Heimlich maneuver saving Nathan who had a chunk of chicken lodged in her wind pipe.
"I did what anyone else would have done and was just happy to be there," Colicchio told TVGuide.com. "I'm thrilled Joan's well."

Mexico is guest country at Madrid Fusion 2009

Notimex Photos/Juan Carlos Rojas

Mexico is the country of honor in the seventh edition of Madrid Fusión, a top culinary event that will run through Thursday in Spain.

Patricia Quintana, Mónica Patiño, Ricardo Muñoz, Enrique Olvera and Bricio Domínguez will have the task of representing the nation's cuisine - old and new - with 70 other top chefs from around the world who are doing the same for their countries.

"More than being at the vanguard, I'd like to say that we'll give a personal interpretation of Mexican food," Olvera told state-owned news agency Notimex.

Mexican Ambassador to Spain Jorge Zermeño said the chefs "would promote Mexican products, our gastronomy, our dishes - we know it's going to be a success."

What all five seem to share is an almost religious reverence for traditional Mexican food, but a willingness to incorporate new methods into its preparation to foster a sort of natural evolution.

Click here to read the complete article.

Mexico City contends as top food city

Stan Sesser from the Wall Street Journal writes up a fantastic story about Mexico's city food scene.

Design by Joe LeMonnier

"It was my first bite of food in Mexico City, a snack called esquites, consisting of kernels of corn boiled in water with strips of jalapeno peppers and an herb called epazote, then garnished with lime juice, chili salt, mayonnaise and grated cheese. "One of the best things I've ever eaten," I wrote in my notebook. The cost: 70 cents at a street market.

A couple days later, at the restaurant Pujol, I was dining on a soup of squash blossoms topped with coconut foam, and venison coated with a pungent seasoning of Yucatán oregano and dried burnt chilies and served on a purple-banana purée. Washed down with high-quality wines from, of all places, Mexico's Baja Peninsula, the meal was $50 for the fixed-price dinner plus wine, and worth every penny."

Click here for the complete article.

Lenôtre passes away

Gaston Lenôtre, Who Built a Culinary Brand, Is Dead at 88
By BASIL KATZ
Published: January 9, 2009
Mr. Lenôtre was the founder of the restaurant, catering, retail and cooking school empire of the same name, and rejuvenated pastry making in the early 1960s.

To read the complete story click here.

Xochimilco Market, Mexico City

Ruth Alegria and David Aman of DocNo Productions paired up to make this fantastic video featuring Mexico City's colorful Xochimilco Market.  Join IACP Mexico´s country coordinator Ruth Alegria as she guides you through the different food stalls and points to dozens of indigenous ingredients available in the "mercado".  

Xochimilco Market, Mexico City from DocNO Productions on Vimeo.

Remembering IACP member Maria Teresa Berdondini

Maria Teresa Berdondini

IACP friends Maria, Lisa, Ruth, and Maria Teresa Berdondini (far right)

Maria Teresa Berdondini, who served as IACP Italy Country Co-Coordinator with me for the past two years, died in August after a long illness. Though she was unable to come to recent international conferences, something she loved to do, she did attend our Italian Section luncheon in Rome last year and had every intention of participating fully in the future; however, at certain point she wrote that she felt she was “fighting against windmills”. The following is taken from notes that she wrote about herself last year. I will always treasure the memory of this accomplished, energetic and beautiful woman who enriched my life, and the lives of others, by her friendship. --Elizabeth Wholey, Italy
* * *
Maria Teresa Berdondini, originally from Emilia Romagna, spent 18 years as a manager of five-star hotels in Italy and Spain before settling in Montecatini Terme, Tuscany, with her husband, Giuseppe, who is also in the travel business. She served as IACP Italian section co-representative, was a licensed AIS Sommelier and culinary demonstrator, and a member of Slow Food. Her passion for research in the food and wine fields enabled her to lecture about the origin and evolution of Tuscan cuisine to many travelers, including groups from the Smithsonian. In 1997 she established Tuscany by Tuscans, an Italian travel consultancy, which coordinated programs for individual travellers as well as for food professionals. Tuscany by Tuscans was created with a desire for freedom in travel, and she designed personalized itineraries into undiscovered areas, visiting lesser known art treasures, artisans practicing traditional crafts, and small agricultural producers and wineries. Her company was recognized by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine as a Top Travel Specialist in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
* * *
I would like to share this memory of Maria Teresa with my fellow IACP members. I first met Maria Teresa at the Montreal conference in 2003 when we sat together at lunch. A warm and engaging personality, she made sure that I met other international members during subsequent days. We kept in touch after the conference and started making plans to meet again at the next conference. In 2005 we shared a room together at the Dallas and had an incredible time. In 2007 my husband died of cancer and Maria Teresa was diagnosed. I never deleted any of the messages that Maria Teresa sent me that year. Even as she battled cancer, undergoing operations and chemotherapy, she kept sending me messages of hope and expectations, that I finally would visit her in Italy and that she would be able to visit me in Mexico. The last message that I received was her 2008 New Years greeting. She never gave up hope for herself and for others. She will be missed.
--Ruth Alegria, Mexico

IACP Italian Section Third Annual Autumn Luncheon

Florence, Italy, November 2008

For IACP members scattered around Italy, our annual get-together is a happy reward at the end of the busy tourism season. This year, we met in Florence near the San Lorenzo market and the Medici Chapel, at the Osteria Cipolla Rossa, owned by a butcher from the central market and two talented chefs from respected Tuscan restaurants.

After a brief welcome statement, Elizabeth Wholey read members’ tributes to Maria Teresa Berdondini, Italy Country Co-Coordinator with Elizabeth for the past two years, who died in August after a long illness.

Following the announcement of Sonia Di Centa as the new Country Coordinator, which was met with enthusiasm, the seventeen guests introduced themselves and brought the rest of us up to date on their activities.

And then we proceeded to chiacchierare, to chat the afternoon away, while being served a series of delicious and creative small plates.

Over time, we have learned some rules for making a success of this event. (Note: It takes a few tries to build up the momentum and for people to learn that this is something not to be missed.)

Our Recipe for Success:

First and foremost, great food! Pick an interesting location, a popular city that is fun to visit, and a restaurant near the train station. Keep the price affordable. Have a member in that city choose a venue that will be appropriate for an afternoon gathering. (Judy Witts selected it this year.) Enlist that person to help get the group together, making contact with friends and inviting family members and interested non-IACP members, as well. We also put out the word to the IACP board and we welcome guests from outside of Italy. This year we were joined by Dede Wilson and her husband, Dave, from Amherst, Massachusetts, who happened to be in Tuscany at the time. If possible, we provide lodgings or arrange for a discount at a hotel. Lucy Luhan generously offered her Villa Lucia near Lucca for out-of-towners.

We always have our luncheon at the same time every year, in late November after the olive harvest, a date people can plan around, and we send out the invitations well in advance. In 2006 the location was a Tuscan villa, and in 2007 it was held in Rome at a beautiful rooftop garden restaurant, the Hotel Mediterraneo, owned by the family of IACP member, Jo Bettoja.

We emphasize that this is a relaxed, convivial get-together, not an IACP membership drive, though we do have applications available and some of our guests have signed up.

Over the years, new friendships as well as joint ventures have been formed, and we always come away full of good food, wine and inspiration.

If you are in Italy at the end of November, 2009, you are invited to join us.

Elizabeth Wholey

Chair, Culinary Tourism Committee

www.amoresapore.com

Umbertide, Umbria, Italy

Madrid Fusion 2009

Ferrán Adriá, Grant Achatz, Elena Arzak, Heston Blumenthal, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Pierre Gagnaire are just some of the great chefs that will meet in Madrid on January 19, 2009 for the 7th Madrid Fusion Summit where Science and Cuisine will be the topic to debate. Mexico will be one of the guest countries, chefs Enrique Olvera, Patricia Quintana, Ricardo Muñoz, and Monica Patiño will be present.  Registrations are limited to 600 participants and tickets sell out (fast) for 590 Euros.  Click here to view the full program. 

Peru Mucho Gusto 2008

For more information contact Alfredo Sumar in Lima, Perú.  (telf.: 99 790 1551 / 99 404*4316)

Star Chefs Congress 2008 - A Kitchen Without Boundaries

Star Chefs International Congress- A Kitchen Without Boundaries

Sept 14-16 

New York City

For more information click here.