According to the National Restaurant Association sales in the restaurant industry were $426 billion in the US in 2002. This money was spent on more than 54 billion meals. The National Restaurant Association forecast for 2004 is $440.1 billion in sales (get more info at the: National Restaurant Association website. Simply put, culinary industry is huge, and growing. 11 million people work in it, representing about 1 in 11 jobs in the US. Selling food is big business!

Culinary careers can follow many paths. About 60% of all culinary workers find jobs in restaurants and eating and drinking places. 20% work in cafeterias inside hospitals, corporations, nursing homes, and universities. The remainder work in hotels, grocery stores, or other locations.

Many people can find a job in a cooking career without having to get a formal education, but the best paying and most prestigious jobs are easier to get if you get a diploma from a Le Cordon Bleu Culinaryschool. You can find a bunch of Top Culinary Schools by clicking this link. This site provides information on many of the best schools and also allows you to go to a form for each school and request information directly from that school.

Kitchen workers must have the ability to follow recipe instructions, a well developed sense of taste and smell, personal cleanliness, and the ability to work as part of, and direct, a larger kitchen team. Many states also require culinary workers to obtain certificates that they are free from communicable diseases. Obviously, you and I hope they do a good job at this …

Culinary schools teach you the skills of a master chef through actual practice. It is not uncommon that the actual time in live kitchens represents the majority of the education. Le Cordon Bleu culinary schools like those listed on the Le Cordon Bleu section of this site train you in the supervisory and management skills to become a master chef and also include courses on menu planning, portion sizing, food purchasing and cost control, food storage and how to leverage leftover food to minimize waste. Culinary schools also provide you with a background in sanitation and public health rules.

In general, culinary school graduates find work as chefs and cooks, and are responsible for measuring, mixing and cooking ingredients according to a recipe. In the course of their work, chefs use a variety of equipment, including ovens, grilles, toasters, stoves, blenders, slicers, and grinders. Graduates from culinary schools often become head chefs, and are additionally responsible for ordering food supplies and the supervision of other kitchen personnel.

Working as a chef, head chef, or in related restaurant and hospitality industry roles can be fun and rewarding work. Preparing good, or even great food, is by itself rewarding, as is having other people enjoy the results of your work. Career advancement is faster for those who have a Le Cordon Bleu Culinary diploma.

Herb gardening has been around for centuries and the joys of an herbal garden is well know to many gardeners. Even beginner gardeners can have a high quality of success by starting with the basics and working their way up to a more complicated herbal garden. You can plant a container herb garden or an indoor herb garden. There are three categories of herbs that can be grown in you herbal gardens, culinary herbs, ornamental herbs, or medicinal herbs.

Culinary herb gardening’s purpose is to add spice and flavor to your cooking. Culinary herbs are the herbs that use fresh or dried leaves in cooking. Some of the culinary herbs are parsley, oregano, rosemary and basil. You may even want to plant some sage and thyme. There is a difference between herbs and spices. Spices are seeds, roots, fruits, flowers, and bark while, as mentioned above, culinary herbs are fresh or dried leaves.

When considering your culinary herb garden your most important decision is the location. You will need a sunny spot with at least six hours of sun. The more sun the herb garden gets the more flavor will develop in the herbs. Try to place your culinary herb garden as close to the kitchen door as possible. This will ensure that the herbs will be used daily.

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OVER the last few weeks I have made three amazing culinary discoveries, and I feel sure that readers will be happy to hear of them, too.
The first concerns pastry and it goes against all previous practices – like the way that experts always emphasise the importance of coldness in its concoction: cold water to mix, cold surface to knead on, sojourn in fridge prior to rolling out. And egg yolks essential. Now the ingredients consist of three parts flour, two parts fat (six ounces flour and four ounces fat) and a little warm water. Just rub in the fat (I use half butter and half Cookeen), moisten with the water and use. So simple – and as light as fluff. And learned straight from the horse’s mouth – if my new French friend will excuse the metaphor!
The next surprise came obliquely from a Filipino cook and was even more revolutionary. White, or béchamel, sauce – to give it its proper exotic name – is always supposed to be extremely tricky to make and to require the utmost care to avoid lumps developing. Not for this source, however! Just bung everything – milk, white flour, seasoning – into the saucepan together, stir over the heat and Bob’s your uncle! Works every time.

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Cooking with wine can be a pleasure and an enhancement to good food and a fine meal! When wine is heated, the alcoholic content as well as sulfites disappears, leaving only the essence imparting a subtle flavor.

Wine Selection:

The first and most important rule: Use only wines in your cooking that you would drink. Never, never use any wine that you WOULD NOT DRINK! If your do not like the taste of a wine, you will not like the dish you choose to use it in. Do not use the so-called “cooking wines!” These wine are typically salty and include other additives that my affect the taste of your chosen dish and menu. The process of cooking/reducing will bring out the worst in an inferior wine. Please promise yourself never, never to stoop to such a product! Linda’s rule of thumb is: I do not cook with something I will not drink. An expensive wine is not necessary, although a cheap wine will not bring out the best characteristics of your dish. A good quality wine, that you enjoy, will provide the same flavor to a dish as a premium wine. Save the premium wine to serve with the meal.

Using Wine in Cooking:

Wine has three main uses in the kitchen as a marinade ingredient, as a cooking liquid, and as a flavoring in a finished dish. The function of wine in cooking is to intensify, enhance and accent the flavor and aroma of food - not to mask the flavor of what you are cooking but rather to fortify it. As with any seasoning used in cooking, care should be taken in the amount of wine used - too little is inconsequential and too much will be overpowering. Neither extreme is desirable. A small quantity of wine will enhance the flavor of the dish. The alcohol in the wine evaporates while the food is cooking, and only the flavor remains. Boiling down wine concentrates the flavor, including acidity and sweetness. Be careful not to use too much wine as the flavor could overpower your dish. For best results, wine should not be added to a dish just before serving. The wine should simmer with the food, or sauce, to enhance the flavor of the dish. If added late in the preparation, it could impart a harsh quality. It should simmer with the food or in the sauce while it is being cooked; as the wine cooks, it reduces and becomes an extract which flavors. Wine added too late in the preparation will give a harsh quality to the dish. A wine needs time to impart its flavor in your dish. Wait 10 minutes or more to taste before adding more wine.

Remember that wine does not belong in every dish. More than one wine-based sauce in a single meal can be monotonous. Use wine is cooking only when it has something to contribute to the finished dish.

All wines contain at least some small amount of sulfites. They are a natural result of the same fermentation process that turns grape juice into alcohol. Even wines that have not had any sulfites added during the winemaking process contain some amount of sulfites. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is used by winemakers to keep freshly pressed must from spoiling. It keeps down the activities of native yeast and bacteria and preserves the freshness of the wine. When cooking with wine containing sulfites, you do not concentrate them as you would flavor, but rather they evaporate like alcohol. The sulfite goes through a conversion in the liquid of the wine to produce sulfur dioxide. This is actually the compound that prevents the oxidation. It also is a gas, and when subjected to heat, it dissipates into the air. All that remains is some salts, but they are so minute in quantity that they have no affect on flavor. Storage of Leftover Wine Leftover table wine can be refrigerated and used for cooking if held for only one or two weeks. If you have at least a half bottle on wine left over, pour it off into a clean half bottle, cork it, and store in the refrigerator. without air space at the top, the rebottled wine will keep for up to one month.

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Although today synthetic products are available to meet just about every need, before modern times herbs were an important aspect of everyday living. They were used for many functions including dyes, medicines, room deodorizers, and of course cooking. It is these culinary uses that most people think of when they think of herbs, and the most popular reason they are grown in home gardens.

Most herbs are herbaceous, having non-woody stems, and dying back to the ground each fall. Many herbs are perennial although some are annual. These may reseed, however, coming back the following year and so may give the false impression of being perennial. Most herbs need sun, heat, and a well-drained soil to grow best.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum), an annual, is one of the most popular herbs. It grows one to two feet high. You can pinch the white or purple flowers off to help make the plant branch. The different types of basils have various leaf sizes and colors, but generally the upright plants have purple or bright green leaves. The pungent fragrance enhances tomato sauces and dishes. Basil also can be made into a delicious pesto. One type of basil has a cute, small globe-shaped form with tiny leaves, which is an excellent choice to use along a path or to edge a bed.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is another of the all-time favorite cooking herbs. If you grow only one herb, make it this one. Parsleys are popular in pots indoors on kitchen windowsills. Technically a tender biennial, it is grown as annuals from slow to germinate seeds. Parsley is the popular garnish that garnishes plates in many restaurants and can be used in salads, soups, and other dishes. It also makes a nice edging to beds with some selections having ruffled or curled leaves.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) also makes the top three of favorite annual herbs. It is used as a flavoring and, of course, in pickles. Both the seeds and the feathery leaves are used for flavoring. This is a tall herb, growing two to four feet high, depending on selection. It could be used in the middle of borders for a fine texture.

Of the perennial herbs, a couple of tender ones with woody stems also are popular. Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) has thick, aromatic, evergreen leaves. It makes an attractive container plant to overwinter indoors if room. The leaves can be dried and used to flavor soups, stews, and sauces. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) can be kept outdoors in summer in large pots, then brought indoors in winter into a bright yet cool location. It can be used not only as an aromatic, but also in cooking for sauces, soups, teas, and for flavoring lamb.

Mints (Mentha) are among the most common perennial herbs and should be sited with care as the roots are quite aggressive. To avoid this problem, plant in containers, keep well watered, and repot often to keep plants vigorous. Peppermint and spearmint are the most popular, but you also can plant other flavors such as apple and lemon mints. Mints are used medicinally, as well as in cooking to flavor tea, jelly, salads, candy, ice cream, and beverages.

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are familiar to most gardeners. They resemble and smell like small onion plants and can be chopped and used to flavor salads, soups, and egg dishes. The pinkish purple flowers are attractive, especially if grown in a row along a walk, but make sure you cut off these flowers right after bloom. If you allow them to go to seed, you will have chives everywhere and forever!

Thyme (Thymus) is the other main perennial herb that should be included in a culinary garden. Being a very low groundcover plant, thyme is suitable for rock gardens, planting between stones in walks and patios, and even for growing in low-mown lawns. There are many species and selections, some more ornamental than others either in flowers or foliage. Strongly scented thymes are used to flavor meats or in soups.

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Authentic Caribbean cuisine is truly an excellent representation of all the cultural influences the Caribbean Islands have experienced since Christopher Columbus’ landing in the late 1400’s. With a fine mixture of French Island and African recipes, Caribbean cuisine is widely prepared and enjoyed by people of all nationalities, in many areas of the United States and the world.

Caribbean food and culture was forever changed when the European traders brought African slaves into the region. The slaves ate mostly the scrap leftovers of the slave owners, so not unlike the slaves in the United States they had to make do with what they had. This was the birth of the more contemporary Caribbean Cuisine. The African slaves blended the knowledge of spices and vegetables they had brought from their homeland and incorporated them with the precious fruits and vegetables of the Caribbean Islands, as well as other staples to be found in the area. This created many one-of-a-kind dishes, because many of the produce on the islands at the time was too fragile to make it through the exportation process. Fruits most often found in Caribbean cuisine include yams, yucca, mangos and papaya fruits. Among the produce that is too fragile to be exported is the tamarind fruit and plantains (a fruit grown on a tree that is similar to the banana).

Caribbean food, while spicy, is one of the healthier options among culinary traditions from different regions. As discussed, the lush Caribbean islands are chock full of vegetables and fruits for healthy living. In addition to that, America introduced beans, corn, chile peppers, potatoes and tomatoes to the islands, broadening their palate.

When slavery was abolished on the islands, slave owners had to look else where for help. Bringing in labor from India and China, different types of dishes using rice or curry were introduced and blended into mainstream Caribbean cuisine. This is how the Caribbean favorite curry goat was born.

The Caribbean islands are in a prime location for one of their specialties–seafood. Salted codfish is a specialty on the Caribbean islands. It is usually served in a salad or stew, or at breakfast in scrambled eggs. Lobster, sea turtle, shrimp, crab, and sea urchins are also specialties on the islands. They are used to make such exotic, spicy Caribbean dishes as Antillean crab pilaf and curried coconut shrimp.

Desserts are an integral part of the Caribbean culinary experience. Sugar cane is one of the area’s chief products, so there are always an abundance of cakes, pies, and dumplings. Caribbean natives incorporate dessert into almost every meal. At Caribbean restaurants you may notice the emphasis they put on their desserts; in their culture, dessert is just as important as the main course.

Caribbean cuisine incorporates flavors from all of the different cultures that have ever graced the shores of the islands, from Africa to China to India. The flavoring in Caribbean cuisine is intense and rich, strikingly similar African and Creole food.

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A versatile base of aromatic herbs and vegetables builds flavor in sauces, soups, and stews in every cuisine.

You’ve probably noticed that most recipes for sauces, soups, and stews begin by asking you to cook one or more vegetables and occasionally a little meat in a small amount of fat. These basic mixtures go by different names in different cuisines, but they always play an important part in the character of a dish. A French mirepoix, an Italian soffritto, or a Portuguese refogado will each provide a foundation of flavor that will ultimately distinguish a dish from a similar one in another cuisine. It’s helpful to know what goes into these basic mixtures and how and when to use them if you want to learn to improvise a sauce, soup, or stew without a recipe, or give a particular international twist to a simple dish.

Aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices form classic flavor bases

In most European-influenced cuisines, classic flavor bases are made up of a mixture of three or four aromatic vegetables, sometimes herbs, and occasionally a small bit of meat. Asian cuisines often add freshly ground spices to their own combinations of aromatic vegetables and herbs.

Aromatic vegetables, which give off deep, well-rounded flavors and pleasing aromas when cooked, are the core of flavor bases. The classic French flavor base known as mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah) is a combination of chopped onions, celery, and carrots made with twice as much onion as carrot and celery (see What size pieces should I cut?). The Italian soffritto (pronounced soh-FREE-toh) varies from region to region, and may be as simple as a chopped onion and a little garlic, or, like mirepoix, may be a mixture of vegetables that might include fennel. Italian cooks often like to use flavorful meats (especially pancetta or prosciutto) in the soffritto to give a hearty dish a deeper, richer flavor. A Catalan sofregit (soh-frah-ZHEET) starts with a slow sauté of onions in olive oil and is then enriched with tomatoes. A Spanish (or Castilian, to distinguish it from Catalan) sofrito, used to flavor classic rice dishes and rich braises, will usually include onions and garlic, and sometimes peppers, like its Portuguese equivalent, refogado (rah-foh-GAH-doh); tomatoes are often added.

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More and more Americans are planning their travels around food, from lavish, 10-day trips to Europe and Asia to quick weekend getaways at U.S. cooking schools of every imaginable style and size.

Steven Raichlen slices open a 3-pound hunk of pork and sprinkles it liberally with Jack Daniel’s and a spice rub. Then he smears on Dijon mustard and brown sugar before wrapping it all up in bacon and tying it with a string.

As he works, a question comes from one of the 40 salivating students at his Barbecue University: “How many grills do you have at home?”

Raichlen, author of 26 books including “The Barbecue Bible,” pauses only a second.

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Rosemary adds a natural flair to yarn and fabric.

Natural dyes appeal to those with a passion for color. “With natural dyes, it is as if the colors breathe like the plants from which they bloomed,” natural-dye enthusiast Meghan Sayres says. James Liles, a natural-dye expert, believes natural dyes attract our eye because they originate in living things. “I sometimes feel that some of that life is still there,” he says in his book The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing (University of Tennessee Press, 1990).

People have an intrinsic love for color. Although the earliest use of natural dyes remains lost in prehistory, perhaps the first dyes were simple stains from plants or rusty iron. Some cave images painted with mineral colors date to 15,000 b.c. It is tempting to imagine that early humans also used natural dyes for the first woven and felted textiles, although we have no proof of them doing so. However, archaeologists in India have found fragments of dyed cotton textiles more than 2,000 years old.

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Whether it’s in your window box or your brownies, you never say no to a little herb.

So you’ll welcome its addition to your vodka.

That’s right: The new Herb’s Aromatic Vodkas are infused with dill, rosemary, cilantro, and fennel.

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