The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) is pleased to award its Endorsement Program seal to the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) Foodservice Toolkit, a comprehensive teaching resource.
With the Idaho Potato Commission Foodservice Toolkit, foodservice educators and their students can explore how Idaho® potatoes win culinary accolades for performance and consistency and why leading chefs across the country insist on the “Grown in Idaho®” brand. Contents include Idaho potato history and propagation; scientific distinctions and specification/purchasing basics; potato-cooking chemistry and problem solving; preparation how-to and typical cooking yields; “Potato 101” knife and cutting skills; and a cost-per-serving calculator.
The 65-page manual is available to educators at no charge as a published resource or as a digitized file that is easily downloaded from the Idaho Potato Commission’s Web site and shared. Additionally, the “Potato 101” module, with related video tutorials, can be downloaded independently for specific knife-skills instruction.
The purpose of the CAFÉ Endorsement Program, which launched in March 2011, is to recommend select educational resources as applicable and desirable for use in a foodservice-educational environment in high schools and postsecondary schools nationwide. The Idaho Potato Commission Foodservice Toolkit earned the CAFÉ seal following thorough review by a panel of distinguished educators to determine value and relevance to foodservice education.
“Year after year we accumulated and revised information about basic tips on potato preparation, along with the steps for planting, harvesting, sorting and shipping of Idaho potatoes,” says Don Odiorne, the Commission’s vice president of foodservice. “With the Idaho Potato Commission’s 75th anniversary coming up in 2012, the timing just seemed right to put it all together into a Foodservice Toolkit to share with culinary teachers and students. I place a lot of emphasis on education and training as being vital to the growth of a vibrant foodservice potato program, so it is a real honor to have this material be recognized by CAFÉ.”
