Culinary Program

Find culinary inspiration and helpful career information on topics such as cooking with chocolate, French and Greek cuisine, the life of a Chef, and what to expect in culinary school.

Does your sweet tooth lead you straight to your oven? Read how to avoid the pitfalls of cheese cake, bake creative cookies, use fresh fruits in baking, and more.

Catering and Restaurant Management

If you've ever prepared a Thanksgiving dinner, you know that cooking for a group takes planning and skill. Learn more about the art of catering and restaurant management, including specialized catering such as chocolates or high tea and how to prepare for a restaurant career.

Culinary Schools in the United States

With culinary schools in all 50 states and additional culinary education available online, you don't need to relocate unless you want to. Each state has its own special mixture of culture, cuisine, and locally grown agriculture that inspires the chefs and students who work and live there. If you're passionate about Maine lobster dishes, California cuisine, or any dish or state in between, you'll find a culinary school that is where you are or where you'd like to be.

Home | Culinary | Catering and Restaurant Management | Catering to Success: Culinary Masterpieces from Near Disasters

Catering to Success: Culinary Masterpieces from Near Disasters

Imagine your worst culinary nightmare. Now imagine it turns into a success that catapults you into the annals of cooking history. Fantasy, right? Not necessarily. At only 14-years-old, Henri Charpentier plunged himself into catering history while cooking up a meal for Albert, Prince of Wales. Henri was cooking crepes for Prince Albert, who loved fancy meals. The crepe sauce was a blend of orange and lemon peels, sugar, butter, maraschino, Curacao, and kirsch. While he was mixing it he accidentally set the cordials on fire.

Catering to Princes

Henri was petrified. There were no real catering services to rush to the rescue, and no way to start over--the meal was due to be served, the Prince was waiting. Nervously, he tasted his creation--it was wonderful, sweet, and light! He returned the crepes to the cordial mix and set them on fire one more time, then doused the flames and served them. The prince was delighted and asked the name of the dish. Henri nobly tried to name the meal for the prince, but Albert pointed out a small girl present at the meal and the dish became known as Crepes Suzette.

Cooking Up Happy Accidents

Catering accidents happen. No matter how many culinary classes you've taken, there's always the chance that something will catch on fire when it shouldn't, or not catch on fire when it should. Making cordials burn is something of a trick; that's why cooking classes are a marvelous choice if you're interested in running your own catering business, even if you're already a great cook. Catering requires organizational skills, a mind for details, the ability to meet deadlines, great cooking skills, and the ability to make lemonade when given lemons--or at least to create a dish perfect for a prince on short demand, and by happy accident.

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