MIRAMAR FLA. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“I understand now; it’s so much better when you receive instruction in your mother language,” said Calderon, who is a native of Venezuela and enrolled in the college’s inaugural Spanish program. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
About 50 students formed the first class, which began in February, and another two dozen began a second class in May. All of the culinary instruction is in Spanish. The students also take English lessons to help them become proficient enough to get hired when they graduate, said Kelly Bozarth, president of the four-year-old campus in this Miami suburb. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“The Hispanic population is one of the largest growing segments not only in the restaurant industry, but in the nation,” Bozarth said. “We’re filling a need that isn’t being met. We hope to start a trend across the nation.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Hispanics account for an estimated one-fourth to 30 percent of foodservice workers in the United States. The percentages are higher in some parts of the country, such as Florida, Texas and California. Some schools have been reaching out to the Latino population with special programs and an emphasis on Latin American cuisine. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
For example, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., last year added a campus in San Antonio that is focused on Latin American cuisine and encouraging Hispanics to pursue careers in the industry. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Dunkin’ Brands Inc., the Canton, Mass.-based parent of the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins chains, this month pledged $1 million to become a founding donor of the CIA’s “El Sueno,” or The Dream, initiative to foster greater appreciation for Latin American cuisines. The gift would be paid over five years beginning in 2009 to support new baking and pastry kitchens specializing in Latin American items that would open in 2010 at the CIA’s main campus in New York and the San Antonio facility. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Dunkin’ Donuts chairman and chief executive Jon Luther said his company was proud be help “advance the growing influence of Latino cuisine.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
However, instruction is still done solely in English at the CIA’s three campuses, including one in California, as well as at other national schools with culinary programs, such as Johnson & Wales University and the Art Institutes International Culinary Schools. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Le Cordon Bleu is one of only a handful of culinary schools in the United States offering instruction in Spanish. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
St. Augustine College in Chicago has had a bilingual program since 1984, and recently, a Peru-based university has opened a Spanish-language culinary school in Miami. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“We could either teach the students English until they are proficient enough to start the program, or we could met the students where they are,” Bozarth said. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
About 45 percent of Le Cordon Bleu’s more than 800 students are Hispanic. And since nearly half of its staff is already bilingual, many of them native speakers from Latin American countries, the school had the resources to start the Spanish curriculum, she said. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Students can learn much faster when they are taught in Spanish, according to chef-instructor Marcelo Marino, a native of Argentina who speaks five languages. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“Language is not a barrier anymore,” said Marino, who has been teaching Le Cordon Bleu’s new classes. His students “feel very comfortable, and this allows them to develop those skills in the business.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Le Cordon Bleu is one of the oldest culinary school systems—it began in Paris in 1895—teaching French techniques in cooking. The courses it conducts in Spanish are the same as in its English-language curriculum. Spanish-language students learn all the same culinary basics, from garde manger to baking and pastry, and they receive the same certificate when they complete the program. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
The program also was designed with Spanish-speaking restaurant workers in mind, Bozarth said. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“Many of the students in the first class said they had been in restaurants for years and tried to find the opportunity to increase their skill set and formal training,” she said. “They came to Le Cordon Bleu when it first opened, but their comprehension was poor. They were not able to read and keep pace with the courses.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Isabella Cabrera, who is from Chile, worked in a fast-food restaurant for four years before enrolling full time at Le Cordon Bleu. She hopes to one day open her own Chilean restaurant. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“It’s just so much easier to understand and do it,” she said. “But I also need to practice my English.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Students taking the Spanish instruction courses are required to take an English language class. There they learn industry-specific terms and conversation. The goal is to make the student proficient enough in English to know how to talk to vendors, interview for jobs and communicate with English-speakers in the industry, Bozarth explained. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“We don’t expect them to become fluent—that takes several years—but we want them to become conversational enough to enter the job markets. There is a wealth of opportunities for them if they have the English skill-set.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
Restaurant owners are looking for well-rounded graduates who are bilingual, Marino said. —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.
“Go into any kitchen today and you will hear four or five languages,” he said. “There is going to be a point where being bilingual will be a necessity, not an option.” —The lesson on how to make sauces finally clicked for Gustavo Calderon, a former restaurant owner who is taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami.