September 23rd, 2016

Cultivating from an in-house garden to the plate with Le Cordon Bleu institutes

Best innovation in an Educational Program Worldwide Hospitality Awards 2016

“Our objective is to create awareness about the richness of terroir and impart knowledge on the origins of fresh ingredients that we use every day in the kitchen”.

Sylvy Morineau, Academic Director, Le Cordon Bleu

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Le Cordon Bleu

More than 120 years of excellence in teaching the Culinary Arts and Hotel Management

With a network of more than 35 schools in 20 countries, Le Cordon Bleu is the world’s leading network of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management institutes. Le Cordon Bleu offers a range of technical and university training programs for working in the restaurant, hotel and tourism industry.

Founded in 1895, Le Cordon Bleu institute has been teaching the techniques and expertise inherited from the great names of French since its origin. Every year, the network of Le Cordon Bleu institutes trains 20, 000 students of 100 nationalities in cuisine, pastry, bread-making, wine, and hotel management.

The founding principles of the institute

• Excellence : the determination to produce the very best results in all aspects, both visual and taste. It is the desire to excel in seeking to provide pleasure to others, and the prestige of achieving genuine artistry.

• Passion : a love of the traditions that go hand in hand with French terroir and local cultures, rigor in executing the job and that spark of creative genius.

• Transfer knowledge : ensuring that the techniques and culinary expertise inherited from the great names of are perpetuated.

• Creativity : the ability to go beyond the techniques and what has been taught, the capability to constantly innovate.

• Modernity : combining tradition and innovation to better oneself and achieve elegance which is as pleasing to the palate as it is to the eye.

Presentation - Culinary Arts programme

Ever since the first institute opened in Paris in 1895, the philosophy of Le Cordon Bleu has been to reach the very highest level of excellence whilst perpetuating traditions and guiding each generation around the world.

French culinary techniques were originally codified by French Chefs more than a century ago and today they remain almost unchanged. Le Cordon Bleu teaching method is based on learning through demonstration classes followed by practical classes and a comprehensive series of theory classes. It is a method which enables expertise to be taught to students in a faster and more empirical way. Once mastered, these techniques can be applied to any cuisine of the world. Lessons are taught by prestigious Chefs, the majority of whom have worked in Michelin starred restaurants or who have been awarded prestigious titles such as “Meilleur Ouvrier de ” (Best Craftsman in France). At Le Cordon Bleu Paris, all demonstration and theory lessons are translated into English.

Demonstrations classes are held in specially equipped classrooms, allowing students to observe the Chef’s techniques in detail. Students are required to take notes throughout, to record the Chef’s explanations and to make their own observations. Demonstrations also include a tasting, which enables them to develop their palate, a vital part of the culinary training.

Hands-on practical classes are held in ultramodern professional kitchens and supervised by Le Cordon Bleu Chefs. Students receive their own basket of ingredients and are responsible for the preparation of their own recipe(s) to ensure that the techniques taught during the demonstrations have been assimilated and understood. The number of students in a practical class is limited to meet individual training needs. The student’s work is evaluated at the end of each class and they are free to take their creations home to enjoy at their leisure.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris students have the opportunity to do an internship after completing their training.

Le Cordon Bleu institute aims to foster the uniqueness of its academic project in order to maintain and develop its leadership in a global and highly competitive market. The Grand Diplôme®, which provides the keys to an international career, can be taken in just nine months. To be awarded the Grand Diplôme®, students have learnt the classic French culinary techniques in cuisine and pastry in order to better meet the needs of Culinary Arts around the globe.

The strength of Le Cordon Bleu lies in the accreditation of its Diplomas in the sphere of global in numerous countries. For example, from Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa to Le Cordon Bleu , via , , and , Le Cordon Bleu Grand Diplôme® allows those who have been awarded it, to consider a whole range of careers within the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry. Internationally, Le Cordon Bleu is recognized as the most important institution, not only in the field of culinary training, but also in hotel management, tourism and the restaurant industry.

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Le Cordon Bleu Paris

2016: A new flagship campus

Le Cordon Bleu Paris new campus opened on June 22, 2016. Overlooking the Seine and the Statue of Liberty, Le Cordon Bleu sits alongside the Beaugrenelle shopping centre, near the Eiffel Tower.

The 4,000 m² flagship institute is fitted out with ultramodern equipment and boasts the latest technology with particular emphasis on the use of digital systems. Built of aluminium and glass, the building’s design was envisaged with the latest environmental norms in mind enabling it to be eco-friendly.

• 7 practical classrooms for cuisine, pastry and bread-making lessons, including one classroom that has been specially designed for teaching : Thai, Japanese and Chinese • 3 demonstration rooms • 1 cellar-style room dedicated to wine • 6 modular classrooms which can be transformed into a 420 m² function room • 1 student area with multimedia equipment and a large library • 1 boutique with a range of products and gourmet gifts, all carefully selected by Le Cordon Bleu Chefs, as well as an array of cuisine and pastry equipment • 1 workshop dedicated to individual or group lessons for cuisine amateurs • Le Cordon Bleu Café gives students and neighbours the opportunity to discover a range of quality goods either on site or at home

One of the building’s innovations is its roof which has been transformed into a vegetable garden measuring more than 800 m². The garden is energy autonomous: the heat from the kitchen hoods is collected and used to heat the green house, a rainwater tank enables the garden to be watered and a number of composters supply fertilizer. Beehives also provide the institute’s honey. The garden allows students to learn how fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers are grown in an urban setting. It also provides some of the fresh ingredients for cuisine lessons and for the Café.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris rooftop garden

An example of urban agriculture at the service of education and training

This unique rooftop garden is currently one of the largest in Paris. Gathering equipment from the latest advanced technologies, this vegetable terrace grows many varieties of flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Three beehives complete this programme to support the pollination of these plantations, and provide honey to the school.

This area is dedicated to academic learning. In a logic of corporate social responsibility, Le Cordon Bleu wishes to convey within training the knowledge associated with the growing and harvesting of different species of plants. This innovative project for a training institute in France has already been proven in other Le Cordon Bleu schools in the world, such as at Le Cordon Bleu London (UK) and at Le Cordon Bleu (Australia).

Key numbers of the rooftop garden:

• Total surface : 1011 m² (terrace and garden) • Surface dedicated to vegetables and fruits: 135 m² • Surface dedicated to aromatic herbs: 65 m² • Surface dedicated to grass: 597 m²

Equipment:

• 4 kitchen waste composter units to power the planters of the substrate • 3 beehives • 1 insect hotel (for completing pollination and shelter certain ancillary culture) • 1 water fountain • 5 fruit trees 1 m3 bins (3 apple and 2 pear) • 1 greenhouse with 2 fixed cultivation tables

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The Rooftop Garden Academic Project Cultivating from an in-house garden to the plate with Le Cordon Bleu institutes

With the opening of the new campus in Paris, the rooftop garden is being used as a pedagogical site for Culinary Arts students. The curriculum of these two disciplines is divided into three levels, each level contains a three-hour course dedicated to learn and better understand the setting up and importance of a rooftop garden. The programme has been developed in partnership with ECOVEGETAL.

This sustainable educational project encompasses the following:

Basic level:

- A visit of the rooftop garden by groups of 16 students. Students: o Understand about the soil and the origins of vegetables, fruits and aromatic herbs. o Comprehend the reasons why certain vegetables, fruits and herbs are placed together on one planter, as well as the use of composters and the insect hotel. o Recognize certain plants, discover rare plants and learn their use in the kitchen. o Taste the vegetables and aromatic herbs.

- A conference and presentation of setting up the garden: Construction, technical issues (sun, reflection of glass windows from surrounding buildings, irrigation, and the use of an urban rooftop garden at a professional level.

Intermediate level:

A conference to better understand and recognized vegetables and fruit and their use in the kitchen for cuisine and pastry preparations.

Understand the seasons; what vegetables, plants and fruit belong to what season and the importance of respecting nature.

Students learn how to set up a beehive, the production of honey and organization of bees. They also study different beehives from the world, and quality and they taste different type of honeys.

Superior level:

A conference introduces gastronomic flowers and spices to aid in creativity and innovation in making dishes and pastries.

Creation of beverages made with plants, and cooking with extracts of teas, coffees and cocoa. The use of the rooftop garden in images

1. The main objective of the 2. Solanaceae crops, rooftop garden is to produce cucurbitacaea, brassicas, fruit and vegetables to be apiacea, lamiaceae and aromatic 3. Set up of an insect hotel used in the school. Regular plants are cultivated in the allowing the development of harvest provides the Chefs, garden. The project is supervised biodiversity. culinary workshops and Le by Chef Eric Briffard, Executive Café with fresh ingredients. Chef, Culinary Arts programmes Director at Le Cordon Bleu Paris

4. A water pump is supplied by 5. Three beehives enhance 6. Four bin composters rain water stocked in a tank. It the pollination of the are supplied with the is used when transplanting garden’s vegetables and garden’s waste and vegetables and also to wash fruit. The beehives are 8 vegetable peelings from vegetables. stimulated in connection with the kitchens. They provide rooftop gardens where there organic fertilizer. are mixtures of bee-forage plants (plants which contain nectar).

The educational programme in six images

3. The programme 1. The programme 2. A specific rooftop focuses on creating teaches students the garden programme has awareness demonstrating benefits of a vegetable been conceived in close the importance of urban

garden and the numerous collaboration with agriculture. Students uses of each plant/herb. ECOVEGETAL. learn the advantages and constraints of a vegetable garden.

5. The majority of 6. Le Cordon Bleu and 4. Exotic plants are also vegetables are from ECOVEGETAL are proud of cultivated. A greenhouse ancient grains. This the results: tasty and protects biodiversity and allows plants to hibernate delicious vegetables, fruit and ensures the continuity the patrimony of certain and herbs with an of healthy production. species. Agricultural adapted substrate to autonomy is the future to thrive. This garden is a guarantee a wide range classroom used to of flavours. educate the future generations of Chefs.

More images of the project

LE CORDON BLEU PARIS

Le Cordon Bleu Paris rooftop garden

The vegetable garden

The vegetable garden

The vegetable garden and beehives

The first pear

The first melons

The first eggplant

Classes on the rooftop garden

Tasting of the aromatic herbs

Vegetable garden conference

LE CORDON BLEU LONDON INSTITUTE Rooftop vegetable garden classes