Chilean Cuisine at Top American Culinary Institutes

NEW YORK April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Sopaipillas" (fried pumpkin dough), "Porotos Granados" (corn and bean stew), and "Chupe de mariscos" (seafood pudding) were some of the recipes paired with a selection of Chilean wines that delighted students and media at some of the best culinary academies in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia in a promotional program organized by the Trade Commission of Chile – ProChile with the support of the Corporate Chef of the Culinary Institute of Santiago, Chile,  Juan Pablo Mellado and the Academic Director of this School, Cristobal Hahn.

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Mellado and Hahn visited Chicago and New York between March 16-29 in order to promote the Chilean culinary identity and international agreements with culinary Institutions in different meetings and cooking classes.

In Chicago, the trip included meetings with The French Pastry School and Chilean Cooking Seminars at the Kendall College and Le Cordon Bleu Chicago. Classic recipes like "Chacarero sandwich," "Arrollado Huaso" (pork roll), "Palta Reina" (stuffed avocado) paired with great Chilean wines from Casa Silva Winery were shown in these demonstrations that impressed chefs and culinary students.

Chef Mellado was also invited to New York to launch Lisa Abend's book "The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adria's elBulli." The book weaves the history of elBulli and Adria's own story with the threads of the 35 interns who worked there from June to December 2009. The Chilean chef was chosen over 3000 postulants for this internship in a  place categorized as the best restaurant of the world for many years.

In New York, Chef Mellado did a cooking demo in The International Culinary Center, home of The French Culinary Institute and The Italian Culinary Academy. He also offered a cooking class at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia, showcasing Chilean products sold at the Chilean store and event center Puro Chile, located in Manhattan.

In Chef Mellado's words: "...it is amazing to see the reaction of the audience and their great interest in finding out more about Chilean cuisine, they really want to know what we cook at home in our country and everyone was gladly impressed with the quality of our wines, olive oils, and Chilean spices as merken..."

"We offered Chilean food classes at prestigious institutions in Chicago, like Kendall College Culinary School and Le Cordon Bleu, and in New York at the French Culinary School and The Restaurant School. We want the new generations of chefs to understand our traditional cuisine through the recipes, to be a true taste experience," he added.

The Trade Commissioner of Chile in New York, Alejandro Cerda, said that "Chile is a leading producer and exporter of some of the world's finest fruits, berries, vegetables, fish, shellfish, poultry, meats, and of course, its premium wines. Considering that agriculture has historically been one of the pillars of the Chilean economy, this trip aimed to strengthen the presence in the dining area, revealing the traditional products of the country. Chile's food industry represents around 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it is the second most important exporting sector after mining, growing at an average annual rate of 12% during the last eight years."

Regarding the agricultural sector and industrial products, Chile exports more than US$ 11,000 million, hoping that by 2015 these reach about US$ 20,000 million.

In 2010, the United States imported from Chile $1,238 million in agricultural fruits and cattle products, $1,166 million of food products, $1,027 million in fresh food, $435 million of salmon and trout and $243 million in wine.

Chile is the world's largest exporter of fresh grapes (25.3%), plums (23.7%), and fresh or chilled fish fillets (32.6%), and frozen Pacific salmons (44%) and the number one fresh fruit exporter from the Southern Hemisphere.

ProChile, the Trade Commission of Chile, is part of the General Directorate of International Economic Affairs of Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is responsible for implementing and enhancing Chile's trade policy. ProChile's mission is to provide support to small and medium-sized enterprises, helping to encourage and diversify exports of Chilean products and services by increasing the number of export markets and companies.

ProChile has a global network of 56 trade offices and representatives strategically located in 43 countries, covering more than 90 percent of the destination markets for Chile. For more information please visit www.prochile.us.

SOURCE ProChile