The Art of the Plate: March 2007

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

CIC Student Receives Nathalie Dupree Scholarship

Culinary Institute of Charleston student Erin Ragon has been selected to receive the first Nathalie Dupree Scholarship for Advanced Culinary Studies. Ragon will receive tuition, books and fees for one semester to continue her studies at the Culinary Institute. She will also serve a paid apprenticeship with Dupree and have the opportunity to participate in a culinary-related study abroad program. The BB&T Food + Wine Festival established the scholarship in 2006 to honor Dupree, a notable culinary author and television personality. The scholarship was limited to Culinary Institute of Charleston students with a 3.0 GPA on a minimum 24 credit hours of coursework. Students were required to submit an application and culinary aspiration essay. Finalists were interviewed by a panel that included Dupree and Culinary Institute faculty and staff. The TTC Foundation will administer the scholarship funds.

Monday, March 12, 2007

What We're Reading

“Eating from the Ground Up”

Out just in time for the vegetables appearing at our farmers markets, Alana Chernila’s cookbook focuses on creatively using every root and leaf. While some of the recipes may be familiar concepts – think stuffed tomatoes – hers are packed with millet, basil, and parsley. Fried rice stars salmon, fennel, and Swiss chard stems. Roasted asparagus are sauced with a combo of butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Stone fruit, raw corn kernels, scallions, basil, and jalapeño make a cool salad for hot weather. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

"Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes"

“This book is my homage to the cuisine of my family,” Chef Todd Richards writes in his autobiographical collection of essays and recipes. “These are the ingredients of my people. This is my sermon about my Soul food.”

Bringing accolades for his stints at Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, James Beard nominations, and, of course, his prowess at Southern cooking, Richards seasons the pot with a powerful bouquet of flavors as he pays his heritage forward. Collards cooked with ham hocks are accented with piquant pickled collard stems. Blueberries are found in fried pies; strawberries are plated with champagne aspic, whipped cream, and honey. Grilled peaches pair with radishes on toast spread with pimiento cheese. Sweet potatoes are layered with cauliflower and crab in a lush gratin.

"Soul food," Richards tells us, "is the original cuisine of the South, born from an involuntary collision of cultures."
Published by Southern Living. $35.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

CIC Student Receives Nathalie Dupree Scholarship

Monday, March 12, 2007

36 Hours in Charleston: Easy strolling and fine eating in a city of moss-laden oaks.