Elections are important even when only one person is running for each office. Our association is lucky to have members who will step up to the challenge of officer. Winslow Goodier, Claudia Fitzgerald and Manfred Rohr are running unopposed but we will hold our election at VIMS on October 12. Please be there.

From the President's Desk President's Letter for July
Hello chefs!
It has been a while. We had our meeting at the Williamsburg Landing thanks to Dan Carr. He put on a great spread for us and a very professional set up. Manfred even brought the banner. A dozen members showed up which seems to be the average attendance. I took the minutes so I am going to use my presidents letter to review what we talked about and cover a couple of things I want to communicate to the membership.
We welcomed a new/transferring member Robert Smith from sunny California. He is the executive chef at Chipingham Medical Center. He was very active in his chapter on the west coast and I hope we will be able to use his talents here. Next time you see him say hello.
We have $3500 in the VCA bank right now. I gave Manfred refund checks from the ACF so that should increase a bit. We were able to take a profit from the VCA dinner of $1600. Imagine if all 140 people had been able to show up!
Glen gave us an over view of the Chocolate Festival. Aside from the obvious success we were able to raise almost $6000 for the Otto Bernet scholarship fund. That brings us to over $11,000. We talked about ways to distribute the funds but thought we need more input from the membership. Manfred is going to talk to Jim Goodman to see where he is with the applications. As it stands right now no one recalls seeing any applications for scholarships this school year. Around 550 people attended the festival. Glen is already fielding calls for next year.
Gene explained to us his latest letter to the membership. He is dead set that each member can get at least one fellow chef to join the ACF. I hope that everyone received the letter. If you did not, contact Gene at genepilot@msn.com for more information. This ties into a drive the ACF is having. As the ACF increases its membership it will progressively lower its dues. I am sure everyone knows VCA was mentioned in the Culinary Review as one of the top chapters for our recruiting efforts.
Winslow answered some questions about what’s new with certification. He thinks the biggest complication is with the new practical exam the ACF is requiring for CEC. A couple of people are going to be working on that particular level this year so Winslow is going to get some answers at the National Convention.
I went over the weekend at the Inn and the James Beard Golf Tournament. I brought the menus for people to look over after the meeting. It was a fantastic time, so many chefs to see and learn from. Winslow brought five kids from his class. They were up for three days straight. It would take this whole page and all my writing abilities to tell the whole story. I do want to point out that not many chefs from VCA showed up. 40 chefs from around the country, all James Beard alumni, and we could not get a hand full of chefs to help.
John is teaching now and I understand also taking a class so he was not able to make the meeting. We did not here much about the Southern Woman’s Show. It was brought to the floor that next year we should have a pre-determined budget for the event, what's more we need to be able to evaluate how the VCA will benefit from it.
Our elections are right around the corner and we did get some nominations. So far…Rolf nominated Winslow for president, Winslow nominated Claudia for Vice President, and Manfred for Treasurer. Looks like he is putting a great ticket together. We still need a secretary. As we get closer to the new year I hope to see more people nominated. Jeff Aczel has volunteered to be the address and point man for this election. Think about where do we want the chefs dinner as well.
The picnic is right around the corner and we racked out brains about finding a place to hold it. If all else fails we will do what we did last year. More to follow on this. Well, that’s one page. I will keep you posted on up coming events through email.

Renny

Virginia Chef's Association Events Calendar

December 6, 2004, 3:00 PM

Membership Meeting
Kingsmill Resort
Williamsburg Virginia,
Pastry Chef Uwe will demonstrate sugar blowing and Centerpieces.

January, 2005
Chef's Ball
Berrets Restaurant
Williamsburg, VA
Details will follow

Employment Opportunities
I have several inquiries from restaurants looking for chef level help. One is a club in Georgia, one is a restaurant in Richmond, and one is a restaurant in the western part of the state.
Von Paulhus and Associates is a headhunter and they are looking for a chef and for an assistant F&B. Telephone 252-635-1983.
Positive Vibe Café in Stratford Hills Shopping Center is looking for a working chef. E-mail Garthl@aol.com
GENERAL MANAGER
UPSCALE, FINE DINING
LOOKING FOR EXPERIENCED GM
STRONG FRONT HOUSE, CUSTOMER BUILDER
KNOWLEDGE OF WINE
SUPERVISE 4 MANAGERS
CULINARY DEGREE, BA PREFERRED
POS SYSTEMS, EXCEL
SALARY, QUARTERLY BONUS SALARY 50-55K
FULL BENEFITS
LOCATION - NEWPORT NEWS, VA
LINDA AASEN
THE LEE GROUP 757-872-8386
LAasen@aol.com

Tidbits
Dawn Jantsch has been named managing director of the American Culinary Federaton, Inc
Ms. Jantsch is poised and charismatic and has very impressive credentials. In several conversations with me she demonstrated a command of ACF activities that surprised me comming from someone so new to our organization. She will be responsible for managing the headquarters operations and for supervising the staff in St. Augustine. She appears to be savvy financially and is a good communicator.
Michael Baskette will move to Director of Education. Even though this position has the same title as that held by others over the past several years, Chef Baskette has been tasked to take education in a more aggressive direction. Look for some interesting things here in the next few months.
The new headquarters in St. Augustine is wonderful. There is a renewed energy in the staff that is refreshing. The building itself is a clean and modern structure that each of us can be proud of.
ACF is still accepting building fund donations in any amount. We can either collect the funds locally and send something as a chapter, or any of the members can contribute individually.
Roanoke is hosting the Southeast Regional in March, 2005. Those of you who worked on the Williamsburg conference know how much work one of these takes. Billy Raper, you all remember Billy, he was an apprentice in our program and a member of our chapter. He is chef at the Hotel Roanoke where the conference is to be held and is looking for help. Contact me to get more information and Billy's contact information.

Examples of some linked ads
Quality Virginia products from the Virginia Culinary Company
Renny Parzialle, CCC and his wife Beth have developed a line of specialty oils and vinegars as well as other unique food items. Magnolia's is proud to offer these Virginia's Finest products. Whether they are in a uniquely Virginia gift basket, or a condiment for your table, the Parzialle's marvelous oils and vinegars are a true taste of Virginia.

Use Virginias Finest Products on your menu.

Click here to find out more about Renny and Beth Parzialle

Notes Of Importance

The ACF has in place a program called "Bursary Grants".
This is a grant program set up to award up to $200.00 per year to any ACF member who applies. The money is for continuing education. The member enrolls in the seminar or class and sends proof of enrollment to ACF. The ACF will write a check to the education institution for the amount of the course, up to $200.00 (or the members balance if they have used the grant that year already).
This is a very easy way to pay for things like Serve Safe, Nutrition classes, Supervisory management classes and the like.
If you enroll for classes at J. Sargent Reynolds, you can maintain your certification at no cost.
This grant cannot be used for attending conventions or conferences.

Nominations for national officers were opened at the Orlando Convention and will remain open until December 31. Here is a list of the candidates for the offices we will be voting for.
o For President:
James Taylor CEC, AAC, currently Northeast VP and John Zehnder, CEC, AAC currently Central Region VP
o For Treasurer;
Louis Perrote CEC, AAC currently Southeast VP and Joe Aello from the Northeast Region
o For Secretary;
Walter Bronowitz CEC AAC, CCE currently Western Regional VP; John Maxwell CEC, AAC currently Internal Audit Chair from Southeast; Bill Tillinghast CEC, AAC from Philadelphia; and Denise Streeter CEC, currently president of the African American Chapter.
o For Southeast Region VP;
Kieth Gardner, CEC, AAC from North Carolina; Michael Bologna, CEC AAC from Atlanta, Desmond DeSocia CEC, AAC from Orlando; and George Pastor, CEC, AAC currently ACF National Secretary.

Chef and Child combined with Team USA to host an event at Sea World that was very successful. I don’t have the financial results yet but more than 700 persons attended and sales of raffle tickets for the car topped 6.000.

There were no new ACF by-laws

Revenue exceeded expenses last year for ACF for the third time in a row. Our assets are growing and membership is stable at about 20,000. We do seem to be gaining new members but we are not retaining members as well as we should. Member retention will be a major push for the next couple of years.

The Membership Update
ACF Membership Drive
The new ACF drive comes at a good time to enhance our current recruiting drive! To date our efforts have increased VA Chef, Chapter 011 membership to the following totals:

Active 70 members

Associate 4 members

Junior 12 members

Jr. Culinary 1 member

Retired 5 members

Total 92 members
Our third recruiting mailing piece included an ACF benefits list, membership fees list, and one application with your name as “sponsor.” Consider this, that it is possible to double our membership if all current active members make a concentrated effort to secure one new member in any one of the listed categories.
Please send the completed and signed application with appropriate payment check to me at my following address: 119 John Tyler Lane, Williamsburg, VA 23185 for record tabulation and mailing to ACF Membership Service Department.

SEASONED ADVICE
A monthly column on spices and herbs
By Ann D. Wilder
President and founder of Vanns Spices Ltd.

ASAFETIDA:
ADD JUST A PINCH FOR MIRACULOUS RESULTS
American consumers continue to demonstrate their readiness for many more spices. We’ve become comfortable with talking about different types of chilies, everyone is eating Thai and now we are eager for more exotic ones.
Take asafetida, for example. Actually, asafetida is not new, for it was familiar to the first New World settlers who wore a chunk on a thong around their necks to ward off illnesses, witches, etc. It has been used in cooking in India and Afghanistan for many hundreds of years. Although native to Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, asafetida is also grown in Eastern Kashmir. This seasoning is a dried, resinous lump which is the dried gum of several species of ferula, or giant fennel. It can be used in small chunks or ground to a powder.
Asafetida is a particularly unpleasant smelling product, similar to pickled garlic. In the factory we keep it wrapped in heavy plastic in a closed tin. We only sell asafetida in tins because of the aroma. However, when it is added to food, it is miraculous. A friend and I ate at the Ambassador, my favorite Indian restaurant in Baltimore. The asafetida, a cross among garlic, onion and truffles, added a rich dark flavor to the dish.Use in minute quantities. A pinch is usually enough for any dish.
Indians use spice in two ways, first for flavor and secondarily for medicine. Asafetida is a digestive. It is always used with lentils and beans, which we all understand are hard to digest. Since lentils and beans make up a large portion of Indian diets, asafetida is extremely important to that cuisine.
As an aside, I am told that Moslems use asafetida and Hindus use garlic in the same dishes in northern India. Others just go for it and use garlic, onions and asafetida.
Asafetida.
Play with it!