Potatoes USA brought 21 chefs from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines on a reverse trade mission (RTM) to the U.S. to learn about U.S. potatoes and to discover creative ways to put them on menus.
The RTM began with potato training in Idaho, then switched to a two-day training session at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore. The RTM’s final portion took place at the National Restaurant Association annual conference and trade show in Chicago.
In Idaho Falls, Idaho, the international chefs visited a fresh-pack shed and dehydrated potato processing facility. The group also received intensive training on dehydrated potatoes at Miles Willard Technologies. They were amazed by the scale, sophistication and quality of U.S. potatoes and products. Before even getting into the culinary portion of the training, the chefs were already discussing ways to incorporate U.S. potatoes in their menus back home.
The RTM group next traveled to Boise, Idaho where they met with Lamb Weston, the Idaho Potato Commission and the J.R. Simplot Company. They were impressed with the different frozen potato products and the wide variety of applications in which they can be used.
The 21 international corporate and R&D chefs put their newly acquired U.S. potato knowledge to use in Portland. With the assistance of the Oregon Potato Commission, the group had a two-day cooking workshop at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute. The training began with cutting-edge culinary demonstrations with dehydrated, frozen and fresh potatoes, followed by two opportunities to prepare dishes with U.S. potatoes and products. The second day included training by a lead instructor on classical potato preparations and dishes. The international chefs really appreciated seeing a top-level chef demonstrate these simple yet very difficult French potato dishes.
The culmination of the training was a black box challenge featuring all potato types and varieties combined with the secret ingredients of artichokes, leeks, summer squash, lemons, oranges, apples, shrimp and scallops. The chefs were divided into five teams, each of which blended several different cultures and cooking styles. The competition resulted in five unique, delicious potato dishes ranging from potato ceviche to potato crepes wrapped around the vegetables and topped with a shrimp to the winner, a vertical potato salad that included four varieties of potato and five types of frozen cuts and was topped with a dressing made with dehydrated potatoes.
Most of the group then traveled to Chicago for the National Restaurant Association show. The chefs were very appreciative of this extra opportunity to learn more about U.S. food products, including potatoes.
All of the chefs expressed sincere gratitude to have been able to participate in this experience; all felt that how they viewed and thought about potatoes had changed significantly. There was a consensus among the attending chefs that they could each apply what they had learned in their restaurants and that they would be launching new potato dishes on their menus very soon.
Potatoes USA particularly recognized the Idaho Potato Commission, the Oregon Potato Commission, the Washington State Potato Commission and all the growers from Idaho, Oregon and Washington who helped host this year’s event.