Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

BLOGtober [Old Post]: I’m Certifiable (Pulaski Tech Achieves Significant Culinary and Hospitality Accreditation)

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Note: Today’s challenge with the BLOGtober Fest from Arkansas Women Bloggers was to repost an old post. When I went through my archives, however, I found a few that were never finished or posted, mostly due to lack of time to do so.

I found this very important post in that pile of unfinished projects, and I’ve decided to share it today. In fact, it’s timely in that Pulaski Tech is now working on their new facility and toward reaccreditation, adding certifications in Baking & Pastry as well as Wine Studies (the latter of which is through a different accrediting body).

Pulaski Tech continues to have the only accredited culinary or hospitality program in Arkansas.

Originally written on March 15, 2010

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Yes, it’s official. I’m certifiable.

OK, yes, that way, too. But what I mean is, as a Certified Culinarian. As a student of Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, upon graduation (and completion of a little paperwork) I may now use that title.

Reason being, the school announced on Friday that the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation’s Accrediting Commission (ACFEF) and the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA) has granted it their accreditation status. That gives us students some status in the marketplace, too.

Don’t just take it from me; here’s the official flack from the school itself.

PTC Arkansas Culinary School receives dual accreditation

LITTLE ROCK – The Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School today announced that it has received accreditation from the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation’s Accrediting Commission (ACFEF) and the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA).

Dr. Dan F. Bakke, college president, and Todd Gold, director of the PTC Arkansas Culinary School, made the announcement Friday during a news conference at Little Rock-South. Guest speaker Montine McNulty, executive director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, commended the culinary school for the accomplishment.

With this accreditation, the PTC Arkansas Culinary School joins the ranks of other nationally recognized culinary and hospitality schools, and thus offers students the opportunity to graduate with the title Certified Culinarian or Certified Hospitality Graduate. These certifications will allow graduates to enter the workforce with the most widely recognized culinary and hospitality credentials in the nation.

“These accreditations position Pulaski Technical College as a center of excellence for the culinary and hospitality industries,” Dr. Bakke said. “Tourism and hospitality are leading industries in Arkansas, and we are committed to developing a skilled workforce to meet the needs of those industries.” The hospitality industry is not only important in the State of Arkansas but around the globe, it keeps the economy going. Gaining a certificate in hospitality at any level can open up a wide range of potential careers to those who wish to carry on down this route and progress.

The Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School is the only college in Arkansas to offer ACFEF accreditation for an Associate of Applied Science in culinary arts and is the only two-year college in the state to offer ACPHA accreditation for the Associate of Applied Science in hospitality management. ACPHA/ACFEF dual accreditation is offered at only 15 colleges and universities in the United States.

Additionally, the PTC Arkansas Culinary School apprenticeship program has received American Culinary Federation recognition as the only culinary apprenticeship program in the state.

Most importantly, these accreditations are widely recognized objective benchmarks in the culinary and hospitality professions. Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School graduates can expect to gain greatly enhanced employability based on their levels of skill and expertise as measured by these rigorous accrediting bodies.

Pulaski Technical College is a comprehensive, two-year college that serves the educational needs of central Arkansas through more than 90 occupational/technical degree and certificate programs, a university-transfer curriculum and specialized programs for business and industry.

The college’s mission is to provide access to high quality education that promotes student learning, to enable individuals to develop to their fullest potential and to support the economic development of the state.

Images from the announcement ceremony:

Diamond Chef 2012: Knapp vs. Cameron

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Update: Results and photos here.

It’s time again to celebrate all things culinarily wonderful in Arkansas, in glorious, knife-weilding battle at the annual Diamond Chef Arkansas competition, hosted by the Pulaski Technical College Foundation.

The event will be held this Tuesday, June 5 at 6 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

This year’s competitors are Chef Jason Knapp, executive chef at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway/Aramark (and a former PTC chef) and Chef Bonner Cameron from Ya-Ya’s Euro Bistro in Little Rock. Both were finalists in the competition’s preliminary rounds in March. (See our prelim play-by-play and photo roundup here.)

This final event is formatted a bit differently than the preliminaries. For this event, only one surprise ingredient is unveiled, and that ingredient must be included in three courses produced by the chefs and their sous chefs within 60 minutes. In the preliminary event, a basket of several ingredients was opened before each round, all of which had to be used for a single course.

The final is judged by a panel of Certified Master Chefs, which is in and of itself quite spectacular. The prestigious CMC designation is awarded by the American Culinary Federation after a grueling 8-day testing procedure. Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School will host the judges, CMC John Johnstone and CMC Peter Timmins, at PTC South Campus’ Crain Community Room from 10 a.m. until noon for a panel discussion of the CMC designation and the testing process. (See an upcoming post for more details.)

As I wrote last year, the Diamond Chef Arkansas final is a spectacular fine-dining event that you won’t want to miss. Except, I hear that it’s sold out. So, make a note for next year, huh?

Wish you could see the event? You can, right here. Follow along here at Fancy Pants Foodie, or on our Twitter feed at @ARFoodie, for a live play-by-play and photo updates.