Le Cordon Bleu

Le Cordon Bleu (French for "blue ribbon") is the world's largest hospitality education institution, with over 22,000 students, and a presence in 20 countries. It only teaches hospitality management and the culinary arts.

Overview

The origin of the school comes from L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit, an elite group of French knights that was created in 1578. Each member was awarded the Cross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue ribbon. According to one story, the group became known for their extravagant and luxurious banquets, known as "cordon bleu." While these dinners ended with the French Revolution, the name remained synonymous with excellent cooking. Another theory has it simply that the blue ribbon became synonymous with excellence, and this was later applied to other fields such as cooking. [ [http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/restaurant/history.html Le Cordon Bleu: A Brief History] ; correlates to accounts in the school's introductory text of "Le Cordon Bleu at Home" and other books.]

The name was adopted by the French culinary magazine, "La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu", founded by Marthe Distel in the early 19th century. The magazine began offering special lessons by some of the best chefs in France. This eventually grew to become a cooking school that opened in Paris in 1895 and quickly became one of the most elite cooking schools in the world.

In 1933, former student Dione Lucas helped to open a school under the Le Cordon Bleu name in London, England. In 1988, shortly after buying Le Cordon Bleu, president André J. Cointreau [ [http://lecordonbleu.net/International/English/cm1.cfm?fid=21 LCB.net - A message from school president André J. Cointreau] ] purchased the London school, and has since launched schools in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; Ottawa, Canada; Tokyo, Kobe & Yokohama, Japan; Lima, Peru; and Bangkok, Thailand. Le Cordon Bleu is due to open a new school in Martinborough, New Zealand in early 2009. In total, over 18,000 students attend a Cordon Bleu school each year. Le Cordon Bleu has also expanded, issuing cookbooks and a line of kitchenware.

It also operates 14 cities under the Le Cordon Bleu name in the United States through a relationship with Career Education Corporation.

Apart from the culinary programs, Le Cordon Bleu also offers hospitality management education with up to 2000 students studying Bachelor or Masters degrees. They have Masters degrees in France, Japan, Korea and Australia and an on-line gastronomy program. Their Bachelor programs in Hotel Management and Restaurant Management programs are delivered in the U.S., Mexico, Australia, Peru and Korea. [ [https://programs.cordonbleu.edu/?lang=4&local=1 Le Cordon Bleu course information] ]

While each Cordon Bleu school offers its own list of culinary short courses, matching local demand, the "Classic Cycle" is common to all. This consists of six ten-week courses: three in "cuisine" and three in "patisserie" (pastry making). Each course, if successfully completed, leads to the award of a certificate at basic, intermediate, or advanced level. Students who complete all three levels in the same field are awarded the "Diplôme de Cuisine" or the "Diplôme de Pâtisserie". Those who complete all six courses are awarded the "Grand Diplôme". The "Grand Diplome" is one of the few culinary credentials that signifies mastery of both pastry and culinary fundamentals.

In her memoir "My Life in France" (Knopf), Julia Child, aided by her husband's nephew Alex Prud'homme, discusses her experiences attending the school in the late 1940s. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/08/books/review/08grim.html?ex=1302148800&en=3dbb83414e8ab2e8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss New York Times: Julia Child's Memoir of When French was Scary] April 8, 2006] In 2007, an American writer, Kathleen Flinn, wrote the first insider's account of attending the modern Paris flagship school titled The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry (Viking/Penguin). [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15732097 NPR's Talk of the Nation: 'The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry'] ] The tale recounts the modern day-to-day trials of the program, and provides a further history of the school.

It is often assumed that the character Audrey Hepburn played in the 1954 film "Sabrina" attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, however the school's name is never mentioned in the film. She did visit the school for the film's launch. [ [http://www.cordonbleu.edu/International/English/cm1.cfm?fid=13 LCB International history] ]

Notable alumni

* Julia Child
* Homaro Cantu
* Giada De Laurentiis
* Dione Lucas
* Nancy Silverton
* Gaston Acurio
* Mario Batali(Only attended for a very short time, never graduated)
* Ming Tsai
* Kathleen Flinn
* Sandra Lee

Conflict with Manitoba restaurant

In 2006, Cordon Bleu threatened legal action against a small family owned restaurant in Ste. Anne, Manitoba for breach of copyright. Although the restaurant had been operating under the name "Cordon Bleu" since 1963, and the owners asserted that no one could have mistakenly believed any connection between their "little hick restaurant" with the corporate giant, they felt that taking the issue to court would have bankrupted them. As a result, the Ste. Anne owners agreed to change their name and reached an undisclosed settlement with the larger company to pay for new signage and other costs. [ [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/01/23/4788548-sun.html Cordon Bleu sues Manitoba eatery] , "Winnipeg Sun", January 23, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.cordonbleu.net/ Cordon Bleu Home page]
* [http://www.lecordonbleuschoolsusa.com/ Cordon Bleu USA Home page]
* [http://www.csca.edu/ California School of Culinary Arts Pasadena ]
* [http://www.vegasculinary.com/ Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Las Vegas ]