Culinary 1st! UH Community College students earn Japanese certification
VIDEO NEWS RELEASE
University of Hawaiʻi
Aji (horse mackerel) plated dish
Fourteen Kapiʻolani CC students earned bronze certification.
Chef Takeshi Suda demonstrating knife skills
Bronze Certification of Cooking Skills for Japanese Cuisine in Foreign Countries
Yukihito Onuma, owner of Yamagata Meatland and Sachiu Farm (left) and Chef Suda (right) with wagyu
Link to video and sound (details below): (VIdeo Courtesy: Pacific Islands Fisheries Group)
https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/adk1BUEW59
***Suggested VO/SOT script below***
WHAT: In a first for Hawaiʻi, 41 University of Hawaiʻi Community College students from three campuses earned the globally recognized Bronze Certification of Cooking Skills for Japanese Cuisine in Foreign Countries, backed by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Training included knife techniques, fish fileting, ingredient handling, seasoning balance, presentation, and the principles of omotenashi, or Japanese hospitality.
An additional featured component that was not part of the regular course and certification included a live demonstration and tasting focused on very high-grade Yamagata wagyu beef,
WHERE: Training took place on different days at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiʻolani Community College, Kauaʻi Community College and Leeward Community College
WHO: Instruction for the certification course was led by Chef Takeshi Suda, a representative chef of Yamagata Prefecture directly employed by the Japanese government.
HOW: The program is administered internationally by the Association of the Advancement of the Japanese Culinary Arts (AAJ), which partnered with the UH Community Colleges.
OTHER FACTS:
This was only the second time the certification course has been held in the U.S.
The Association of Advancement of the Japanese Culinary Arts has already certified more than 400 chefs and students from all over the world, including Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Los Angeles, Dubai and Milan.
The wagyu was supplied by Sachiu Farm in Yamagata Prefecture, which raises only female Japanese Black cattle that are carefully fattened for more than 25 months.
VIDEO: (Courtesy: Pacific Islands Fisheries Group)
BROLL: (Courtesy: Pacific Islands Fisheries Group) (1 minute, 24 seconds)
0:00-1:24 - Clips of the program with UH Community College students
SOUND:
Matthew Egami, Leeward CC chef instructor (21 seconds)
"To me it's a really cool thing with the bronze certification, right, because again, hopefully this is something that, as they grow in their career and they travel, they have this proof, this resume that they're at this level already. So to me this really opens up the possibilities for them of maybe working internationally, traveling, living elsewhere outside of Hawaiʻi as well if that's what they want to do.”
Christopher Garnier, Kapiʻolani CC chef instructor (16 seconds)
“The significance of today, the bronze medal program, is to let the students attain obviously this award and to go through all the skills and learn the respect of Japanese cuisine and also the culture.”
VOSOT script (please courtesy video: Pacific Islands Fisheries Group)
INTRO
It’s a first for Hawaiʻi—41 University of Hawaiʻi Community College culinary students earned bronze certifications after learning to filet fish and more from a Japanese chef.
VO
Chef Takeshi Suda taught students from Kapiʻolani, Kauaʻi and Leeward community colleges and even brought special Yamagata wagyu.
SOT
(Matthew Egami, Leeward CC, chef instructor)
To me it's a really cool thing with the bronze certification, right, because again, hopefully this is something that as they grow in their career and they travel, they have this proof, this resume that they're at this level already. So to me this really opens up the possibilities for them of maybe working internationally, traveling, living elsewhere outside of Hawaiʻi as well if that's what they want to do.”
(Christopher Garnier, Kapiʻolani CC chef instructor)
“The significance of today, the bronze medal program, is to let the students attain obviously this award and to go through all the skills and learn the respect of Japanese cuisine and also the culture.”
VO
This was only the second time the certification course from Association of the Advancement of the Japanese Culinary Arts has been held in the United States.