by Levi Briggs, March 28, 2018

I made food out of bugs!!  How’s that for an attention grabber?  Sorry, but the next sentence sounds really boring so I needed to pique your interest.  Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending The Compass Marketing Summit in Miami, FL.  (See what I mean?)  I am a chef with Compass Group and one division of the company is known as Business Excellence or “B.E.”  (Now I’m going to start throwing a bunch of acronyms around.)  While I was in Miami, I did some R & D with B.E., nbd.  This is an obnoxious way of saying I dabbled in research and development.  One of the more interesting projects in which I participated was the preparation of biscuits made from cricket flour.  That’s right…flour made from crickets.

Why?  Just why?  This is the question you may be asking at this point.  BUT, did you know that cricket flour has 3 times the protein contained in sirloin and double the protein in chicken?  How does it taste?  To quote Austin Powers, “It’s a bit nutty.”  Needless to say, finding the perfect recipe took some time, not to mention, the countless crickets who died so that we may eat…trendy food.  So, we have found a way to make baked goods out of crickets, but at what cost?!  Well, not that much.  As it turns out, crickets are easy to farm and the trend is gaining momentum.

We also made Pavlova.  “Big deal” you might be saying.  Have YOU ever tried to make meringue in Miami?  Let’s just say the humidity down there causes my wife’s hair to frizz out into the next time zone, but against all odds, I was able to perfect the recipe and technique.  Research and Development is fun because it challenges us to do what often seems impossible.

Just before my trip to Miami, I had the pleasure of spending a day with my mentor, Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Baltimore.  I’ve learned a lot from Jerry over the past 14 years, but I was only given the opportunity to work with this great man because of the skills and knowledge I received from Kendall College.

I am excited to have the opportunity to continue working while pursuing my degree.  I attended Kendall 15 years ago and earned my Associates in Culinary.  When I decided to go for my bachelor’s, I knew it had to be Kendall.  This time around I live in the Baltimore area, so I am taking advantage of the online classes.  So far, the experience has surpassed my expectations and I am looking forward to the year ahead.