HISTORY
An Art, a Science and Sharing
By Kay Orde
Fritz Sonnenschmidt, CMC, AAC, HOF, who
spent 34 years teaching aspiring chefs at
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Hyde
Park, N. Y., explains his teaching philosophy this
way: “It would be as if I made footsteps in the
sand, and asked you to follow exactly in my
footsteps. You could do it for the first few, but
then you would wobble and go off course. We
would end up in the same place, but you would
have taken your own path.
in Germany and in England before coming
to the U.S. in 1962. His first job was as sous
chef at the Eldorado Shore and Yacht Club in
New Rochelle, N. Y. He also took classes on
American cuisine at the CIA.
be the go-to organization for chefs. Then, our
membership will increase enormously.”
Sonnenschmidt
“The frustration of a good teacher is to talk the
business while the student does it. Explain the
beginning and the end, and in between, the
student must find the way.”
Today, the profession that Sonnenschmidt has
followed for more than 60 years is getting
better and better for those students, he says.
“When I began in the business, long hours and
many days without time off was the norm, but
today, young people have choices. They can
go into different areas of foodservice, and new
opportunities come every day. And, they can
earn well. The key is that you still have to start
at the bottom, but if you concentrate on the
main ingredients and the flavor, and cook what
you know, it will give you an edge.”
He was executive chef for Sheraton Hotels,
New York, when he was invited to join the
CIA as an instructor. There, he found a home,
and he stayed in teaching so long, he says,
because he had discovered a way to share his
knowledge. “I believe that cooking and baking
is an art and a science—and a way of sharing.
I was fortunate to have good masters, and I
learned enough to share with young people
so they could become successful. But I also
learned from those young people—they had
the good ideas, and I had the ways to make
them work.”
Although he officially retired as culinary dean
emeritus of the CIA in 2002, Sonnenschmidt
stays involved in foodservice. “I still believe in
sharing and learning. In 1972, when I wrote
my first book, my students learned from it and
shared what they learned with others. That
way, the profession grows. Today, I find new
ideas everywhere, picked up from colleagues.
At ACF meetings, I talk with members about
certification, and how you have to earn it.”
A member of Mid-Hudson Culinary
Association, Sonnenschmidt joined ACF
nearly 50 years ago. He was on the 1976
team that represented the U.S. at the
Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA)
in Frankfurt, Germany, and led the New York
Culinary Regional Team to the 1984 and
1988 IKAs. He earned his Certified Master
Chef® designation in 1983, was named
U.S.A.’s Chef of the Year™ in 1994 and served
as chair of the American Academy of Chefs
from 1999 to 2003.
And when he gets together with fellow culinary
judges, they talk about culinary competition
and the lessons it offers to competitors. “It
used to be that everything was learned from
scratch, because there was no other way. Now,
young people aren’t getting that foundation,”
Sonnenschmidt says. “In competition, they’re
forced to do it from scratch, so it teaches them
discipline in their professional life and work.”
Sonnenschmidt, 75, discovered his culinary
calling as a young boy when a cook at an
American army base in his Bavarian village let
him help make pancakes and bread. He went
on to serve an apprenticeship and worked
A CULINARY CLUE
Did you know that fictional sleuth
Sherlock Holmes once solved a case
by observing the depth to which parsley
sank in butter on a hot day? This culinary
tidbit comes from Fritz Sonnenschmidt,
aficionado of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
novels featuring Holmes and Dr. Watson,
and author of Dining with Sherlock
Holmes: A Baker Street Cookbook
(Fordham University Press, 1993).
“I believe in professional organizations,” he
says. “In 1950, my master took me to a
meeting of the Bavarian Chefs Association. In
those days, we went to learn about concepts
and to find out where the jobs were, and for
companionship. Today, it’s for education and
knowledge in an ever-changing environment.
Sonnenschmidt has chosen to keep active
in retirement, and is in great demand to give
demos and judge competitions nationwide.
He remains an advocate for learning and for
sharing knowledge. “This is a living profession,
and you don’t get bored. There is always
something new to study and work with. I am
constantly tempted to get more knowledge—it
keeps the passion going. Our older chefs need
to think young. They were no different when
they were starting out from young chefs today.
So we can help these young people, because
we made the same mistakes.”
“Education is so important that it should
be ACF’s main focus. We need to become
the education authority for professional
culinarians, with an emphasis on good,
healthy food. We need to make ACF a
household word with American diners and
He sees lots of positive interaction with young
people in ACF’s future. “They bring new ideas
and political involvement, and we can offer
them knowledge. We should also be offering
advice on how to open and run a business and
succeed. ACF needs to be in this area, helping
them learn the business side of the profession.
We need to help these beginning members
and say, ‘You can do it. Here are the tools.’”
www.acfchefs.org
