08/11/08 Olympic chef training

Washington Ag August 11, 2008 It wasn't a competition for medals but chefs in China recently underwent some training in how to prepare western food and the use of American food and ingredients in western cooking. Wayne Batwin with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service says the USDA Agricultural Trade Office in Beijing held the 2008 Olympic Chef Training in partnership with the Beijing Olympic Committee. Batwin: "The hotels, the restaurants, the venues in Beijing that will be serving food have all been preparing for western visitors to the Olympics. And FAS has done a lot of training of chefs and others in hospitality about what kinds of food products people like from the west, how to prepare them how to serve them in buffets and other ways." There were a total of five U.S. Cooperators who participated in the training including the US Potato Board, U.S. Wheat Associates and the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Washington farmers and ranchers help support those organizations through various check off programs. During the training the high quality, variety, availability and safety of U.S. food products were emphasized. There is one more open house this week where people can meet and learn more about the role of the Columbia River Watermaster. That will be this Wednesday August 6th at the North Central Regional Library in Wenatchee from four to six p.m. I'm Bob Hoff.