Culinary Arts | Chelsea Music Festival

Music is art and so is food. In order to get true pleasure, one needs a degree of education to appreciate both. Just like good music is created and produced by skilled musicians, it takes well-trained cooks to prepare an epicurean delight.

Science can be used to explain and re-produce food as well as music. Prepared without love and respect for the art of the edible and audible, you will be left with a monotone and single-dimensional experience.

The corresponding characteristics between food and music are many and amazing. A well-trained cook will add the right amount of salt to enhance the flavor, just like an accomplished musician will hit the keys on the piano with just the right vigor to achieve the desired strength of sound.

Herbs and spices are featured flavors in many dishes; in other instances they serve as subtle supports to a distinct theme. Similarly, in the texture of an orchestra, the flute often times is an accent to the story; occasionally, however, it will take the lead and generates a sensation all of its own.

Franz Liszt was the greatest pianist of his time if not of all time. He admired, learned and benefited from the works of such great performers like Richard Wagner, Johann Sebastian Bach, Edvard Grieg, and many others. One of his remarkable talents was his ability to look at a piece of music and execute it perfectly, as intended by the composer, after reading through it only once. On top of this he was also a very influential composer in his own right.

Many contemporary chefs studied and continue to honor the classic masters such as Auguste Escoffier, Antoine Careme and Fernand Point. But like Liszt composing his own unique style, their genius is evident in the new cuisines they create.

Enjoy the audible and edible art of the Chelsea Music Festival and embark on a multi-sensory journey!

ABOUT CHEF HINNERK VON BARGEN, C.H.E.
Hinnerk von Bargen brings decades of industry experience to the classroom. Before joining the CIA, San Antonio faculty, he taught for almost 10 years in the Continuing Education Division at the CIA’s main campus in Hyde Park, NY. In that position, Chef von Bargen was responsible for developing and teaching a broad spectrum of classes to chefs, food industry professionals, and food enthusiasts in Hyde Park and at off-campus locations around the world. In addition, he was and continues to be actively involved in the development and execution of the CIA ProChef® Certification program for culinary professionals.

Along with his teaching assignments, Chef von Bargen took part in product research and development efforts at the college, working with leading food companies to create new products and menu items. As a member of the Research Chef Association, he keeps up to date with the latest developments in the culinary world, helping him to continue to deliver high-quality education to his students.

In addition, Chef von Bargen is a regular contributing writer to the CIA’s ProChef Quarterly for industry professionals. He has been featured in The New York Times, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, and local periodicals, as well as in the book Culinary Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at The Culinary Institute of America.

Chef von Bargen holds a Master Chef certificate from the Hotel School in Hamburg, Germany. He completed two apprenticeships in his native Germany before beginning his professional career, which has included chef positions in hotels and restaurants in Germany, South Africa, and China. The multilingual chef speaks English, German, Chinese and, of course, food.