FOOD is basic — it's what keeps us going. But for students at the International Culinary (烹饪) Center (ICC) in New York City, it's much more than that — food is the future. ICC "gave me a direction', said Song Wen long, 25, a Chinese native and recent graduate of the world famous cooking school.
ICC, which was set up in 1984, offers courses from chef (厨师)training programs to wine studies and restaurant management, according to its website.
And as the school has grown, the number of international students to ICC, including Chinese, is rising every year. One example is Song Wen long, who grew up in Shanghai but now works in Los Angeles as director of food development for RJ Chinese Kitchen, a restaurant in California.
Song has lived in the US for three years. He first completed a degree in Engineering at Stony Brook University in New York. Song said. "I chose the degree based on my parents' opinion. The people I met abroad encouraged me to chase my dream, so I ended up changing my whole career path.'
That's what brought him to ICC —his love of food. "Growing up, my uncle had a restaurant, and I loved going with him to the farmers' market. When I was 16, I started to cook on my own.'
Song said he likes ICC's ideas toward cooking. "They taught me how to cook, not special recipes(秘诀). They call it 'cooking techniques'. I learned a lot from that. The two-month internship(实习) in a restaurant was helpful, too. It gave me a look at a high-quality, professional kitchen.'
Song highly recommends Chinese chefs and food lovers go abroad and study. Above all, he feels good about the fact that more young Chinese people are starting to chase their own dreams.