The Cordon Bleu

Le Cordon Bleu, French for "The Blue Ribbon," is widely considered to be the world's largest hospitality education institution. The school provides instruction in both hospitality management and the culinary arts.

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The school comes from L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit. This was an elite group of French knights created in 1578. Each member knight was given the Cross of the Holy Sprit hung from a blue ribbon. According to one story, the group became known for their extravagant and luxurious banquets which came to be known as the cordon bleu.

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Even though these dinners ended with the French Revolution, the name stuck and became synonymous with excellent cooking. An alternate explanation is that the blue ribbon became synonymous with excellence in general and this connotation was later applied to fields such as cooking.

In the early 19th century, the name was adopted by the French culinary magazine La Cuisiniére cordon Bleu, founded by Marthe Distel. At one point, the magazine offered special cooking lessons by some of the best chefs in France. Eventually, this became a cooking school which opened in Paris in 1895. Soon after it opened, the school quickly became one of the most elite cooking schools in the world.

Since the original school opened, the school has expanded globally; first in London in the 1930s and then beyond. Each campus offers its own variety of culinary short courses which are designed to match local demand. Every school, however, offers the Classic Cycle. This course set consists of 6 different 10-week courses. Three courses are offered in "cuisine" and three in "patisserie." Each course, if the person manages to complete it, leads to the award of a certificate at basic, intermediate, or advanced level. Students who complete all three levels in the same field are awarded either the Diplôme de Cuisine or the Diplôme de Patisserie, depending on which half was completed.

When a person completes all 6 courses, he or she is awarded the Grand Diplôme. The Grand Diplôme is one of the few available culinary credentials that signifies mastery of both pastry and culinary fundamentals.

In pop culture, it is frequently assumed that Sabrina, played by Audrey Hepburn in the 1954 film Sabrina, attends Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. The school's name is never mentioned in the film but Ms. Hepburn did visit the school for the film's launch.

For more information on all things related to food, please visit http://www.cdkitchen.com.

The Cordon Bleu

Joseph Devine

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