National Food & Beverage Foundation Adds Delgado's Culinary Program to Register and Museum

June 27, 2018

The National Food & Beverage Foundation (NatFAB) is excited to announce that the Delgado Community College Culinary Arts Program is the next listing on their National Culinary Heritage Register.

Delgado has trained countless individuals who helped shape the food and dining scene in New Orleans and beyond for 97 years. On March 22, 2018, Liz Williams, president of the National Food & Beverage Foundation, presented the Register Certificate to Delgado Pastry Instructor Angela Wilson. The presentation was followed by the opening reception for the new Delgado exhibit at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum.

The Delgado Community College Culinary Arts Program is the focus of a new exhibit that is part of the permanent collections of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. Videos of class demonstrations, student projects, and more from the program showcase the amazing work and delicious flavors that have come out of the college.

“The Southern Food & Beverage Museum is thrilled to be able to include Delgado’s Culinary Arts Program in the museum as well as on the Culinary Heritage Register,” says Liz Williams, President of National Food & Beverage Foundation.

“Culinary arts education at Delgado goes back to 1921, when commercial cooking and stewardship classes were part of our first curriculum. Since then, our influence on food culture and industry in New Orleans and beyond has been significant and lasting. Before there was such a thing as a celebrity chef, Delgado had nationally prominent cooking instructors on our faculty, and we are very proud of the amazing achievements of our students in the culinary program for nearly a hundred years,” says Delgado Community College Chancellor Joan Davis.

NatFAB’s National Culinary Heritage Register is a list of culinary products, processes, inventions, traditions, and establishments that are at least fifty years old and that have contributed significantly to the development of American foodways. The first and only register of its kind, the National Culinary Heritage Register is an initiative designed to explore and preserve the complex history of food and beverage in America.

Food and beverage practices not only play a major role in America’s cultural identity, but they also offer valuable insights into the country’s past and present environment, economy, and social structures. Thus, understanding when, where, and how American food and beverage practices have developed allows for a more complete understanding of America’s culture and history. Mapping the origins and development of America’s complex culinary traditions is a daunting task, and as of yet, there has been no concerted effort to do so.  By creating the Culinary Heritage Register, NatFAB hopes to begin the important process of recording America’s extensive and flavorful foodways.

The Southern Food & Beverage Museum (SoFAB) is a nonprofit living history organization dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the food, drink and the related culture of the South. While based in New Orleans, the Museum examines and celebrates all the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create the South’s unique culinary heritage. SoFAB also hosts special exhibits, demonstrations, lectures and tastings that showcase the food and drink of the South.

The National Food & Beverage Foundation (NatFAB) is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural enterprise. It documents and celebrates the food and drink of all cultures through exhibits, programming, and a range of media. Because everyone eats, all aspects of food and drink—culture and geography, anthropology and history, economics and politics, law and policy, media and the arts, science and technology—reveal the state of the world. NatFAB, home to the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, The Museum of the American Cocktail (MOTAC), Pacific Food & Beverage Museum, the John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library, SoFAB Media, and the National Culinary Heritage Register, is among the nation’s most comprehensive cultural institutions studying food and drink. For more information, visit natfab.org.

About Delgado Community College Founded in 1921, Delgado Community College is the New Orleans region’s largest higher education institution and Louisiana’s oldest and largest community college. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and by industry organizations, Delgado provides students with the most comprehensive array of educational services available in the greater New Orleans region.

About Delgado Community College Culinary Arts Program Culinary Arts is one of Delgado's premier programs, training students for careers in the food services and the restaurant industry. Our Culinary Arts department provides academic instruction through both theoretical and hands-on experiences; as well as supervised practical work experience in the fields of food service, culinary arts and the hospitality industry.