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CHEF RON AT RICE UNIVERSITY
Since 1980, Chef Ron Pickarski (at right) has spent his career taking plant-based food further through research, development, teaching and writing cookbooks. He was the first vegan chef to be awarded a CEC designation by American Culinary Federation...
THE PEOPLE'S VEGAN
Vegans are hard to find in much of the United States. Not so in Boulder, a town awash in vegans and vegan-friendly folks plus lots of vegan food companies, vegan cafes, vegan menu items, buffets and cooking classes. Yet chances are most locals have never heard of Ron Pickarski, the person in Boulder who may be having the most impact in promoting a healthy, meatless diet in the United States.
FOOD AS HEALTH
Ron Pickarski has many fond memories of growing up in Petoskey, even to the point of substituting for a Petoskey News-Review carrier a few times to make some extra money.
"I used to play at the old pond near the area of Walmart," said Pickarski, who now resides in Boulder, Colo., as the founder, president and culinologist of Eco-Cuisine, Inc., a US vegetarian and vegan foodservice company. "Before the highway along the waterfront was put in, I remember the officer — I think his first name was Frank — directing traffic on Mitchell Street down in front of the Perry Davis Hotel to continued north."
MEET RON PICKARSKI
GOURMET GURUS - Ron is the founder, president, and culinologist of Eco-Cuisine, Inc., a US vegetarian and vegan foodservice company. He is the first vegetarian chef to be certified as an Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation and has 50 years’ experience in professional kitchens ranging from fine dining to QSR. As a Food Technologist/Culinologist, his specialty is research and development of natural, vegan foodservice savory speed scratch products with pulses designed for chefs to cook with and build into their menus to serve healthy diners embracing vegetarian cuisine.
MEATLESS MONDAY
...UN Pulse Chef Ron Pickarski (and culinary Olympian) shows how beans can rock a kitchen with a pulse demo followed by an innovative seven-course pulse tasting menu. In his hands, pulses are a whole new world.
Come taste the thrill of discovery at Pulse Innovation Miami.
The Pied Piper of PULSES
BOULDER WEEKLY - Ron Pickarski remembers the first time he made tempeh. It was 1976, and packaged meat substitutes were not only absent from grocery stores, they were, quite frankly, damn-near unheard of.
He was a freshly minted vegan (also an anomaly at the time) and, almost inversely, a classically trained chef certified in meat cutting.
Ask A Chef: Ron Pickarski
5280.com - Between the proliferation of vegan restaurants, markets, and products, some would say that there’s never been a better time to be a vegan. But for local chef, culinary Olympiad, cookbook author, founder of Eco-Cuisine natural foods, and longtime vegan Ron Pickarski, there’s still a lot of work to be done in the plant-based foods world.
Vegans Eat What?
Full disclosure, we love Ron Pickarski! From the first time we experienced his cooking at a national vegetarian conference held at Regis University in 1991 in Denver, Colorado, we knew that he was the “real deal”.
Don’t let the title fool you – this is a vegan cookbook through and through. And even though it is written at a professional level, home cooks can use it too! We mention this because some of the recommendations might be a bit intimidating. For instance, the cover of the book has the following quote: “To see the five French Mother Sauces adapted for vegan cuisine opens a NEW culinary chapter that would delight my great-grandfather.” Michel Escoffier. Wow! See what I mean? But don’t let that intimidate you – just as the man is accessible, his recipes and classical teachings are as well.
Boulder Chef Launches Vegetarian Cookbook
Denver Post - A new cookbook is out that aims at being the authoritative work for the vegetarian kitchen, and it comes courtesy of a veteran Boulder chef. It’s “The Classical Vegetarian Cookbook,” by Ron Pickarski, a classically trained chef who is the founder and creator of Eco-Cuisine Natural Foods. This is Pickarski’s fourth cookbook, and he’s pretty thrilled about it. “It’s really exciting,” he says of the venture. “I wrote the book both for professional chefs and also to inspire home cooks. I wanted it to be accessible.”
Cooking Schools
COOKING SCHOOLS - Chef Ron Pickarski is President and Executive Chef/Consultant for Eco-Cuisine, Inc. and the first professional vegetarian chef to be certified as an Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation. He is a Food Technologist and a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) with a specialty in research and development of all-natural, low and reduced fat food products that are nutrient dense.