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Founder of Cordon d’Or – Gold Ribbon International Culinary Academy Awards Honored by ACF

Noreen Kinney receives lifetime membership in the American Culinary Federation in recognition of five decades of contributions to the culinary arts worldwide.

ORLANDO, Fla., July 15, 2009 – Noreen Kinney, founder of the Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon International Culinary Academy Awards, received honorary lifetime membership in the American Culinary Federation (ACF) at ACF’s 2009 National Convention at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center. The distinction was announced by ACF’s outgoing president, John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC, on July 11 to more than 1,100 culinarians assembled here for the organization’s annual meeting that concluded last night.

In receiving the rare honor from ACF, Kinney join the ranks of culinary luminaries who have been likewise honored, among them Graham Kerr, Paul Prudhomme, Charlie Trotter, Martin Yan and the late James Beard and Julia Child.

“It is through the Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon International Culinary Academy Awards program that I am able to give back to the world by providing the opportunity for culinarians to gain deserved recognition with their achievements,” says Kinney. “I love to do this, as I have been very fortunate and blessed with all the incredible opportunities and luck that came my way throughout my years on the culinary scene.”

Kinney—widely known abroad as, simply, “Noreen”—is recognized internationally as a culinary-arts instructor, author, celebrity chef, restaurant reviewer and culinary judge. She established Cordon d'Or - Gold Ribbon in Europe in 1985 for use in her culinary-arts activities. In 1990, she initiated plans for the International Culinary Academy Awards program.

After relocating her family to Florida in 1995, Kinney launched her program. As the new century approached, she defined the phrase, “Culinary Accolade of the 21st Century,” to describe the International Culinary Academy Awards.

Kinney decided to take the International Culinary Academy Awards to greater heights and involve more culinarians in Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon activities. On January 1, 2006, a celebration of the 21st anniversary of Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon began with the opening of the Academy of the Culinary Arts. Members of the Academy are asked annually to nominate and vote on culinarians to win annual International Culinary Academy Awards for Culinary Hall of Fame, Culinary Life Achievement, Culinarian of the Year, Culinary Entrepreneur, Chef of the Year, Cuisine of the Year (awarded either to a country or culinarian) and Cooking School of the Year. The annual “President’s Award” recipient is chosen by the team at Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon. The Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon Annual International Cookbooks and Culinary Arts Awards program honors top cookbook authors. Honorees for 2009 gathered at the International Culinary Academy Awards Dinner at the Don Cesar Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach, Fla., in mid-May.

Kinney was honored by ACF for these achievements, but also for her illustrious career in Ireland, during which she pioneered the New Irish Cuisine movement that began in 1960 and that, in time, established Ireland as a global culinary power.

The New Irish Cuisine repertoire embraced the original recipes created by Kinney and published in her early books by Ireland’s leading publisher, Mercier Press. Cooking Irish Style Today and Cooking Irish Style featured the dishes that created much excitement and became favorites in Irish households throughout the 1970s at the height of the New Irish Cuisine movement. Asked to create a dish representative of Ireland in the European Common Market, Blarney Salmon—a fresh salmon cake coated with avocado frosting and boasting the Irish national colors of green, white and gold—became an overnight sensation and remains an Irish favorite today. When Gilbeys of Ireland launched Baileys Irish Cream, Kinney created the first dessert using the liqueur: The Jewel Box, a delicious genoise “box” filled with fresh fruits and Baileys.

In 2002, Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, recognized Kinney as the pioneer of the New Irish Cuisine movement. She has served Ireland as an official culinary ambassador to the world by Bord Fáilte, the Irish Tourist Board, since 1996. Among her many published works, Kinney is the author of a widely popular cookbook, Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon Cuisine.

While Hollywood, Calif., is known worldwide as the birthplace of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Academy Awards®, Kinney is actively establishing Florida as “America’s culinary paradise” (www.Florida-AmericasCulinaryParadise.com), the globally recognized home of culinary arts and the International Culinary Academy Awards. To that end, she has become involved in many culinary activities on the Florida scene, including judging several culinary events such as the annual Culinary Battle of the Bay in St. Petersburg. She has contributed to magazines such as Tampa Bay Illustrated with articles on restaurant reviews and Ireland’s new cuisine.

Kinney is an active member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and sits on the Slow Food Governing Committee in Florida. She monitors senior dining sites and Meals On Wheels routes for Neighborly Care Network (NCN), to see they comply with state and federal laws. In 2009, she was asked to judge Educator of the Year Award submissions for the Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI). And, she has begun work on another book on how Ireland “went from famine to feast” to become the gourmet’s paradise she predicted nearly five decades ago would become reality.

For more information on Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon and the Cordon d’Or - Gold Ribbon International Culinary Academy Awards, visit www.cordondorcuisine.com.

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