Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche Earns Chef Recognition With A C F Seal Of Approval

The American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF), the nation's premier organization for professional chefs and cooks, has awarded Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche, Atascadero, Calif., its Seal of Approval. The product was submitted for extensive testing and was approved by members of ACF's Seal of Approval committee, effective April 5, 2011.

"Kendall Farms is honored and gratified to receive the ACF Seal of Approval," said Sadie Kendall, owner, Kendall Farms. "Twenty-seven years ago, I set out to create a creme fraiche that would be perfect for chefs. It must be made from cream and culture, nothing more, with a long shelf life and functional properties greatly valued by the chef. It must stay thick when boiled; it must stabilize a hollandaise; and it must whip to stiff-peaked, lofty, stable foam.

"In 2000, Thomas Keller said, 'Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche is the paradigm of creme fraiche.' Being awarded the ACF Seal of Approval confirms that Kendall Farms product is still worthy of Thomas Keller's generous words."

Keith Davis, CEC, AAC, chair of the ACF Seal of Approval committee, applied the organization's rigorous testing criteria to the product. The committee evaluated the product's physical performance, performance when various cooking methods were applied, adaptability, and accuracy of labels and marketing materials.

"The product was tested using a variety of sauce and mayonnaise preparations, and a variety of dessert and cold-appetizer preparations, and passed all of our committee's standards for excellence," said Davis. "ACF is proud to award Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche the ACF Seal of Approval."

The ACF Seal of Approval program offers foodservice manufacturers the opportunity to have products endorsed by the premier organization of professional chefs in the U.S. Unlike other entities that offer tasting endorsements only, the ACF Seal requires extensive product testing and evaluation. After three years, ACF determines if the product needs to be retested.

Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche is a no-preparation, universal thickener that produces short-textured, full-bodied sauces. It works in hot and cold applications and is heat and acid stable. It is a ready-made bechamel, and is a fresh sauce for fresh food. Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche is minimally processed, and is made of 40 percent butterfat cream fermented by carefully chosen lactic-acid cultures. It replaces butter and oil as a sauce, and is a reduced-fat, reduced-calorie sauce.

About the American Culinary Federation
The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 20,000 members in 225 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and to the Chef & Child Foundation, founded in 1989 to promote proper nutrition in children and to combat childhood obesity. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org.

About Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche
In the 1970s, Sadie Kendall was studying philosophy with the intention of becoming a lawyer. In her last semester of philosophy, she took a food science class to help with her hobby, cheese making. She fell in love with food science. After studying dairy science at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Calif., she and her husband Jeff founded Kendall Cheese Company. In 1985, Kendall Cheese Company became Kendall Farms, maker of one product, Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche. Kendall Farms has purchased rBST-free cream from the same third-generation family for 27 years. Ke