The Chef John Folse Culinary Institute is an academic college of

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

Thibodaux, Louisiana Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal city ...

. The namesake of the college, Chef

John Folse John David Folse (born July 9, 1946) is an American chef, restaurant owner, and television host. A lifelong resident of Louisiana, he is seen as a leading authority on Cajun and Creole cuisine and culture. Early life Folse was born on July 9, 19 ...

, is known as "Louisiana's Culinary Ambassador to the World".

History

The mission of CJFCI as envisioned by Chef Folse and former Nicholls President Donald Ayo was to preserve Louisiana culture and cuisine by teaching chefs, students and community members to master the art of

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

and Creole cooking. Emphasis was to be placed on the influences of Cajun-Creole cuisine: Native American, Spanish, French, African, German, English and Italian. CJFCI began offering courses for college credit in 1995. The institute accepted its inaugural academic class in January 1996, offering an associate of science degree. The

Louisiana Board of Regents The Louisiana Board of Regents is a government agency in the U.S. state of Louisiana that is responsible for coordination of all public higher education in the state. The Board was created under the terms of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, and bega ...

authorized Nicholls to offer a bachelor's degree in culinary arts in 1997, making it the first four-year culinary degree program at a U.S. public university. Today, CJFCI has an enrollment of approximately 200 students and serves as one of the university's "areas of excellence."

Curriculum

In Chef John Folse's Cajun and Creole Cuisine class, students research and prepare Louisiana's regional dishes, such as Duck-

Andouille Andouille ( , ; ; from Latin'induco') is a smoked sausage made using pork, originating in France. France In France, particularly Brittany and Normandy, the traditional ingredients of andouille are primarily pig chitterlings, tripe, onions, w ...

-and-Oyster

Gumbo Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole ...

Crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

Bisque,

Sweet Potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

Pecan Pie, and Louisiana Fig Ice Cream. Guest chefs have included Chef Leah Chase of Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans, and Certified Master Chef Fritz Sonnenschmidt. The Chef John Folse Culinary Institute offers a two-year Associate of Science Degree, as well as a four-year

Bachelor of Science Degree A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

. Students study the traditional classic art of cooking, while learning about Louisiana regional cuisine. Some electives include * Culinary History of the South * Food and Wine Pairing * International Pastries * Louisiana Seafood * Regional French Cuisine * Italian Cuisine * Contemporary Cajun and Creole Cuisine The culinary arts program is currently in the Lanny D. Ledet Culinary Arts Building on the Nicholls State University campus, overlooking

Bayou Lafourche Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches, (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 b ...

References

Nicholls State University Cooking schools in the United States Louisiana cuisine Acadiana Education in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana {{Louisiana-university-stub