[attach id=246430 size="medium"]Mary Sue Milliken[/attach]

The Institution of Tourism Studies, in collaboration with the US Embassy in Malta, recently organised a culinary demonstration by renowned chef Mary Sue Milliken via Skype at the ITS assembly hall in Pembroke.

The aim of the activity was to generate more awareness among students and chefs about American gastronomy. Milliken is co-chef and owner of the Border Grill restaurants and Border Grill Truck in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Las Vegas. Another outlet will soon open at Los Angeles International Airport.

A pioneer of world cuisine since the creation of City Cafe and City Restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1980s, Milliken is an ambassador of modern cuisine and has been setting the standard for over two decades.

The first woman chef at Chicago’s Le Perroquet in 1979, Milliken went on to train in Paris at the two-star Michelin, female-chef-owned restaurant, D’Olympe, and later joined a handful of progressive women to found Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

Partnering with chef Susan Feniger for over 25 years, Milliken is the co-author of five cookbooks, including Cooking with Too Hot Tamales, Mesa Mexicana, and City Cuisine, as well as co-star of 400 episodes on Food Network’s TV series Too Hot Tamales.

Milliken is also passionate about the environment. In fact, her restaurants and trucks practise a range of eco-friendly policies, including serving meats and poultry raised without hormones and antibiotics and using only sustainable seafood according to the Seafood Watch Programme.

ITS executive director Adrian Mamo said: “The Americans have their own heritage of quality cuisine and we thought this would be an ideal opportunity for ITS students to acquaint themselves with American cuisine.”