Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Minneapolis/St. Paul

If you are looking for the best in culinary education, look into the prestigious education program at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Minneapolis/St. Paul.  

The name "Cordon Bleu" [meaning Blue Ribbon] is rich with history and heritage. Le Cordon Bleu has been synonymous with excellence since the 16th century, when King Henry III created the "L'Ordre des Chevaliers dSaint Esprit" [The Order of the Holy Spirit] in 1578. At the time, it was the most exclusive order in France. Because the members, royalty included, were awarded with the Cross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue ribbon, they were called "Cordon Bleus". The sumptuous banquets accompanying their award ceremonies became legendary. By the 18th century, the term "Cordon Bleu" was applied to anyone who excelled in a particular field, particularly in the culinary arts. 

At the end of the 19th century, Marthe Distel, a French journalist, founded a weekly culinary publication entitled "La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu". The weekly magazine "La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu" was published and over the next seventy years became the basis and reference for what is now perhaps one of the largest recipe collections in the world. Many famous chefs contributed to it and taught the art of cooking through recipes they wrote. Stemming from the magazine's popularity, Marthe Distel organized free classes where subscribers saw the Chef at work and practiced under his trained eye. At the same time, she continued to publish the recipes taught in those classes in future issues of the magazine. 

Following the success of the publication, Le Cordon Bleu officially opened its doors as a culinary school in Paris in 1895. The first Cordon Bleu cooking class was held on January 14, 1896, in the Palais Royal. From the beginning, Madame Distel made it a practice to invite celebrated Chefs of the time to teach at Le Cordon Bleu. These included Chef Barthelemy, Chef Charles Poulain, Chefs des Cuisines de l'Automobile-Club de France, Chef Auguste Colombe, Chef Charles Driessens, and the most famous of all, Chef Henri-Paul Pellaprat.

The cooking classes were an immediate success.  Le Cordon Bleu grew and evolved over the following decades into the leading international culinary institution attracting students from all over the world.

Over the years Le Cordon Bleu has welcomed well-known personalities such as Dustin Hoffman and his family, Anne Willan, Nathalie Dupree, Diona Lucas, John Boorman and Ronald Reagan, Jr.