Adrian Day-Murchison, Lead Chef Instructor and Pastry Chef, Le Cordon Bleu, Sacramento, California
Adrian Day-Murchison believes being a good cook is the easiest way to a person’s heart and an effective way to build unity within groups. As the lead chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Sacramento, she also believes in sharing her talent. “I always knew that in order to fully appreciate the craft of cooking, you should be able to share the wealth of knowledge that you pick up over time to help be a part of future chefs’ lives,” says Adrian. “In my current position as an instructor, it has not only been a challenge but a pure joy.”
Adrian nurtures her passion by watching her mentor, the pastry chef Jacques Torres. Other chefs she admires are Jacques Pepin and Julia Child, who appear on PBS.
She in turn has been featured on several Sacramento-area TV shows, sharing recipes for Mother’s Day brunch and Valentine’s Day sweets including Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding, Love You Latte Panna Cotta and Orange Cranberry Cream Scones.
Fruit and chocolate star in the Hibiscus Pots de Crème she created with The Perfect Purée Sweet Hibiscus blend. “The hibiscus blend is extremely tasty and has a fantastic blend of sweet and tart that goes well with the berry notes of a bittersweet chocolate,” Adrian says. She appreciates The Perfect Purée for its flavor consistency and its visual appeal.
Adrian has more than 12 years experience cooking in a diverse range of industries. She has worked in corporate dining for Compass Group North America; assisted living for the Regent House of Merced; hospitality for the Hyatt Regency Sacramento; and education for the St. Hope Public Schools. She has also worked in catering and special occasion baking, and has assisted in food photography for several cookbooks. She has conducted demos for non-profit organizations and equipment companies such as the Big Green Egg, a popular modern spin on traditional oval clay oven cookers.
The Sacramento campus of Le Cordon Bleu is one of 50 campuses worldwide, including Le Cordon Bleu’s flagship Paris school. The company that operates the 16 U.S. campuses announced in late 2015 that it would be closing those schools, but the international schools owned by Le Cordon Bleu International would not be affected. Adrian says she’ll keep her job at the Sacramento school through 2016.
“The future is too early to tell what I shall move on to next, but I’m optimistic that my next venture will be something new and fresh,” she says.