Becoming A Chef - Culinary School Or On The Job Training...

So you are interested in the possibility ofsuccess of your career. You may never see or
becoming a chef? You probably have manyprepare these dishes again, but the techniques
questions and are probably wondering what routethat you pick up in Culinary School can be applied
to take. Are there any requirements forto many of the dishes that you create in the
becoming a chef? What education is needed forfuture.
becoming a chef?Depending on the school you attend, your
As the title of this article suggests, you basicallycurriculum may include topics like pastry, nutrition,
have two options toward becoming a chef andmanagement, butchery and more. You can also
learning the fundamentals of cooking. There arereceive job placement assistance. You will learn
actually three options, but we will discuss the thirdmore about the various culinary organizations out
later in this article. You can either go straight tothere, scholarships and other programs that may
Culinary School and learn the art of cooking underbe useful.
the close supervision of educated Chefs, or youThe Disadvantages of Cooking School
can head out into the real world and learn handsFor the most part, a Culinary school education is
on cooking techniques in a fast paced restauranttheoretical learning. Cooking school is not going to
setting. We will now discuss the advantages andprepare you for the busy and stressful
disadvantages of both options.environment of a real world kitchen, and this lack
ON THE JOB LEARNINGof preparation may present a problem when you
The Advantagesstart looking for a job.
The traditional method for becoming a chef wasCulinary Students have also acquired a bad
quite different years ago. One did not attend areputation over the years unfortunately. The
Culinary School first before they began working.popular opinion is that graduates from cooking
Instead, a person learned by working from theschools are in no way prepared to handle the
bottom up. This gave the cook hands-on realstress of a busy kitchen. Why have Culinary
world experience, something not readily availableStudents been given such a bad reputation? It is
in cooking schools today. This real worldbecause many have tried and quit when the going
experience is more respected then a studentgot rough. So the only way to overcome this is
fresh out of Culinary School, and I am sure youto prove yourself. You will have to dedicate
can understand why. A restaurant owner is notyourself no matter how hard things get.
going to be impressed by a resume filled with allLastly there is the cost associated with a Culinary
of the classes you took in cooking school. He orSchool Education. It can be very expensive. Not
she will be more interested in whether or not youonly do you have to pay tuition, but you also
can perform in a busy and stressful kitchenhave to pay for your books, tools and other
environment, and you will only gain thataccessories. Things can really add up. If you
experience by living and doing it on the job.decide that it is not the right career path for you,
The Disadvantagesyou will have lost a lot of money.
Working on the job also has its disadvantages. InGOING TO SCHOOL + ON THE JOB TRAINING
a restaurant environment there is one mainNow on to the third option that I told you we
objective and that is to prepare quality dishes in awould cover later in this article: working on the job
timely manner so that the customer is satisfied.while you are attending cooking school. The
Your head chef and co-workers do not have timeadvantage to this option is that you will be
to explain how a dish is made, or the history andpracticing what you are learning in school. You get
culture behind the food that is prepared. It isto truly experience it and not just read about it in
simply too busy. So you will have to seek outsome textbook.
your education on your own, unless of courseThis is by far the best option of course but not
someone is willing to take the time and teachfor everyone. There will be many sacrifices when
you, but this is rarely the case.taking this route toward becoming a chef. Holding
CULINARY SCHOOL EDUCATIONa job while going to school will be very difficult.
The advantages of Attending a Cooking SchoolYou will be exhausted both physically and
Culinary school can be a truly rewardingmentally, and if you do not work extra hard, your
experience if you keep your eyes and ears opengrades will suffer. If your grades suffer, then you
and apply yourself. There is much to be learnedmay get less attention from your instructors. On
and exposed to. This is where the history, culturethe flip side, you may impress your instructors
and techniques regarding the preparation of thewith your hard work and interest.
food comes into play.So whatever path you choose, remember the
You can learn where the dish came from and themost important thing is perseverance. Without
variety of ways to create certain dishes. You canstaying power and patience you will have a
learn how to purchase and store your ingredients.difficult time making it as a chef. I wish you all the
You get to work together with other students asbest and God Bless.
a team, which is a very important factor in the