Tag Archive for 'cooking school'

Culinary Degree Programs

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on April 11, 2011
in Cooking Classes and Culinary Schools
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Culinary Degree OptionsNo two culinary schools are created equally. Depending on what type of school you attend and what the program entails, you might walk away with a certificate of completion and enough skills to get an entry-level job, or you might end with a four-year degree and a desire to keep going until you get a Master’s.

This doesn’t always make one program better than another; it just makes them suited for different professional goals. If you’re considering culinary school, you’ll need to determine what your goals are and which program will best help you accomplish this.

The Different Culinary “Degrees”

Workshop: A culinary workshop is typically a one-day, one-weekend, or other short program that offers training in a single skill. From the elements of Thai cuisine to basic knife cuts, these courses are ideal for the home cook or amateur chef. The cost tends to be low and includes supplies, and you can often find the courses through big-name culinary schools. In most cases, you’ll walk away without any official “degree” unless the school offers continuing education credits for working professionals.

Certificate/Diploma: In most cases, the education you get at a private culinary school will be a certificate of completion or a diploma. In the academic setting, these have no value other than how they relate to that specific school or the culinary field as a whole. For example, Le Cordon Bleu offers a certificate program. This certificate won’t help you transfer to a four-year university, and it won’t have much meaning outside the culinary world, but it does indicate to your peers and employers what you have learned.

Associate: An Associate degree is a two-year degree that combines general education classes with your chosen specialty (in this case, culinary training or restaurant management). These degrees are offered both at community colleges and from many of the private culinary schools you’ll come across. Although you’ll spend most of your time in a kitchen or learning about the restaurant industry, you will have to meet standards in math, English, social sciences, and communication.

Bachelor’s/Master’s: A Bachelor’s degree is a four-year program, offered almost always though a public or private university. The Master’s degree is similar, though it takes six years in all (or two years above and beyond a Bachelor’s degree). In terms of strict culinary training, these degrees are rare. If you do intend to seek a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, you’ll most likely combine culinary skills with business or hospitality management. In this way, these degrees can cross fields, and if you decide to leave the restaurant industry, you may be able to apply your skills elsewhere.

Attending culinary school can be a great step toward your future. Make sure you evaluate all your professional and personal goals before you get started, since it can be difficult to change schools in the middle of the program without having to backtrack or take on additional costs.

Related Topics:

How to Choose the Right Culinary School

Culinary Arts Doctorate Degrees

Find a Culinary School in Your City

More Culinary Adventures with TinFoilDuck- High End Cooking

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on March 30, 2011
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Culinary Student Ken, aka- TinFoilDuck, is back. He is very excited to tell us about his first week cooking at his school’s high end restaurant, Leis’ Family Class Act. Here is what he had to say about his first week in the back kitchen:

Culinary School KitchenWe have transitioned from the front of the house to cooking in the back of the house.  At our school, we have the food court and a high end price fixed restaurant, Leis’ Family Class Act, where we serve on Wednesdays and Fridays.  My group just spent 8 weeks in the front, doing service. We just switched over.

Our first week’s menu was an Asian Influenced Menu.

  • Amouse Bouche: Tartar of Hamachi on a Won Ton Crisp with Wasabi Foam.
  • Appetizer: Seafood Chawan Mushi (Japanese Savory Custard).
  • Soup: Curried Carrot Soup with Lemongrass Cream.
  • Salad: Roasted Maui Gold Pineapple and Green Tea Soba Salad with Red Thai Curry Dressing.
  • First Meat Entree: Miso & Sake Marinated Butterfish with Simmered Baby Bok Choy.
  • Second Entree: Hoisin & Honey Glazed Lamb Porterhouse Chops with Asian Risotto and Stir Fried Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes.
  • Desserts: Came from the Baking section so I don’t recall what we served.

Porterhouse lamb chopMy task on Wednesday was to prepare the risotto and stir fry for the Lamb Chop and on Friday, I grilled the Lamb. Our stations rotate weekly so I’m not sure what I’ll be doing this coming week. It will be our Latin Influence menu. I hope I’m not stuck in the dish pit!

To read more about Ken’s experience this past week in the kitchen, including tips on how to cook this lamb chop dish, click here.

Related Topics:

Interview with Culinary Student Ken

Culinary Student Finals Week

Find a Culinary School in Your City

How to Find and Choose the Right Culinary School

Published
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on September 15, 2010
in Culinary Schools
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Choose the Right Culinary SchoolIt is always a pleasure when someone mentions your web site or blog so I would like to thank The Reluctant Gourmet for including our blog on his new Squidoo lens called How to Find and Choose the Right Culinary School.

What is a Squidoo

Squidoo is a community website that allows users to create pages (called lenses) for subjects of interest. It was created by Seth Godin, Megan Casey, Corey Brown and Gil Hilderbrand, Jr and is one of the top 300 most viewed in the United States.

The Reluctant Gourmet’s Lens

How to Find and Choose the Right Culinary School consists of several “modules” each discribing different topics pertaining to finding a culinary school and choosing the right one. He looks at

  • What do you want in a culinary school?
  • What do you want to do after you graduate? (Poll)
  • Where to research culinary schools online?
  • Culinary career outlook
  • Financial outlook for the culinary industry
  • Books to read
  • Another poll on where you might want to work
  • An interview with a culinary student

And then there is a place where you can leave comments.

So if you are thinking of changing careers or starting a career in the food industry, we highly recommend you look at The Reluctant Gourmet’s lens, How to Find and Choose the Right Culinary School

Developing a Good Relationship with Your Culinary Instructor


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on July 20, 2010
in Culinary Schools
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Relationship with Culinary InstructorOne of the best ways to succeed as a future chef is to develop relationships with people who will help you further your career. Like most professions, working in a restaurant is sometimes just as much about who you know as what you know.

And while going into culinary school with a list of contacts already in place is ideal, most students don’t have friends who own a restaurant or who work for local big-name chefs. It’s the people you meet during your culinary program – from fellow students to your instructors – who have the potential to become an ideal resource for the future.

Most culinary school instructors aren’t full-time teachers. In fact, an estimated 75 percent of the teaching staff at private institutions is composed of chef-instructors who work or run restaurants in their local area.

They typically do this for a number of reasons, primarily because teaching is offered only as a part-time opportunity, and because teaching is a great way to supplement income or find new rising talent. For students, this presents a great opportunity to develop a mentor relationship. However, like any career step, you should make sure you’re looking at long-term outcomes.

Look for an instructor whose cooking style and interests match your own. If you’d like to focus on Italian cooking, or you’re interested in the newest wave of molecular gastronomy techniques, it’s important to find a mentor who specializes in the same thing. You’ll learn much more from someone whose knowledge base in your area of focus is large.

Ask questions and work hard. Finding a chef-instructor who is willing to spend extra time on you isn’t as easy as simply walking up and declaring your willingness to learn. Most chef-instructors already have a very busy schedule, and putting extra effort into your education isn’t expected of them. However, by demonstrating your willingness to learn and your devotion to the craft, you may find that they’ll provide a little extra attention.

Volunteer your time. Even if an internship isn’t required by your school, you should try to do one anyway. Getting hands-on practice in the real-world setting is a great way to develop skills and build your resume. If you have a chef-instructor who runs or owns a kitchen, try to get in and do an internship there. You can also ask you instructor for recommendations or for suggestions about where to work.

The first few years after you graduate from culinary school provide you with a chance to learn and develop as a budding chef. By finding people you trust and work well with, you can make great connections and further your chances of a long and successful culinary career.

Related Topics

Finding a Culinary School

Culinary Schools by City

Culinary Schools and Regional Markets

Published
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on April 21, 2010
in Culinary Schools
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Culinary School and Regional MarketsMost top chefs depend on fresh produce, non-frozen cuts of meat, and newly-caught seafood to put out the best possible products in their restaurants. After all, a dish is only as good as its ingredients, and in the culinary world, fresh is better. That’s why places like Maine are known for their lobster, Seattle and San Diego consistently put out top seafood, and your favorite restaurant might rotate the vegetables it serves depending on the season.

What many aspiring chefs don’t realize, however, is that regional markets play a role in getting a quality culinary education, too. Not only are a higher concentration of culinary schools available in foodie centers like New York, California, and Texas, but much of the education you get in these locations is based on what types of ingredients are readily available both seasonally and year-round.

It can be difficult to make sushi in the Midwestern states unless there is a transport system that brings seafood directly from the coast, unfrozen and in the peak of its season. It can be equally difficult to make a Southern style BBQ with authentic flavors if you’re living off the coast of Alaska.

If you’re interested in learning about a specific type of cooking (classical French, Italian, molecular gastronomy) or specific ingredients (seafood, organic and/or vegan foods), you might want to consider the regional markets before you choose which culinary school to attend. Many schools offer specialty classes or even concentrations that go above and beyond basic training to target those interested in niche culinary markets. Many of them also promote regional flavors and products as a way to draw in a student base that much more serious about getting a good culinary education.

The prevalence of regional markets can be considered a drawback or advantage to shorter culinary programs, as well. For example, a six-month training course might have you learning either in the summer or in the winter, with very little overlap between the apples, pomegranates, and butternut squash that mark the fall months or the strawberries and asparagus of the spring. And while you might still learn basic techniques and food properties, you’re not getting the hands-on and palate training of fresh, seasonal produce.

Culinary Schools in Big Cities vs. Smaller Cities

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on April 16, 2010
in Culinary Schools
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Culinary Schools in Big Cities vs Small CitiesIt’s a big, wide world out there, and the opportunities for your culinary education are endless. While many career paths will take you to the big city, that’s not always the case with culinary school. Every town and city has their own recipes and flavors, and you can find inspiration and some top culinary schools in smaller cities as well as in the big cities. So, how do you know which environment is the right place for you?

You probably already know the dynamics of a big city. They tend to be bustling and are filled with people, culture, and things to do.  Being so large, however, it’s easy to feel like you’re lost in a crowd. Attending cooking school or baking school in a large city can really give you a diverse education and set you up for working in a city with tremendous opportunities. Some of the things you should think about if you plan to attend culinary college in a big city are:

  • Lots of job opportunities after you graduate
  • With so much variety in cuisine, it’s easier to specialize
  • The variety of cuisines allows you to learn almost anything
  • More culinary colleges in the area, so there are more graduates
  • With so many professionals in the area, it’s harder to network

Smaller cities don’t have to be one-stoplight towns, however. While they may not have the range of cuisine that a larger city offers, they make up for it with in-depth experiences in regional flavors as well as with a closer-knit society of professionals to learn from and network with. If you are thinking about attending culinary arts school in a smaller town, here are some things you should consider:

  • A smaller group of professionals can offer better mentoring
  • Fewer cooking school graduates mean your skills are in demand
  • More comprehensive experiences with regional cuisine
  • Less opportunity to specialize in cuisine uncommon to the area

No matter which way you look at it, smaller cities and big cities each have plenty to offer an institute of culinary education graduate. Just take the time to decide what environment suits you best, as well as where you plan to take your career after culinary arts school. You’ll be able to figure out where the best place is for you to attend cooking school and begin your exciting career.

Cooking Class Options: Food and Wine Pairings

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on April 8, 2010
in Cooking Classes
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Food and Wine PairingsA good culinary education can mean a number of things. For students looking to learn everything at a big name school with big name post-graduation opportunities, it might be defined as a four-year program in which you live and breathe all things culinary. For students in search of a quick program that will teach them the skills needed to find entry-level kitchen work, a community college program or an intensive training course at a private vocational facility might be more the thing.

For students who simply want to boost one small portion of a larger interest in all things culinary, cooking classes provide a perfect solution. Offered through big-name schools, private chef tutors, and even continuing education courses, cooking classes tend to be both cost-effective and entertaining.

Cooking classes are usually defined as any program that lasts just a few in-kitchen hours. Some courses run over a period of six weeks, with students coming by for one or two hours in the evening one day a week. Other cooking classes are weekend or day programs, wherein students spend a few hours learning about a particular type of cuisine or skill.

Of these types of cooking classes, one of the most popular options is food and wine pairings. Thanks to a higher interest in gastronomic refinement than ever before, many home cooks and aspiring chefs are using wine pairings as way to bring a new level of fun and class to their food.

Many of the things you will learn in a food and wine pairing cooking class have to do with the wine itself (the sorts of things that sommeliers are experts at). You may learn how to:

  • Detect flavors and intensity in wine
  • Contrast and complement textures and flavors in the food
  • Distinguish between the different types of wine
  • Prepare and serve wine
  • Use appropriate glassware for service

Of course, one of the best things about a food and wine pairing cooking class is that you have to sample both the wines and the foods in order to make the best decisions for your palate! Whether you’re interested in furthering your culinary career or you want to explore new options in your personal accomplishments, cooking schools that teach these kinds of courses can provide the perfect solution for your lifestyle and  your budget.

How to Get in to Culinary School

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on February 5, 2010
in Culinary Schools
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How to Get Into Culinary SchoolGetting into culinary school can be as simple as filling out an application or as complicated as taking exams, undergoing interviews, and proving financial feasibility. How difficult or how easy your application process will be depends on where you go to school and your personal background. While you will need to check out each culinary program before you can know for certain what steps are required, there are a few things to consider before you pay that application fee.

Competition: Highly competitive culinary schools like the Institute of Culinary Education and Culinary Institute of America are going to be more difficult to get into than a vocational program located in almost every state. While these more prestigious programs may not require you to have a perfect high school grade point average or ten years of experience in the food industry, you may have to demonstrate your commitment to your culinary education through other types of experiences, including internships, volunteering efforts, seminars, and other related activities.

Academics: If you intend to get an Associate, Bachelor’s, or even Master’s degree in your chosen field of culinary study, you will need to submit documents like high school transcripts, letters of reference, and detailed applications (often with essays), and you may even need to take an admissions test. These are usually the same requirements that come with any type of education at a community college or public or private university.

Costs: The costs of culinary school can be high, and most schools want to make sure you know the ins and outs of your payment plan before you are admitted to the program. This means that in addition to paying around $50 for an application fee, you may need to sit down with one of the school’s financial advisors to map out what type of funding you’ll be receiving and how you will pay it back over the next five, ten, or even twenty years.

Getting into culinary school can be one of the most exciting times of your career. Although not getting into your desired program can be disappointing, remember that the culinary world is competitive after you graduate as well as before. You have to work hard and keep on trying in order to be a real success.

Male and Female Ratios in Culinary School

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on November 19, 2009
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Male to Female Ratio Culinary SchoolUntil very recently, the proportion of men to women in culinary schools (and in the restaurant industry as a whole) has been very uneven. Just twenty-five years ago, the percentage of women attending culinary school hovered somewhere below 10 percent. Fifteen years ago, that number jumped to around 35 percent. Today, women and men attend culinary school in almost equal proportions.

Of course, these numbers aren’t static across the board. When you look at the more prestigious schools (like the Culinary Institute of America), male students still outrank female ones 7 to 3. These numbers are a little more evenly distributed than they have been in the past, but female students can certainly feel outnumbered.

Interestingly enough, women always have outranked men when it comes to baking school. In fact, even the CIA sees a disproportionate number of female baking and pastry arts students; in 2003, women accounted for almost 80 percent of the students.

So, what do all of these numbers mean? The answer can be found by looking directly at the restaurant industry.

Although women and men are now attending culinary school in equal proportions, the number of male culinary professionals continues to be higher. Everyone from the celebrity chefs on Food Network and the winners on Top Chef to the Executive Chefs and restaurant owners currently in operation fall into the male majority. That’s because it’s going to take a few years before the cooking school numbers are reflected in the workforce. Women are just now starting to graduate and move beyond entry-level jobs to start finding their niches in the culinary industry.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman considering culinary school; these days, the options are fairly gender-neutral. Women may have a few more hurdles to face in proving their physical stamina in the kitchen, but they should have no problems when it comes to the school admissions process. Culinary schools know that they have decades of inequality to make up for, so more women are finding easy entry than ever before.

How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Go to Culinary School

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on September 29, 2009
in Culinary Schools
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Tell Your Parents You Want To Go To Culinary SchoolDeciding which culinary school you want to attend is a step in the right direction for your culinary career. From the options in Le Cordon Bleu schools, community college programs, local vocational centers, and even the prestigious Institute of Culinary Education, simply finding and being accepted into a program is a pretty big deal. However, there is one step that many students fail to consider when choosing a culinary program: telling your parents where you’re going and how much it’s going to cost.

Overall, culinary schools have a pretty negative reputation for being expensive and too focused. After all, if you attend a traditional four-year college, you explore more than just one field of study, and you  end up with a Bachelor’s degree to help you land a job.

After culinary school, there’s pretty much one thing you can do with your degree or certificate: go to work in a kitchen. This is just the sort of thing that makes parents nervous, since it limits your options and might negate those two to four years of hard work.

However, there are benefits to culinary school that even parents can support. You simply have to angle them correctly.

“I’m doing more than getting an education; I’m learning a skill.” General education courses teach a lot of the same things you learn in high school: math, English, science, and the like. When you attend culinary school, you’re going beyond simple learning to include real vocational-centered training.

“The restaurant industry is one of the fastest-growing in the United States.” Jobs in the restaurant industry are expected to increase at a higher-than-average national rate. This means that more opportunities are arising daily, and there is plenty of room for advancement.

“I won’t be spending forever at school.” One of the benefits of culinary school is that you can complete your training in as little as nine months. This means that you’ll be on your way to a job before other students have even finished their second semester.

“Most of the schools take the same kind of financial aid taken at four-year universities.” If you look for a program that falls under the FAFSA program, you may be eligible for the same loans, grants, and work-study opportunities that traditional college students get.

Remember, only you can really decide the path of your future. If you feel that culinary school is right for you, there are few careers that offer the same kind of job satisfaction as the food and restaurant industry. You may have to work harder, but in the end, you’ll be that much more satisfied with your career – and your life.