Prior to the introduction of cooking by applying to a culinary arts college the art of cooking was passed down from mother to daughter in the home.
Measurements were done by a pinch of this and a handful of that and caused each recipe to be different, even when made by two women in the same house. Pinches and handfuls depended upon the size of the hand. With the advent of the culinary arts college came the careful measurements done with spoons and measuring cups (math is needed here).
You love to cook and have cooked for large parties in your home and for your friends. You feel you can easily run a restaurant and cook as well as you cook at home. This is a fallacy, as there are many demands in restaurant cooking and less in home cooking.
The difference between today’s chef and the housewife begins with education conducive to a culinary career. This means the inclusion of such studies as mathematics, spelling, writing, history and of course cooking.
In addition, the culinary arts college that is most thorough also teaches the prospective chef how to order food and how to measure food for service in order to have a more profitable restaurant (this is where math comes in again).
Why are all of these courses necessary?
Imagine trying to figure out how to measure two cups of something from a recipe that calls for eighteen and three quarter cups without knowing mathematics. As such, how could you consider yourself a French chef if you know nothing about the country and origin of the food you are cooking and serving? Education in the career of culinary arts is essential.
The Fannie Farmer School opened its doors to culinary arts in 1836 in Boston and was known as the Boston School of Cooking. Following Fannie Farmer were other prominent cooks that opened cooking schools from 1929 through 1940.
The most popular teacher of culinary arts was Julia Child. She not only taught in her own culinary arts college but also televised her culinary teachings. She won many awards and remains the most popular instructress of culinary arts today.
Perhaps the best known instruction in culinary arts is the Le Cordon Bleu program which is taught by professional chefs in the most prestigious schools.
The history of the Le Cordon Bleu program begins in France during the reign of Henry III in 1678. Then the good king awarded his chefs with The Cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit which hung from a blue ribbon and was called the blue cord.
The name stuck and The Blue Cord began its life as Le Cordon Bleu. It is well a well known fact that the culinary arts college that has the Le Cordon Bleu program turns out the best and most in demand chefs, so look out for Le Cordon Bleu College Of Culinary Arts.
Anyone can be a good cook but to be a good culinary arts chef you need a thorough, intense and complete education from a culinary arts college. You should do some research and make a shortlist of the best culinary schools and then narrow them down to those who offer culinary arts degrees.
Careers in the culinary arts field is such a fast growing industry these days, but you have to be exceptionally careful about selecting the right culinary school or culinary college where you will do your training.
In fact, finding the correct culinary arts school for you is a very important thing in its own right. Research and research again. Then research some more. You need to bear in mind the kind or style of cooking that you want to concentrate on, and choose the right culinary school or culinary college based upon that.
A newly qualified culinary arts chef can expect to earn around $30,000 to $40,000 per annum and most can easily find work where they can practice their newly learned skills whilst building a career and reputation.
Don’t expect the work to be easy – it will be extremely exhausting after leaving culinary arts college, and it is certainly not a standard 9 to 5 job!
It will take a lot of work to rise through the ranks, but those with the right dedication and aptitude though will be suitably rewarded with the satisfaction of customers enjoying their fine food, and rewarded financially too.
