My Top 10 Reasons Reasons For Culinary School Angst

[ldts60]

1.NOTEBOOKS....need I say more ?
2.Mise En Thieves
3.Those students that always burn everything and do the little girl giggle.
(smack em! )
4. Pastry & Baking 1 final and the guy next to you gets a cherry pie and
the cherry filling is pre-packed (scary).
5.Never let your Chef look like an a**,you will pay dearly ....
6. Carmel burners they never learn and they ALWAYS do it.
7. Clean as you go.DUH!
8. If you borrow it, return it clean.
9. Chef's that try to be cool by showing off new body art .
10. The group of guy's and one girl that congregate around the entrance at
school and find the need to cough up the largest amounts of lung
cheese , did we not take sanitation? hum...VERY SCARY.

[chrose]

ldts60, it's me again! The same thing goes as I said in the other post. You claimed it wasn't so much the Chef thing as what you have to deal with. I guarantee you pretty much everybody here will have similar stories and be able to commiserate. You will find the same situations in the real world as well, I promise you. Dealing with it and not shooting anyone is your only option seriously. When I first got to school I met a guy who I had to work with for the next 2 years. I asked him his goals and he said he wanted to be the first full born American on the Culinary Olympic team. A lofty goal. I wished him luck and over the next 2 years got to know him well. During the 2nd year, a first year student told me that this guy had said the same thing to him and what did I think his chances were? After thinking for a moment I replied that I thought he had a better chance to be the first full born American on the Culinary "SPECIAL" Olympic team just to give you an idea of what I was working with!
We had another guy who spent one evening in Table Service running the Dessert tray to tables and describing the desserts. Of course Ice Cream on a dessert tray will melt over time, so we used Crisco with the particular flavorings and colors added to mock the ice cream we had made. At the end of the night as he was breaking down the tray, he asked me if he could eat the "ice cream" with a somewhat shocked look, I said.....uh....sure....knock yourself out. He tossed one big quenelle into his mouth, took a couple of bites and the look on his face as he tasted it was priceless ! He didn't return the second year
Again, the point is school is full of annoyances and so is the "real world", it's part of learning!

[kthull]

chrose, that ice cream story is perfect!

I agree. I just started culinary school a few weeks ago and I was nervous because it's been 10 years since graduated college the first time. There are good students and there are bad students. At work, there are good colleagues and there are bad colleagues. The reality is that in both situations, the good ones are usually the smaller percentage.

Don't waste your energy on the bad ones. Just take pride that you're not one of them.

[ldts60]

I shall head your words of wisdom and If you ever hear about a culinary student going postal in Pasadena It wont be me.

[chef from va]

love the crisco idea... where i work we use blue bell icecream wich is a rich yellowish vanilla... BUTTER SUNDAY!!!!! anyways on to the point of this reply, i to am a culinary student and at the moment it feels like i am making a carrer of it, lol. a little quote that i came up with that helps me to remember that you can TRAIN a drunken monkey to cook "Common sense does not run rampant!". you notice that italicized word remember that. when you start getting drug into the bad place (pissed off) by those "special people around you just remember what one of my mentors told me

"you can train anyone to do anything. even a dog can be trained to fetch a paper. you are in school getting an education, this means that you will be able to decide for yourself wether or not something is right. you will be the one training people because you can use logic and rational thinking with a touch of your own creativity to make something new and unique. tose around you who like to piss and moan or choose not to learn will be the ones being trained their entire lives!"

my point is if you stick it out and put your heart and your soul into what you love to do you will be happy. granted you have to deal with "retards" but even people who work at white castle have to deal with that. just stick with it help the younger ones who need it and will prosper from your knowladge and take the stupid ones with a grain of salt.

good luck and remember there are alot of us here at cheftalk who are willing to try and help!

[crusso]

1. Students who want to be a Chef because they saw a show on the Food Network and think that is what being a chef is like.
2. Students who want to be a chef, but smoke cigarettes and drink coffee non stop and can't taste anything.
3. Students who want to be a chef, but refuse to taste anything they think they won't like the flavor of, i.e. foie gras, liver, various sausages/charcuterie, tounge, tofu (for God sake!), limburger cheese, bleu cheeses, kalamat olives (again...for God sake!), and much more!!!
4. Students who want to be a chef, but can't make it to class on time.
5. Students who make it to class, but forgot their knives, or hats, or other important item needed while in clas.
6. Students who take 2 1/2 hours to produce something that should take 20 minutes, even after having been shown how to do it quickly.
7. Graduates, who even thought they have been told that no matter how difficult the job/boss has been, to give at least 2 weeks notice when quitting, but still don't; they only hurt their reputation, and that of the school they graduated from.
8. Students who miss the first day of school.
9. Students who sleep in class, and can't understand why they aren't doing well on the tests - and likely won't pass the course.
10. Students who don't taste their own food before serving it to others.
11. Student who find out they are not chefs when they graduate; only culinary school graduates!

PS: I could give you more from the Student's point of view...

1. Culinary Schools with no parking...but they expect you to be in class on time anyway.
2. Culinary Schools that make getting admitted and registered more difficult than rocket science.
3. Culinary Schools that expect you to use a limited amount of ingredients on-hand, and put out plates as close to those you might find in Charlie Trotter's or The French Laundry.
4. Culinary Schools that won't let you chew gum while in class.
5. Culinary Schools that won't let you answer cell phone call while in class.
6. Culinary Schools that count you as tardy if you walk in one minute late.
7. Culinary Schools that have you work all day, then give you outside homework to do on top of it.
8. Classes that start too early in the morning, or end too late at night, or somewhere in the middle.
9. Culinary schools that drop you from class because you didn't pay the cashier's office with 48 hours.
10 Culinary schools that charge you $30,000 and up, to learn what you can learn from a book, or for much less else where, or learn on-the-job, or in an apprenticeship program, while you are getting paid (although it may take a bit longer).
11. Culinary schools that don't allow long fingernails with polish, or pierced eye browns, lips, chins, noses, or ears, laden with jewelry.
12. Culinary schools that require students' chef pants to be up to their waist, rather than half way down their bottom.
13. All that **** Cleaning! What are we, chefs/cooks or janitors! (It is amazing how many people don't realize the amount of sanitation that goes into becoming a good cook or chef.

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by crusso

1. Students who want to be a Chef because they saw a show on the Food Network and think that is what being a chef is like.
2. Students who want to be a chef, but smoke cigarettes and drink coffee non stop and can't taste anything.
3. Students who want to be a chef, but refuse to taste anything they think they won't like the flavor of, i.e. foie gras, liver, various sausages/charcuterie, tounge, tofu (for God sake!), limburger cheese, bleu cheeses, kalamat olives (again...for God sake!), and much more!!!
4. Students who want to be a chef, but can't make it to class on time.
5. Students who make it to class, but forgot their knives, or hats, or other important item needed while in clas.
6. Students who take 2 1/2 hours to produce something that should take 20 minutes, even after having been shown how to do it quickly.
7. Graduates, who even thought they have been told that no matter how difficult the job/boss has been, to give at least 2 weeks notice when quitting, but still don't; they only hurt their reputation, and that of the school they graduated from.
8. Students who miss the first day of school.
9. Students who sleep in class, and can't understand why they aren't doing well on the tests - and likely won't pass the course.
10. Students who don't taste their own food before serving it to others.
11. Student who find out they are not chefs when they graduate; only culinary school graduates!

PS: I could give you more from the Student's point of view...

1. Culinary Schools with no parking...but they expect you to be in class on time anyway.
2. Culinary Schools that make getting admitted and registered more difficult than rocket science.
3. Culinary Schools that expect you to use a limited amount of ingredients on-hand, and put out plates as close to those you might find in Charlie Trotter's or The French Laundry.
4. Culinary Schools that won't let you chew gum while in class.
5. Culinary Schools that won't let you answer cell phone call while in class.
6. Culinary Schools that count you as tardy if you walk in one minute late.
7. Culinary Schools that have you work all day, then give you outside homework to do on top of it.
8. Classes that start too early in the morning, or end too late at night, or somewhere in the middle.
9. Culinary schools that drop you from class because you didn't pay the cashier's office with 48 hours.
10 Culinary schools that charge you $30,000 and up, to learn what you can learn from a book, or for much less else where, or learn on-the-job, or in an apprenticeship program, while you are getting paid (although it may take a bit longer).
11. Culinary schools that don't allow long fingernails with polish, or pierced eye browns, lips, chins, noses, or ears, laden with jewelry.
12. Culinary schools that require students' chef pants to be up to their waist, rather than half way down their bottom.
13. All that **** Cleaning! What are we, chefs/cooks or janitors! (It is amazing how many people don't realize the amount of sanitation that goes into becoming a good cook or chef.

Beautiful

[Shawn D.]

Originally Posted by crusso:
13. All that **** Cleaning! What are we, chefs/cooks or janitors! (It is amazing how many people don't realize the amount of sanitation that goes into becoming a good cook or chef.

On top of that, add the students who are "above" doing dishes or mopping. What a freaking joke.

[ldts60]

Chef Russo I think you covered it all.....take a bow .