Master Chef?

[bc89]

I've been hearing lately about master chef's, what exactly is a master chef and what are the requirements to be one.

[kuan]

In America, it's a certification offered by the American Culinary Federation. You must first achieve Certified Executive Chef, or CEC. Then it's a two week long test for Certified Master Chef.

[madgoose]

we were actually just talking about this today in my professional development class and i had the same question as you which resulted in the same answer given earlier a 10 days test, 5,000 dollars and years in the industry earning the previous titles, but the professor told the class about a book called "the soul of a chef: the journey towards perfection" by Michael Ruhlman which documents his experience taking the master chef certification test, so if you're really interested in it i think it would make for an interesting read.

hope this helps,
jen

[SousWee]

http://www.acfchefs.org/, this might help

[CookinTim]

The chef teaching the class I am currently taking at school (the CIA) just passed his master chef exam. In fact, our class just purchased a bottle of Moet for him as a congratulatory gift!

[Jbyl]

If you want to learn more about the masterchef exam, get the book, The Soul of a chef, by Michael Ruhlman. About a third of the book is devoted to the exam. A journalist got to kind of sneek in to see the exams. They go through some pretty crazy stuff. On a side note, for any of the keller freaks like me, the last third of the book is about him. Ruhlman is the guy who did his cookbook, and he talks about the time he spent w/ him and in his kitchen.

[Sarge]

The Master Chef Exam is ten days long encompassing mostly classical cuisine, but it also includes some pastry work and a good bit of charcuterie.

M. Ruhlman did not participate in the exam he was only an observer.

I worked for a Master Chef who trained under one of the chef who took the test in this book.

I did especially like the section on Thomas Keller