What type of Degree/School do I choose?

[Shey]

Hi everyone, my name is Shey and I'm 31 years old. My parents are from Nicaragua but I grew up in Panama, moved to the US at 17 and have now been living in the Philippines for almost 2 years. Wow, that's a mouthful.

I travel a lot and meeting people from different cultures has given me a great appreciation for world cuisine. I love to cook different dishes from Mexican to Thai to Indian to Chinese (yes I do prefer spicy food). I love to experiment and come up with my own version of different dishes. So here's my dilemma:

My husband and I live in the Philippines because we own and operate an internet advertising company and we outsource most of the labor here. We are however ready to move somewhere else because that's what we love to do and having an internet based business allows us that flexibility. We are moving back to Panama which is where I grew up and I am ready to pursue my dream of becoming a Chef

For 8 years I worked in the hotel industry (front office) so I am very familiar with long hours, standing on your feet, stress and pissed off people. Sadly most of the hotels I worked at did not have their own kitchen or if they did, heh, back then I didn't know how to boil water.

I have been researching schools and I am not sure what type of school or degree I want/need. My goals are to someday start my own restaurant (you guessed) of international foods. I also know it's going to take some time and a lot of work but I am driven and although I know everyone says it, I am a FAST learner.

Some schools seem really nice and quite expensive for a school in say Panama or Manila which is where I'll be going. But these schools are only one year long. They say it's intensive training but they also don't give you a degree, well actually I'm not really sure what they give you to be honest. Other schools are 2 years but they don't offer on the job training and some are 4 years with on the job training.

I am willing to go the 4 years if I have to but I also know that practical experience is more important. Let's face it I'm no spring chicken but I want to get the most for my time and my money. I guess I'm really asking mostly for guidance, I don't want to spend all this time and/or money only to find out I could have done it better, smarter and more efficiently.

Thanks everyone in advance for your time and I look forward to your advice, comments or questions.

[Blagueur]

Hi there,

Don't be tempted to succumb to the emphasis on degrees and culinary schools these days. It's not the only way to go and often not the recommended way either.

I'm the same age as you and I've elected not to go to a private college and take on an apprenticeship instead. This entails being indentured in a working kitchen for two and a half years and attending technical college one day per week for duration. The theory is exactly the same as what I would undertake at any culinary school only that I have hands on learning on a regular basis which will, in the end, make me a far more marketable prospect at the end of my term.

At the end of this term, only then will l be eligible to undertake a culinary arts (graduate) degree course which specialises in business management, not cooking.

Not every kitchen is full of foul mouthed, ego driven *****. Of the kitchens I've been in, I've yet to find a truly nasty chef and for those that choose to remain in kitchens that do, more fool them. Life's too short to put up with personality disorders. Now that's my age talkin! The older I get, the less crap I put up with and it's something that they want in the kitchen too.

Best of luck in your endeavours.

[Shey]

Blagueur, thank you for your insight. I do know the feeling, I never went to college except for a few accounting classes and was able to work my way up to Assistant Hotel Manager among other positions that normally would require a degree. Sure it took a few years but I always felt that people respected the fact that I knew what I was doing from experience rather that from a classroom.

My question to you is how do you go about doing what you're doing? Do you just approach someone or is it a program from the school you're going to?

One of the schools I am looking at have what they call a technical degree which is 2 years, includes a lot of the business type classes as well as the basics only difference to their 4 year degree program is the internship and some more advanced classes. Since the classes are only 3 days a week for like 4 hours, I suppose I could at the same time be working under someone. Sounds almost like what you're talking about I guess.

[kuan]

PM this person. I think he is Dean of a cooking school in the Phillipines.

http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/members/chef-kaiser.html

[Shey]

Thanks Kuan, I PM'd him, maybe I can pick his brains a little.

[Blagueur]

Hi again Shey,

In Australia, apprenticeships are the go with culinary college coming at the end of an apprenticeship and not before. So it's just a matter of approaching a restaurant and obtaining a position with them or, which is what a lot of people do also, is to approach a technical college (known as TAFE here) and undertake a six month vocational certificate which sets you up with the necessary skills to operate efficiently in a kitchen. These colleges have a lot of contacts and can assess your personality and recommend you the right ones. For example, I've ended up in an all male kitchen with a rowdy Sous Chef... gorgeous hunk of French burnin' love that he is - HAHA.

But it would be remiss of me to even begin to suggest that how they do things in Australia is the way they do things over there. I have a good recommendation for you to check out if you so desire, though. It's the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management, Manila, Philippines and apparently they can advise you on both college and apprentice programmes. Their address is www dot iscahm dot com. For some reason it won't let me post a proper address...

At the end of the day, pick what you feel is right for you and only take directional advice from established people in the field.

[Shey]

Hey Blagueur,

Thanks once again for your very helpful insights. I actually did a bit of research on ISCAHM and would be going there if we weren't moving. I might head there anyways and take a class or two if the timing is right to get a head start.