Those annoying culinary school graduates

[chadwic]

LoL... i find this very funny. I just recently graduated from a small culinary school in NH. What did i learn?? a couple of things. A culinary school is a culinary school. It doesnt matter if you pay 5,000 a year or 20,000 a year at the end you get the same thing, a piece of paper and a rude awakining! I amone of those people who think Ya CIA great name great rep but now it is all the same, take people in spit people out. Same with the school i went to, the person who graduated on the top of the class couldnt make a buer blanc if her life depended on it.....i also have to ask the chef that are complaining about culinary grads why dont the take them in the kitchen for a dinner service and see what the can do before you hire them?? while i was in california the restaurant i worked at did it i know the laundry does it and many other restaurants in San fran..and if you say well i need people to staff my kitchen and it is hard to find help. Stop complaining, be happy that you have that body to pick herbs, set up the line, or peel garlic. I am not trying to sound like an A*% i know i have a lot to learn before i am even going to consider myself good; i have see some of the people that come out of the school! i wonder myself, i just ask you to be open minded and not judge all culinary grads due to a couple or a lot of bad apples. not everyone can be Thomas Kellers, Gordon Ramsays or Eric riperts and learn under great chefs. thats my 2 cents

[chadwic]

Oh i forgot one more thing. Holydriver do you know Galen Zamarra, bouley baker?? i belive he is no older than 25 26. and he is in my book a chef! check out his menu menu

[Shimmer]

Wow, so that's how you get so many culinary school grads to come out of the woodwork. Nice to hear from you all.

Friedparsley- Actually, no, I don't know how to poach eggs. But he kept insisting he knew how, and was actually 'teaching' me how to do it. I am at the bottom of the scale, being called "Salad Girl" more frequently than anything else. My whole attitude has been to "Question, question, question," not even caring if I sound stupid or uninformed. Sometimes they laugh, but I learn.

I'm truly glad to know that not every culinary school grad thinks they know all. I'm glad also that some of you thought you did but learned otherwise.

Here's to the day when working in a restaurant becomes about teamwork instead of competition, workmanship instead of 'oneupmanship.'

In the meantime, you might hear me venting again.



~~Shimmer~~

[UniChef]

I graduated from the Hobart Cooking School. Mommy and Daddy didn't pay for my toque.

It's all in the attitude. I remember sitting up until the sun came up reading Escoffier and James Beard and I couldn't wait to go to work the next day.

There are a lot of great school graduates out there. I think if you walk into any kitchen you cannot just pick out the grads from the rest., but what you will see is who has a passion for what they do and who doesn't- that's apparent.

[Nick.Shu]

within a cook/chef/whatever, certain things stand out.

Potential - regardless of education or lack thereof, anyone with potential has the ability to rise to a certain level if notmore

Humility - doesnt matter if you have been paid the most to be taught by the best, because eventually, you will come up against someone who knows something that you dont, and one should have the grace to accept such a circumstance.

Realism - im **** proud of my school (ryde tafe) and ever thankful for the level of professional teaching and passing on of skills from chefs IMHO are amongst the best that i have seen. However sometimes in the working world, practicality drives the car and adaptability yells the obscenities.

Dedication - need i say more.

My point is that everyone has these attributes in differing mixes and that you will find both brilliance and crappiness in virtually all workers.

You just need to enhance the strengths and strategically stifle the weaknesses as best you can.

I graduated first in class from a top culinary school, so I speak from my own experience. I loved school, it took the mysticism out of cooking. I know why things do what they do, the science of cooking..etc.

But school did not teach us how to work, nor do I think that that was its purpose. It did get us into the habit of cooking day after day.

The way we work, the methods and the techniques we apply at work are a reflection of the tasks we have to achieve. High volume kitchens work different than low volume ones. It is up to us as chefs to train our new cooks "how to work."

Otherwise spend the $$'s for an experience cook.

[Nicko]

Hey,

Lot of good comments here, haven't read all of them, but I will drop a few words from my experiences.

First I think all of us can agree that school is a good way to get a quick start in the business but it only provides a base or a foundation if you will. From there it is up to you to build on it. Also it has been my experience that just going to school doesn't cut it. I have found this to be true both in the culinary field and the computer field. What I mean by that is if you just go to class, just do your work, just take your test, you will JUST GET A DEGREE. If... you go to class, go to school, study for your exams, compete in competitions, do extra work, work part time for someone, then you will have a far more richer experience.

A couple of suggestions for culinary students. Work anywhere you can while you are in school and get all the experience you can. Volunteer to help chefs with competitions, work for free at a top restaurant in the city, go on field trips, do anything that will take your experience beyond what you paid for.

My other bit of advice... Don't tell anyone you went to culinary school for awhile ...

[mesquite27]

hey there, Years ago I was in the same boat, working for a chef( graduated 2 yrs. prior) who didn't know a thing but could not admit it. He was soon fired for not being able to hold his job as chef and now is working on Wall St. It jhust goes to show, you get out what you put in. No school is better than the other, it's how hard you want it and how hard you work that scores.

[mesquite27]

hey there, Years ago I was in the same boat, working for a chef( graduated 2 yrs. prior) who didn't know a thing but could not admit it. He was soon fired for not being able to hold his job as chef and now is working on Wall St. It jhust goes to show, you get out what you put in. No school is better than the other, it's how hard you want it and how hard you work that scores.

[mesquite27]

hey there, Years ago I was in the same boat, working for a chef( graduated 2 yrs. prior) who didn't know a thing but could not admit it. He was soon fired for not being able to hold his job as chef and now is working on Wall St. It jhust goes to show, you get out what you put in. No school is better than the other, it's how hard you want it and how hard you work that scores.

Hi There

when i first finished high school i had a choice start cooking or go learn to cook. I'm gald i went and learned to cook It opened all the doors of cooking not just one or two i learned the bacis of it all meats, fish, veg, baking and when i finished my course my cooking inst. told me one thing i will never forget"never try to be the best theres always some better and try to learn everything you can where ever you go" 3 years latter i have finished a apprenticeship program and now a second cook
where i get the privalge of training cooks that just graduate. and dont matter how much they think they know dont put them down instead we you first see them walk in give them a chance and just dont tell them to do it show them the first time dont matter how basic it is. you and them will be better off. and shimmer if your interested in school go for it but remeber whn you finished what your saying right now.

see ya

brian p.

[youla]

HEY shimmer/ you'll shake that salad girl tag... years ago I moved to a hotel as a saucier...they only liked females in garde manger...and I had the salad tag for a while till it totally p@3@$ed me off, I spoke to the chef who said he hired me for garde manger and I said I had not even applied for that position...but in the end I made it the best garde manger section youd seen...I did vegetable carvings,terrines,big displays...and made it work for me then a new chef started and I said I MISS SAUCE!! NOT A PROBLEM ...I HAD TWO weeks on sauce, two weeks on garde manger...which I had come to love...the thing I tell apprentices who do garde manger is to make the most of it, dont
see it as the black hole, make a mark on it so people will remember your work...and practise at home!!! read lots and practise at home lots...if your short of cash get allyour friends to chip in you make whatever you are
trying out...then come to work and impress,impress!!people see garde manger as a lost opportunity but look at it closely,,,you learn...garnishing, presentation, cooking skills, flavour skills, cutting and chopping techniques, bizarre salads...well!?..how to make terrines,pates,mousses,canapes...and once you know how to make them learn how to make them better and a bit more exotic! and allthese asian salads in vogue, garde manger is much more than potato salad and cold cuts...at least I HOPE SO!...SORRY i AM RAMBLING ITS A SUBJECT i love...

[youla]

Originally posted by Greg:
<STRONG>When I attended J&W (Charleston '95), the chef-instructors there were very adamant about telling the students that they would not know it all nor would they be chefs when they graduated. They would say that all they were doing was giving us the tools to become a chef; the rest was up to time and our own efforts. Unfortunately, while all the students listen to this, not all of them hear it and internalize it. These are the students and grads Shimmer is speaking of. Also unfortunately, there's nothing to be done about this type of culinary grad. I'm just glad you have a place like this to vent, Shimmer; believe me, I feel your pain! </STRONG>

I dont believe anyone knows much coming out of school..be it culinary [I dont know if you have an equivalent to our apprentice cookery school system a 4 year term] but we have just received one of your culinary graduates,....few brief words to describe him...no urgency...no mise en place..no prep...no back up...goes for a smoko assuring me everything is fine...wrong...gets pissed off cos I show him how to do things...I say LISTEN you may be from the states...been cooking for a little while...but what youre serving up is not acceptable so I am going to show you what it should look like....and he gives me some smart a@@ed answer...has such a
relaxed time about the kitchen while every one else is sweating for him..he gets pissed off when he gets an order...what the **** is he there for?

[youla]

HEY shimmer/ you'll shake that salad girl tag... years ago I moved to a hotel as a saucier...they only liked females in garde manger...and I had the salad tag for a while till it totally p@3@$ed me off, I spoke to the chef who said he hired me for garde manger and I said I had not even applied for that position...but in the end I made it the best garde manger section youd seen...I did vegetable carvings,terrines,big displays...and made it work for me then a new chef started and I said I MISS SAUCE!! NOT A PROBLEM ...I HAD TWO weeks on sauce, two weeks on garde manger...which I had come to love...the thing I tell apprentices who do garde manger is to make the most of it, dont
see it as the black hole, make a mark on it so people will remember your work...and practise at home!!! read lots and practise at home lots...if your short of cash get allyour friends to chip in you make whatever you are
trying out...then come to work and impress,impress!!people see garde manger as a lost opportunity but look at it closely,,,you learn...garnishing, presentation, cooking skills, flavour skills, cutting and chopping techniques, bizarre salads...well!?..how to make terrines,pates,mousses,canapes...and once you know how to make them learn how to make them better and a bit more exotic! and allthese asian salads in vogue, garde manger is much more than potato salad and cold cuts...at least I HOPE SO!...SORRY i AM RAMBLING ITS A SUBJECT i love...

[youla]

HEY shimmer/ you'll shake that salad girl tag... years ago I moved to a hotel as a saucier...they only liked females in garde manger...and I had the salad tag for a while till it totally p@3@$ed me off, I spoke to the chef who said he hired me for garde manger and I said I had not even applied for that position...but in the end I made it the best garde manger section youd seen...I did vegetable carvings,terrines,big displays...and made it work for me then a new chef started and I said I MISS SAUCE!! NOT A PROBLEM ...I HAD TWO weeks on sauce, two weeks on garde manger...which I had come to love...the thing I tell apprentices who do garde manger is to make the most of it, dont
see it as the black hole, make a mark on it so people will remember your work...and practise at home!!! read lots and practise at home lots...if your short of cash get allyour friends to chip in you make whatever you are
trying out...then come to work and impress,impress!!people see garde manger as a lost opportunity but look at it closely,,,you learn...garnishing, presentation, cooking skills, flavour skills, cutting and chopping techniques, bizarre salads...well!?..how to make terrines,pates,mousses,canapes...and once you know how to make them learn how to make them better and a bit more exotic! and allthese asian salads in vogue, garde manger is much more than potato salad and cold cuts...at least I HOPE SO!...SORRY i AM RAMBLING ITS A SUBJECT i love...