hello

Hi Duffdude. You've found a great place to start your journey to being a fantastic home cook or skilled professional. We have people here who are learning to boil water and others who are veterans in the kitchen. Many of our members are students- we have a whole forum dedicated to culinary schools. Your local junior college or technical school may well have a program to teach you what you know to work in a kitchen or manage a restaurant or other food service operation.

We have a search button- use it to find earlier discussions on topics that interest you. For instance, many have asked questions about how to get started in the kitchen.

Good luck! Visit often, ask questions and post, too.

Mezzaluna

Duffdude,

You don't say how old you are, but if you can, get a part time job in a restaurant washing dishes or bussing tables- anything you can do to be around food. I wouldn't recommend a chain restaruant, though, but a locally owned one. Your interest and aptitude will get recognized and you'll be able to move up. Just remember that you have to start out at the bottom to get to the top. I've worked with kids who think doing dishes and cleaning up are beneath them and they'll NEVER get anywhere because no one can stand working with them.

Does your high school have a culinary program? If so, check it out.

I would also suggest buying a good cookbook. The Profesional Chef put out by the CIA is a good one, but can be a little intimidating in is size and scope. It does teach the basics- how to cut vegetables, hold a knife, and make sauces. It's big and expensive, though. I also like Cooking One on ONe by John Ash (Ashe?). It's a smaller book and takes you from simple to more complicated recipes using different techniques. I'm sure the folks here can recommend good books for you to start out with.

Good luck!

Duffdude,

EVERYONE hates doing dishes.... Just look at as quiet time for reflection and thinking really deep thoughts about yourself, your future, and that great movie you saw last night. :rolleyes:

Check out your library for some cookbooks, and just dive in.

Duffdude, I think it might be a good idea to hang out at the Culinary Students' forum here and ask people who are in the business how they got there, what they'd do differently to make it easier, etc. I bet you'll get some great pointers.

My younger brother thought about being a chef when he was the same age as you. He got a job as a busboy at a family type restaurant and worked his way into the kitchen after about a year. He hung out with the cooks and learned a lot of life lessons from them (some probably not the type of lessons my parents had in mind, but there you go....). He started out at the salad station then moved to the line. He switched jobs and learned more from another chef. Finally, he decided to go to culinary school. After lots of jobs (each one a move up) he became executive chef in a corporate dining room, which led to opening his own restaurant and catering business. He tried branching out and expanding but the excessive hours weren't worth the stress, so he has focused on his bistro and catering, with good success. I think he always wanted to own his own place, but it took him at least 15 years to get himself to that place. In the mean time he learned from a lot of people and so he was ready to make that move when his opportunity appeared.

Lesson (sorry, I used to be a middle school teacher): learn where you can, move up with each move if you can, and work gradually toward your goal. My brother isn't the most patient person in the world, but he managed to make the right moves because he didn't let his impatience get in the way.

Good luck!
Mezzaluna