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becoming a professional chef

post #1 of 12
4/7/07 at 5:19am
Thread Starter 
hello, its me again, i have a question for all the professional chefs in here and i would appreciate if anyone can answer or as many of you can.:confused:

i really want to become a professional chef but i can't aford the money i need to take the studies. is there any other way i can become a professional chef if i can't aford the studies?

i really love food and its my biggest dream, can anybody tell me if there is a chanse for me?
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post #2 of 12
4/7/07 at 5:30am
Yes you can start out working in the best restaurants, clubs, hotels, banquet facilities.
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post #3 of 12
4/7/07 at 5:38am
Thread Starter 
what if i dont know nothing about professional cooking?:cry:
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post #4 of 12
4/7/07 at 7:09am
33 years ago, I started off as a dishwasher in a hotel. I not only knew nothing about professional cooking, I knew nothing about cooking period. I couldn't boil water. If hard pressed, I could make a sandwich. That was the extent of my culinary skills. Starting my career in the dish room and working my way up allowed me to experience the whole gamut of this industry, which has been an extremely useful tool to me when supervising co-workers. I have done the different jobs, I have walked a mile in the different shoes, I can relate. Don't worry that you don't have the money to go to culinary school. I don't think it is the best place to start a career as a chef anyway. Start with step one, a job in the industry. There are plenty of entry level jobs in high end establishments, that only require common sense, desire, and attitude to start you on your path to a job as a professional chef. I have hired plenty of people with no experience what so ever, and will continue to do so. Skills can be taught, common sense, desire, and attitude can not. I also know that I am not the only chef that feels this way. Professional chefs have been around a lot longer than culinary schools have. Go for that first job, you can find it, if you want!
Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
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post #5 of 12
4/7/07 at 12:00pm
None of us did when we first started. You think there were all these cooking schools 20 years ago?
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post #6 of 12
4/7/07 at 11:25pm
Thread Starter 
thanx alot, i think i've got your point,:) and letme tell both of you something, for me its an big honor to recive advice from professional chef's like you, i hope you know what i mean, once again, thank you very much.:chef:

ATT, Heber_1
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post #7 of 12
4/10/07 at 9:34am
I'm kind of in the same boat H_1.

I will have the GI Bill if I want to go to a school, but all the pros tell me it's better to start out just working somewhere-anywhere in the kitchen to get a feel for how things work.

From what I am told, working in a real kitchen is the best way to learn "under fire" because there is always a rush and you learn to do things quickly.

Until I do that, I spend my time watching my favorite shows on the food network, observing, learning and cooking on my own, improving my knife skills, etc.

Good luck to the both of us :)
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post #8 of 12
4/10/07 at 12:33pm
The right attitude and "hands on" is what you need!
I have, in the past, employed a few people fresh from catering college, culinery school, call it what you will. With the odd exception, they all turned out to be unable to rise to the occasion. The will to succeed and a lot of determination is far more appropriate than being able to make perfect carrot batons.
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post #9 of 12
4/10/07 at 9:48pm
Thread Starter 
i've been reading all, my brother ofer me a job making lunch for his co-workers, would that be a good begining?
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post #10 of 12
4/10/07 at 10:08pm
Yes, it is a good beginning.
Acquire some cooking magazines or books to learn the basics, techniques and recipes.
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post #11 of 12
4/10/07 at 10:15pm
Some good reads I might suggest:

The Making of a Chef
The Soul of a Chef

both by Michael Ruhlman

Good luck, it will be a long journey, one which I am still trekking. I went to culinary school, but I agree that what I learned hands-on working in a professional kitchen is unfathomably more useful then what you get out of any classroom.
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post #12 of 12
4/10/07 at 10:18pm
Thread Starter 
the only problem i see is that there's not gona be someone to teach me:look:
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