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post #1 of 9
1/22/09 at 10:01pm
Thread Starter 
Well I'm New to the whole furums but I am a sophomore in high school and I'm looking to go to culinary school I still got time to think about thing but I'm thinking maybe yall could help me with some tips and just give me a big out look on the whole thing...:crazy:
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post #2 of 9
1/23/09 at 12:07am
Well I'm about to finish college with a B.S. in Hotel and Restaurant Management. So from the perspective of a guy who took the four years of college route, I would suggest doing well in high school and then trying to get into one of the top culinary schools in the county.

Or if you really wanted to make me jealous as all he!.!. you could take as much French as you can with your remaining time in high school and take an entry level job in a restaurant. Then apprentice in France.

One thing though, if you go to culinary school, get a job when your there. The experience is terrific. I have a friend who was an executive chef and he wouldn't hire culinary students to serious positions (read: line cooks) without experience.

Question: where are you from? What kind of cooking are you interested in?
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post #3 of 9
1/23/09 at 5:12am
Thread Starter 
Im from Louisiana and at the moment I really dont know what kind of cooking. Im look for something i can do the rest of my life and be good at it i can cook pretty well already and i like to cook i like eating to lol. Im just looking for the right road to start on Im sure that there are wroung and rights.
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post #4 of 9
1/23/09 at 11:15am
The first thing I would do is purchase, or try to check out at your Library the following book.
Amazon.com: Becoming a Chef: Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page: Books

Have fun with cooking. Read books, watch shows and try to cook your favorite recipes. Practice practice practice. And see where that takes you.

Many of the higher end culinary schools prefer if you have actual work experience in a culinary environment. Try to get at least 8 months of experience by the time you are 18-19. More the better! And once you are in that environment, you might hate it. Better to know that before spending the money on culinary school.

There are also apprenticeships offered by http://www.acfchefs.org

In the state of Louisiana there is:
ACF New Orleans Chapter*
Delgado Community College
615 City Park Avenue, Building 11, New Orleans, LA 70119-4399
Dr. Mary Bartholomew, CCE - mbart@dcc.edu
(504) 483-4208

But like I said. Read becoming a chef and have fun with cooking.
"To be a good chef all you got to do is lots of little things well" -Marco Pierre

"As far as cuisine is concerned, one must read everything, see everything, hear everything, try everything, observe everything, in order to retain in the end, just a little bit." -Fernand Point
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post #5 of 9
1/23/09 at 4:04pm
I love books and I encourage a ton of reading. I try and read as many books as possible, BUT a job is more telling.

You may read of all these great success stories, decide your an aspiring chef, spend thousands on a culinary school, then get in the real world and realize that reeking of shrimp and not getting home till 2 am or later just isn't for you. OR you find that you don't have the nerves for the pressure of working a line, in which case there is always catering for you.

Restaurant cooking is extremely taxing, maybe ask a local restaurant chef if you could come in and observe his/her kitchen during service. Basically, you need an idea of what the reality of it is before you let your reading sway you. Three cooks at my previous job thought since they read Kitchen Confidential (my favorite book) they were clutch. The longest any of them lasted was 2 months.

It's an exciting, fun world but it's not without a couple pains in the arse.
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post #6 of 9
1/23/09 at 9:48pm
Thread Starter 
Ok well im going to the book store tomorow an i will look for some of the book yall said are good. Um so like what diffrent cooking styles are out there are what make more money are what?:roll:
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post #7 of 9
1/24/09 at 8:10am
I would maybe rethink this. Money is something that generally comes late in a cooking career. But there are a ton of different options from culinary instructor, to hotel resort chef, to big events catering, the list is quite extensive... there have been threads posted. Try and search for careers.
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post #8 of 9
1/24/09 at 10:23am
Thread Starter 
American Culinary Federation (ACF) operates two and three year apprenticeship programs that combine on-the-job training with technical classroom instruction. Ok so if i were to do this can I get my Associates Degree in culinary arts and if so how will that work???:bounce:
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post #9 of 9
1/27/09 at 10:10am
I would take that a step further and suggest trying to get on as dishwasher or prep cook.
Even then, just observing won't always tell you everything.
A well oiled machine makes the difficult look easy.
Countless times I have had dishwashers and prep cooks ask to be trained on the line, only to have them back out of it after a few shifts.
They thought that because we were constantly singing, joking, etc. that the job was easy.
It's not.
But the good ones make it look so to the uninformed.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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