I didn't go to culinary school, I went to school for physics and decided afterwards I wanted to cook for a living. I've been working in the food service industry since I was 14 with various breaks, but only over the past two years have I studied and tried to understand as much as I can. In those two years, I thought I was decent, but after recently moving jobs to one of the top restaurants in my area as a line cook, I'm starting to wonder. Chef thinks of things that I never would have thought of, and of course he seems to know just about everything.
I can make stock. I can make consumme. I can butcher beef, poultry, most fish very well. I can juggle 12 pans of saute dishes at a time. I can tell the doneness of a steak by just looking at it most of the time. Basically, I'm a good prep or line cook in just about any restaurant. But sometimes chef will ask me, "Any ideas on what to do with duck breast as an appetizer?" and my heart just sinks. I really don't know how to pair ingredients as well as I wish I could, and even when I think of a good combination, I often can't think of a good way to implement it. Worse, I can tell if something tastes good, really good, or fantastic. But I can never seem to think of the ingredient(s) to add or reduce to make it go from good to really good, etc. Culinary school is a lot of money, and cheffing in a restaurant doesn't pay a ton of money. Is there any long term value in going for me? Do they offer any kind of accelerated courses? Do I just need more experience?
I can make stock. I can make consumme. I can butcher beef, poultry, most fish very well. I can juggle 12 pans of saute dishes at a time. I can tell the doneness of a steak by just looking at it most of the time. Basically, I'm a good prep or line cook in just about any restaurant. But sometimes chef will ask me, "Any ideas on what to do with duck breast as an appetizer?" and my heart just sinks. I really don't know how to pair ingredients as well as I wish I could, and even when I think of a good combination, I often can't think of a good way to implement it. Worse, I can tell if something tastes good, really good, or fantastic. But I can never seem to think of the ingredient(s) to add or reduce to make it go from good to really good, etc. Culinary school is a lot of money, and cheffing in a restaurant doesn't pay a ton of money. Is there any long term value in going for me? Do they offer any kind of accelerated courses? Do I just need more experience?
