At some point, everyone has a passion for food, whether for late-night tacos, that piece of chocolate cake in the cafeteria line or a New York strip steak. This is not the same passion or love for food chefs possess on their journey through culinary school and into the real world.
To a lot of university students dealing with the stress of midterms and the first papers of the year, cooking as a major may seem like an enticing alternative. However, culinary school is no piece of cake.
Jimmy F. Mohammed, executive chef of the trendy new restaurant Crave, 201 W. Gorham St., and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, gives his insight of a typical day in the life of a culinary student.
\Classes were very intense and strenuous. And after a physically grueling day in the kitchen, you had to go back to your dorm to study for tests, do required homework and research recipes."" Mohammed said it was not unusual for him to be up at 6 a.m., and not return home from class until late in the afternoon. In this respect, culinary school is very similar to any academic university.
Despite culinary school's physically and mentally demanding schedule, Mohammed revealed that his best experiences included the chance to meet people from various cultures with a similar passion for food. He specifically enjoyed learning how other cultures' cuisines meshed with American cuisine.
So how does one go about becoming a chef and satisfying one's appetite for a life in the kitchen? According to Chef Isaac Freirichs of the Culinary Institute of America, there are four main paths toward a culinary education. Apprenticeships are considered the outdated way of getting an education; they include working at a restaurant for many years and learning the basics. Freirichs says that an apprenticeship ""lacks the fundamentals that a formal education will teach you, like how to write menus, pair wines and learn restaurant law.""
Certificate programs, which take six months to one year to complete, provide prospective chefs with knowledge of the fundamentals of cooking as well as extensive hands-on experience. However, for those looking for a far-reaching culinary background, the certificate program contains one major disadvantage. Freirichs says that ""classes are often scrunched together and crucial information is skipped.""
An associate's degree is another option which includes sit-down lectures where students learn the why's and how's of cooking. This takes about two years to complete and costs a substantial amount more than a certificate program. Mohammed received his associate's degree as well as completed a six month internship. He feels this internship was an important part of his education because ""you use the tools you got from school in a real life environment."" He also mentions that an internship allows a chef to learn new things, things he or she did not learn in culinary school.
A bachelor's degree is the final type of education a chef can receive, typically taking four years to complete. This includes two years of cooking classes and two years of business management. Edward G. Leonard, Culinary Master Chef and president of the American Culinary Federation, believes this is one of the best educations a chef can get.
""Top chefs must have a passion for cooking and food and also develop skills in management, marketing, and finance,"" he said.'?
Brent T. Frei, director of marketing for the ACF, said there are over 600 professional training programs at the postsecondary level in the United States and several thousand at the high school level. This is a tremendous number and provides enormous opportunities for those contemplating an education in the culinary arts. When asked what he considered to be the Ivy League of culinary schools,??Frei named The Culinary Institute of America, however, he also recognizes that ""it alone does not offer the only good training program"" in the country.??
For those wanting to find a comprehensive and career-oriented culinary program in the Madison area, Madison Area Technical College's culinary arts department offers a two-year associate's degree program including a summer internship as well as a one-year technical program in baking and pastry arts.
However, Mohammed dissuades those people who are not truly passionate about food and cooking from jumping into a culinary career.
""There's a lot more to being a chef than just knowing how to cook,"" Mohammed said. ""You need to be a boss, a leader, a tutor, a manager, and an accountant.""
Suddenly, a single culinary arts major multiplies into an accounting, a management and an education major. So next time you are at a restaurant admiring the dessert cart, take a step back and think of all the hard work and dedication it took to get that delectable piece of chocolate cake onto your plate.
