Culinary Arts

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Culinary Arts

• So you Want to Become A Chef?
• The Hospitality Actor

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Welcome!

• Colors Test
• Kitchen Confidential

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Can you Handle the Truth? I think you canit all
starts with a memory
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• The culinary profession has existed since time
  immemorial catering to man's taste buds and his
  appetite for good food. With the growth of the
  hospitality industry worldwide, prospects for
  chefs have risen manifold.
• The hotel industry is unarguably the largest
  employer of chefs with FB (food and beverage) as
  the biggest department within the industry.
• Besides, the shipping and airlines industry,
  hospitals and institutions also have a lot to
  offer to culinary professionals.

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• However not so long ago, few wanted to join the
  profession, says chef Arun K Agarwal, Principal,
  Welcomgroup Management Institute,
• "Good families would never imagine their child
  to be a part of the hotel industry, leave aside
  being a chef. Not much prestige was associated
  with the profession.'' Now, he adds, "The
  profession has got more recognition with the
  passage of time.''

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What does it take to become a good chef?

• The term 'chef' in French means boss. In the
  hotel industry, a chef is the boss of all the
  cooks. Beside the prerequisite culinary skills
  and taste for good food, a chef should possess
  management skills.
• In other words, a chef is a production manager
  of kitchen/ hotel who should understand the
  market needs.
• Dedication, focused vision, creativity,
  hard-work, dignity for labor and interpersonal
  skills are required in the profession as much as
  in any other job.

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The crawl up by Anthony Bourdain

• If I may quote right from the book as the good
  chef describes himself during his post high
  school days..."I was a spoiled, miserable,
  narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless
  young lout, and badly in need of a good
  ass-kicking". And then it started to go downhill
  from there (my words).

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Entry Level

• With a proper blend of culinary and
  administrative skills, one can climb very high in
  the profession.
• Five-star hotels in general follow a hierarchy,
  which is as follows Apprentice, Commis (cook)-3,
  Commis-2, Commis-1, Chef de Partie (section in
  charge), Second Sous Chef, Executive Sous Chef
  (operation in charge) and Chef de Cuisine or
  Executive Chef (manager of food operations).
• One can join the industry either after
  completion of school as an apprentice in a
  restaurant/hotel or acquire a professional
  qualification from a reputed hotel management
  institution and join a good hotel chain at a
  higher position.
• "Though the 'Jack of all trade' concept does help
  a chef to keep oneself in good standing
• in the long run, specialization in a regional
  cuisine is important,'' believes Suman Roy, a
  chef de partie at Marriott's Marco Island Resort,
  Florida. Agarwal adds, "Specialization gives
  authenticity to a regional cuisine. For instance,
  Thai food prepared by a Thai chef appears more
  authentic than when prepared by an American.''

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• The most common route nowadays is to acquire
  professional qualification and then join a good
  hotel chain as kitchen trainee. Another route is
  to join as an apprentice after completion of
  school education.
• One can climb up the hierarchy with adequate
  experience.
• With further experience, a chef can start his own
  catering establishment and restaurant.

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• What are the prospects for fresh graduates from
  hospitality/culinary institutes?
• The courses at these institutes does not allow
  students to specialize. They train students in
  general aspects of hospitality / culinary
  management.
• Students have to decide which section of the
  industry would they like to join.
• Accordingly, they participate in training
  programs in various hotels. Most of the hotels
  have a kitchen management training designed for
  aspirant chefs.

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Chef Bourdain on Dishwashing

• ?? One of the things that you hear is that the
  young culinary students have totally altered
  their expectations of the business, and have gone
  from food to celebrity, and by definition have
  become less effective as employees.
• AB First let me say that I would hire an
  experienced dishwasher over a culinary school
  graduate, and I don't say this disrespectfully. I
  was a culinary student myself, and I had to find
  out the hard way what this business is really
  about. The schools are great, but you have to
  experience the real world before you have any
  shot of becoming successful in this business. I
  always recommend to anyone interested in the
  restaurant industry to spend six months as a
  dishwasher. It will tell you all you need to
  know.

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Chef Bourdain on respect

• ?? You just introduced the subject of labor, and
  maybe the answer is to entice the culinary
  students to spend some important time doing
  things like washing dishes.
• AB The truth is that there is no such thing as
  an American dishwasher. The American mentality is
  such that most of the critical restaurant jobs
  are beneath them-but believe me no job is. You
  will do them. Better to do them when everyone is
  happy then when everyone is throwing knives at
  you. It is about respect.

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Chef Bourdain on the BOH VS FOH

• RR On another subject, talk to me about the
  conflicts in terms of the back of the house vs.
  the front of the house. How serious is this
  problem as you see it?
• AB This conflict that you call it is very much
  overblown. I'm not suggesting that are no
  problems, because there are. This business can
  get crazy, and during the heat of battle people
  are screaming at each other, and the chaos of the
  kitchen can result in conflicts. The back of the
  house sees the front of the house making too much
  money, and all too often, working conditions in
  the kitchen make them all the more resentful. I
  can see it when the cooks hold the power over the
  waitstaff, yet I still see the cooks and the
  waiters leaving work hanging out together, and I
  believe that a restaurant is really a team
  concept and everyone has to work together to make
  it successful. For the most part, they do work
  together surprisingly well.

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Growth ProjectionsThe National Picture

• In the 2002 Industry At- A- Glance- National
  Statistics from the National Restaurant
  Association, it was reported that there would be
  11.6 million employees in the restaurant industry
  and the industry is the largest employer besides
  the government. These estimates include average
  growth rates of the categories of Chefs and
  Bakers at 12.7 and 18.6 respectively. These
  two categories are listed as the highest amongst
  the Culinary Arts industry. The National
  Restaurant Association also reported that the
  restaurant industry would see another million
  jobs open in the next seven years and will
  experience sales that are expected to reach
  426.1 billion in 2003 (2002/2003 Statistical
  Report).
• Among the areas of growth within the industry the
  categories of Catering, Hospitals and
  Institutional Feeding, College and Universities
  and Retails outlets are expected to have the most
  dramatic growth.

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The Local Picture

• In the Austin area there are 101 Bakery Outlets,
  217 Retail Grocers, 1,444 Restaurants and 145
  Caterers (source Smartpages.com).
• Austins rapid growth in the workforce has
  created a demand for culinary professionals,
  including Baking and Pastry Chefs. In addition
  having a specialized degree has become more of a
  prerequisite. This demand gives ACC a great
  opportunity to provide individuals with what the
  industry is looking for, and will soon run short
  of. Providing trained chefs to the Austin area
  will benefit the Culinary Industry, and in return
  help the local economy.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics says, By 2005,
  the demand for trained chefs in the United States
  will exceed the supply.

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Wages and Compensation

• In 1998 the U.S. Census reported that annual
  incomes are greatly affected according to the
  level of an individuals education. The results
  were as follows
• High school graduates annual income 28,307
• College graduate with an Associates Degrees
  annual income 36,392
• College graduates with a Bachelors Degree annual
  income 50,056
• In the 2001 Compensation for Salaried Personnel
  in Restaurantsconducted by the National
  Restaurant Association, among Chef positions, the
  median base salary for the Executive Chef is
  48,000 for a Chef, 35,000 for a Sous Chef,
  30,000 and for a Pastry Chef, 30,000. These
  positions require more often than not, a minimum
  of an Associates Degree, experience and
  certification by the American Culinary
  Federation.
• In comparison to the average hourly wage of 7.00
  / hour (Texas Restaurant Association, 2003 Labor
  Statistics) for a line position it is apparent
  that the pursuit of higher education in the
  Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management areas
  are necessary.

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The ACF

• The American Culinary Federation, Inc., a
  professional, not-for-profit organization for
  chefs, was founded in 1929 in New York City by
  three chefs' organizations the Societe Culinaire
  Philanthropique, The Vatel Club and The Chefs
  Association of America. The principal goal of the
  founding chefs remains true to the ACF today - to
  promote a professional image of the American chef
  worldwide through education among culinarians at
  all levels, from apprentices to the most
  accomplished certified master chefs of the
  culinary arts.

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The Certifications

• Certified Master Chef (CMC),
• Certified Master Pastry Chef (CMPC),
• Certified Executive Chef (CEC),
• Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC),
• Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA),
• Certified Culinary Educator (CCE),
• Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC),
• Personal Certified Executive Chef (PCEC),
• Certified Secondary Culinary Educator (CSCE),
• Certified Working Pastry Chef (CWPC),
• Certified Sous Chef (CSC),
• Personal Certified Chef (PCC),
• Certified Culinarian (CC) or Certified Pastry
  Culinarian (CPC)

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Education Occupation Certification

• Former National Certification Chair, Roland
  Henin, CMC, CCE, AAC, once offered some very
  useful advice for getting your ducks in a row for
  certification. Basically, you should obtain a
  large sturdy envelope and mark it
  "Certification." Put your all of your documents
  in this envelope and then store it in a safe dry
  place far away from any foreseeable disaster.
  This is probably the best beginning step in the
  certification process!

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• THE TEST There is a specific test for each level
  of certification. The test is mandatory. Begin to
  study for the test as far in advance as possible.
  To assist you, outlines for each level specific
  test are available from the national office and
  you can also find them on our website at
  www.acfchefs.org. These outlines will give you a
  good idea of what subjects are covered in each
  test, the number of questions and the books from
  which the questions are taken.

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THE MANDATORY COURSES

• Every certification applicant must clearly
  document a minimum of thirty classroom hours (or
  approximately 2 college credits) for Sanitation,
  Nutrition and Supervisory Management. These can
  be taken during an apprenticeship or culinary
  program or separately by attending classes or
  taking correspondence courses. The classes should
  be no older than ten years from the actual date
  they were taken. Once they have gone past that
  time frame, a refresher class, eight hours
  minimum, must be taken. Both the original thirty
  hour class and the refresher must be documented
  with COPIES of letters, certificates or
  transcripts.
• Education points, other than the mandatory
  classes, are basically anything that will assist
  you in your job or enhance your career. The basic
  rule of thumb is every six hours of class time
  equals one education point. Most college credits
  are equal to 15 classroom hours. The simple
  formula for converting college credits to
  education points is number of credits times 15
  divided by six. (e.g 2 credits X 15 hours 30
  contact hours / 6 5 ACF education points).

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WORK EXPERIENCE

• Some hard and fast guidelines
• Every job must be at least one full year in
  length.
• Only one full time job may be used in any one
  time frame.
• All work experience must be clearly documented.
• All statements of work experience must be
  accurate and verifiable.

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Apprenticeship

• If accepted into an apprenticeship program,
  students will be required to
• pay an ACF enrollment fee of 110 which includes
  apprentice identification card, apprenticeship
  pin, Training Log (Cook or Pastry Cook), The Art
  and Science of Culinary Preparation (required
  text) and the Study Guide to The Art and Science
  of Culinary Preparation.
• to join ACF as a Junior Member which includes the
  National Culinary Review (monthly subscription),
  Center of the Plate (national newsletter), and
  Chapter affiliation.
• complete three years of full-time work (6,000
  hours) of on-the-job training in a foodservice
  kitchen under a qualified chef.
• complete a minimum of 192 classroom hours per
  year in addition to their work schedule.
  Technical courses are usually taken at a
  community college working in partnership with the
  Chapter. Tuition fees are established by the
  school.
• What is an internship?

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What will I be?

• Culinarian
• An entry level culinary professional positioned
  of any one station in a foodservice operation,
  responsible to prepare and cook sauces, cold
  foods, fish, soups and stocks, meats, vegetables,
  eggs and other food items. Possesses a basic
  knowledge of food safety and sanitation, culinary
  nutrition and supervisory management.
• Must be a Junior Member of the ACF National
• Basic Culinarian and AAS in Culinary Arts
  fulfills points requirements

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What I learned

• You will never be a Chef? Even Chefs are never
  chefs
• It comes from very deep
• It is very hard, not rocket science, but
  sometimes I wish it was
• You must remember why you got there, how you got
  there, who got you there, and who wants you out
• You are never liked, never loved-the best jump
  from scum to icon
• Even _(!!!! are admired as long as they tell
  the truth
• You have to earn respect. No ONE is beneath you.
  You can be replaced and you will.
• Respect the jacket, title, and art. People died
  to get you here
• If you dont feel pain, you are not doing it right

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