The Glade 4.0

Giving serious thought to enrolling in culinary school.

I'm not a food prodigy by any means, but I enjoy food, and I like preparing it to eat.

So my question is: would it be a waste of time/money to pursue it without natural talent, or is it a type of school that actually teaches you from scratch how to become a good chef?

Culinary school is a waste of money. Period.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I've had several offline friends over the years go to culinary school with the net total of one of them continuing to work in the food industry afterward. That lasted a few years, a few restaurants, never happy, always moving on. She finally came to the conclusion she was a pretty good accountant, and the pay there was steady and regular and she got to work 'normal' hours.

Another "wonder what ever happened to her" story. She took a job down in Los Angeles seven or eight years ago and I haven't heard from her since.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

If you decide that you absolutely must give cooking for a living a try, save yourself a bunch of money, and make yourself a meager amount of coin instead.

Get a job part time at a major chain restaurant as a prep cook, and learn the pace and routine of the job. Doing this will start you doing something you'll need to do to pursue a culinary career anyway: Getting knife and line experience. In this market no one gets a job without a good amount of either no matter where there culinary degree is from. Truth be told, most culinary graduates I've worked with, for or have employed have been abysmal at their jobs.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

also.. if there are any techniques you want to learn regarding cooking (julienne, etc.) look them up on FoodNetwork.com or see if a local community college has any culinary courses; Hell CSN here in Vegas actually has a better culinary program than the local campus of Le Cordon Bleu.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Between my mother's teachings, the Chinese cooking class I took at West Valley JC, reading cookbooks, and watching cooking shows on TV, the only thing I don't know how to do is bone a chicken (or other fowl)...and I have no desire to learn that technique as of yet!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

For me.. Julienne is the bane of my existence

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

What are you trying to cut? Each subject has it's own technique.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

nothing specific, just the technique itself. You are supposed to be able to get a perfect cut with each piece... I can get the pieces, but they are not all perfect.

It hates me it does... the stupid cutses.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

The perfect cut is a lie. Settle for a range, and then refine your range. Once your range is consistant, perfection becomes an optical illusion.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I have that down, have for years... I have just been looking for that zen like perfect cut. I shall from now on consider it to be in the same ballpark as cake.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Has to be. Nothing given to us in nature or man made is perfect, thus nothing we do with it can be either.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Culinary school is tons of fun. It's like the most expensive summer camp ever. If you can afford it it gives wonderful depth of understanding on why things are done a certain way, which makes it that much more fun to realize that there's a better way. You'll always have people who didn't go telling you it's worthless, and they're right in a lot of ways. It's biggest value isn't in what it teaches you or how it changes your employability, it's in changing your mindset about cooking and food. Is that worth the big bucks? Only you can decide.

I don't know that it changes your mindset, Taam. Nor do I think not attending would preclude you from understanding the "why's of the way's", or finding and understanding better ways. I think most of that comes from passion for food, and a good work ethic; neither of which can be learned in college. For the record, this isn't just the opinion of one man who took an alternative path, this is also the opinion of some of my closest friends who did attend culinary.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I am in total agreement that it's an unnecessary thing. If it's not in you then culinary school won't put it there. If it IS in you, then you don't need culinary school. My point is that culinary school is one way to hone that edge. It's like any other school... you can learn plenty of other ways, but the concentration of experience available as a culinary student can be a fanstastic resource (or a total waste of time and money).

This is especially true if you're interested in pastry, which I didn't mention. Many of the top name chefs didn't attend culinary school, but almost all of the top bakers did (those that didn't served an apprenticeship. Not feasible for most people). Baking is more chemistry than art, and while you can learn chemistry without a teacher, having one makes it go MUCH smoother.


To answer Rodahns specific question:
[quote="Rodahn']So my question is: would it be a waste of time/money to pursue it without natural talent, or is it a type of school that actually teaches you from scratch how to become a good chef?[/quote]
Culinary school isn't like high school drivers ed where they take a kid and teach competent basic skills. It's like stunt-car training. If you don't have basic skills you'll be overwhelmed, and it's not going to teach you anything that's useful in daily life anyway. Also, there are better ways to learn, though few that are as fun. You're looking at about 40k that doesn't raise your earning potential more than about a buck an hour (you'd get a bigger boost taking spanish at a cummunity college).

Stuff I learned in Culinary School (that didn't involve cooking):
History of kitchen brigade
Sociological reasons behind changing taste preferences
Sanitation and health regulation
How to write and file a business plan
Chocolate and sugar sculpture
Fruit and ice carving
Knife skills, practiced until my julienne looks mechanical
Kitchen techniques and methods from around the world
Cost control, how to figure how much a portion costs and how to price it on a menu
Nutrition, how to revise a recipe for special diets
How to sharpen a knife
Plating and presentation
How to pair wines with food
How to iron a shirt and polish shoes
History of the chef uniform
How to clean a deep fryer
Traditional table setting
Cultural issue surrounding food


And the single most important thing I learned in culinary chool (that could be learned elsewhere if you wanted to):
It's a Very Bad Idea to get into an "I'll eat anything you will" contest with a Japanese chef.

You can also try one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Onion-Chopper-Sim ... 73&sr=8-17

I use it for hash browns and other cubed items. You could do julienne with it though.

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Blaspheme.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

It isn't to late for him Master Rynar, the dark side of Food Prep is strong, but with proper training he can be brought back to the light side of Food Prep. Teach him, take him as your Padawan Chef.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Thanks Tamaar for answering the question. I too have considered many times enrolling in a Culinary School (there is a Le Cordon Bleu here in Atlanta), not because I have any desire to work in the food industry, but to learn how to improve my skill in the kitchen. I enjoy cookin and I'm always looking for ways to improve.

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Gorse

If I am going to cheat... I will get a slapchop so I can sing one of these while I use it...

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

No way. Gotta get your hands dirty. It's part of the passion.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I do it manually now; always have.. but if I were going to cheat, I would be singing the slapchop rap the whole time..

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

I hope that guy catches his dick in that thing.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

What about the slap-chop?

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The Dude abides.