So, You Want To Start A Culinary Arts Career?
If you already know what "culinary arts career" means
, then you probably also already know just what you want to do with the rest of your life. Usually a career in cooking is one that sticks with you since you were small. If you forced your mother to let you cook something when you were six years old, that's a clue. If you watched Ratatouille seven times when you were 9 years old, you might just want to be that rat.
If I say the word 'Coriander' and you can say, "That comes from cilantro," you're well-on-your-way to becoming a chef.
If you ask your parents if you can go to an oriental market so you can buy the big bags of turmeric, then you're definitely hooked. If you have more than ten cookbooks in your house, then you're ready.
And, just as with the Ratatouille movie, you won't be cooking like your mother did. It's a very fast-paced lifestyle. You are always on-the-go. You have to learn how to chop at a billion cuts-per-second. You need to make those foods fly through the air into the pan or you're never going to have enough time. If you like lazing around, then you don't want a culinary arts career.
If, every time you pop popcorn everybody whines, "Can't you just put SALT on it?" then you're one of those who are perfectly suited to becoming a chef. Remember that experimentation is how every good dish has ever been made. You have to make 2000 awful dishes before you invent one good one. However, once you get there, there's no turning back. To know what herbs go with other herbs is the whole secret to cooking. To know just how much thyme you can add to something without destroying the flavor is the secret. It's almost impossible to use too little thyme.
When it comes to culinary arts, tools are the first place you start. You'll need such things as a pastry bag, a good spatula, a good pan, a whisk, etc. Then, you'll need to know how to make such things as sauces. You'll need to know the difference between par-boiling, boiling, braising, broiling and poaching. You'll need to know just the proper amounts of things to add together, and you'll have to know just when you add water to the pan, and not.
A culinary arts career is generally a high-pressure affair. It's one of those places where you'll either run home crying, or you'll stick it out and succeed. In the end, though, you'll be confident and strong. You'll be fast and determined, and that's what you'll need when you're finally chef at your own kitchen. It takes a strong personality to orchestrate a meal so that all parts come out at the same time.
Until you reach that point, cook, cook, cook. Have others eat your food, because only then with proper feedback will you know just how good you are. If you're frightened that someone might cut down your creations, you might not be ready to be a chef. Any art has critics, and unless you can take what the critics say, you really shouldn't enter the field. Just stay as a chef of a small diner, in that case. Everybody isn't suited to work in the top restaurants. Besides, it's very high pressure, so many will fail at the top. Be pleased with whatever level you're at. All levels have their advantages.
by: Susan Bean
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