Jan 29 2009
Is Culinary School Overrated?
This may be a touchy subject for some, but for others, a complete fact. For the amounts of money it requires to obtain a top notch education from some of the finest Culinary Schools in the country is really a joke.
Culinary school never came close to preparing for owning and operating my restaurants. In fact, the only thing I do remember the first 2 weeks was cutting carrots and celery into measured pieces and throwing up the gravlax my instructor made me eat, seeing as how he wanted everyone to “just try it”.
Not all of my experiences were bad. I loved my bakery arts classes, but my pastry class was a complete sham. I remember, when I was required to make a wedding cake for an exam and I used fresh, sugared, real flowers on a 6 tier cake. When I was receiving my review, the instructor made sure to note that ” cakes now a days don’t use fresh flowers”. Are you kidding me? This was in 1998. You’re telling me that chefs never used real flowers in 1998. It was such a revolutionary idea that I was the first one to think of it? How amazing!
Have any other Chef’s out there gone through the same thing I have? I want to know about it!
Funny Fact: The Chef that works in the School Cafeteria at my college that has no idea how to pull the frozen dough out of the walk-in, to make more pizza, he went to Johnson and Whales $$$$.
here’s my vegetarian recipe site, if you like
http://veggiebliss.us
Through my boyfriend (who attended culinary school in Florida, but I can’t remember the name!) and his coworkers, I’ve learned a lot more about the culinary world and find it fascinating.
You’re right that a culinary degree isn’t always necessary–depending on what you want to do and where you want to do it.
My boyfriend works at an American hotel in Germany, so he works with a wide variety of chefs and their experiences, training, and knowledge varies widely. The Italians do things differently than the Americans, who do things differently than the Greeks in the kitchen–and all of them have to listen to the hotel managers who don’t have a culinary background. It’s a great environment, though, for learning…probably better than learning in school!
I just got “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School” by Kathleen Flinn and am looking forward to reading about her experiences!
Hi Jennifer
I agree that learning from your peers in a restaurant setting is so much better than school. Culinary School teaches you the basics, but life teaches you creativity, hard work, and drive.