Culinary education is growing in popularity. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the tourism and hospitality sector in a big way. However, food deliveries still increased and barring a few months, chefs were in demand. Food is a basic necessity and culinary arts has helped hotels and restaurants innovate and create an amazing culinary experience for customers, foodies, entrepreneurs and more. In this post, we have discussed all about culinary education in a nutshell.
About Culinary Education
There are a lot of courses and specialisations from undergraduate to postgraduate level. Some examples of typical culinary courses include.
- BA Culinary Arts
- PG Culinary Arts
- BHM Catering Technology & Culinary Arts
- Bachelor in Culinary Science
- Bachelors in Culinary Management
- Diploma in Pastry & Bakery
- PG Diploma in Bakery and Confectionary
- Diploma in Food and Beverage Operations
There are many amazing culinary institutes specialising in various cuisines, bakery, pastry and more. Culinary Arts education basically involves cooking, presenting, and designing food. You must have heard about a lot of celebrity chefs. If you want to be one, you need to start by taking up education at one of the culinary institutes.
Some of the Top culinary institutes detailed in this post are:
- Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, USA
- Hattori Nutrition College, Japan
- Institute of Culinary Education, New York, USA
- Le Cordon Bleu, Paris & London
- School of Artisan Food, UK
- The Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, USA
and many more.
Eligibility for culinary courses is similar to the BHM courses. You must have completed higher secondary education and international students must satisfy language criteria. TOEFL and IELTS are key English language tests serving as standard globally.
Culinary education is also offered at most of the top hospitality institutes across the globe. The eligibility and selection criterion along with fees varies from institutes to institute.
Some of the best places to study these courses are in the USA, UK, Switzerland, Australia and Canada. However, a lot of new and existing colleges providing culinary arts are coming up from Asian countries.
Career Progression after a Culinary Course
Chef jobs is one of the highest paid jobs in the hospitality industry. So, the key aim of culinary education for most is to become a chef in a reputed hospitality establishments.
However, there are other career opportunities like nutritionists, Food Quality control and more.
Here are the top career options post a culinary degree or diploma:
- Chef (Starting from Commis- DCDP – CDP or Chef de Partie – Sous Chef – Executive Chef / Speciality Chef)
- Food Entrepreneurs
- Pastry Chefs
- Bakery Chefs
- Butchery Chefs
- Concept Developers
- Menu and Food designers
- Nutritionist / Dietitian (more courses required post culinary diploma)
- Hygiene Manager
And more.
Pros and Cons of Culinary Education
Advantages of studying culinary arts in one of the best culinary institutes mentioned here.
- One of the most creative jobs.
- Hospitality and Tourism industry has always seen a rapid growth. More jobs created every year (barring the dip due to COVID-19 pandemic).
- Chef jobs are one of the best paid in hospitality and across industries.
- Learning and up-skilling is a day to day thing.
- Greater use of technology is making the chef jobs more innovative and exciting.
- You can get an opportunity to showcase your skills by Vlogging and Blogging.
- Opens up opportunities to become Food entrepreneurs
Few of The Disadvantages of studying Gastronomy/ Culinary are:
- It is an extremely competitive field. It is not easy to become a senior ranked chef quickly.
- Working hours can be long and daunting (chefs at times work 18 hours a day during peak holiday season).
- No guaranteed weekends. When the world is relaxing or partying, Chefs are normally working and that too for long hours.
- It’s hot in there. By hot we don’t only mean temperature in the kitchen. At times the busy hours and temperature make the job extremely demanding.
- You are expected to carry out physically demanding work as well. Especially in the early years of you culinary career ladder.
