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What is a Culinary Chef?
Culinary a Latin word for culin as in kitchen or cookery and Chef is French meaning chief cook. Both words will bring you into the fine art of cooking and preparing a meal; be it breakfast, lunch or dinner your taste buds will thank you a professional chef prepared your meal.
Hard work, long hours and determination are the forefront of becoming a culinary chef in the highly advertised world of food. Not all chefs will attain the status of some of the chefs we watch and idolize on TV, such as Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay or Giada De laurentiis. I would think many chefs would like to achieve what these three well known chefs have accomplished but very few will attain their stature.
Whether you choose and education or hands on training the road to a successful career is a difficult one. A Culinary Chef unlike a Pastry chef will have to work long hours in the evening and most weekends. Where as a pastry chef will work the wee hours in the morning before the sun comes up. Which ever career choice you choose and as rewarding as it is, will take a dedicated indivual who has a strong affinity to food.
This profession is a step up career that with hard work and diligence you can achieve the level of expertise to have a fulfilling life as a culinary chef. Your first step will be to master the drudgery work done in a kitchen everyday. This may mean peeling 500 potatoes or slicing bags of onions cleaning lobsters or chopping green pepper until your hands are green; but once you become proficient and can complete these tasks in and assembly line like manner you will precede to the next level.
Your second step would be probably be as a garde¢ manager, (gahrd mahn-ZHAY), where you will be preparing soups, salads and appetizers. This step all depends on the executive chef in charge as to what would be the responsibilities of the garde¢ manager. Again this is a monotonous job that entails long hours of standing on your feet. But you will have a little more variety compared to the first entry level.
The third step you can achieve would be a line cook. Once you know the workings of a professional kitchen you will most likely be assigned a station to take charge of it could be a certain meat such as steak or fish or the type of cooking being done like sauté¢e or grill. You will be master of this domain with the pressure of preparing the foods to the executive chef’s specifications along within the time restraints. During the busiest times of service such as lunch and dinner you will need to be at your peak performance and are expected to fulfill all the executive chefs’ orders in a tasty and timely manner.
The fourth step and right below the executive chef is the sous chef. They are second in command in the operations of the kitchen. Not only will you be in charge of the line cooks and oversee their production but you will also be responsible for everyone employed in that kitchen. Oh don’t let me discourage you with this position you have added perks and a higher salary. The sous chef like any culinary chef still works long late hours but has the added responsibility of overseeing the whole kitchen.
Finally all culinary chefs want to attain or achieve to be and executive chef or even better to be the executive chef of their own restaurant. With hard work and dedication anyone willing to make the culinary world their life can achieve everything they dream of. This rewarding career choice is full of highs and lows but hard work and dedication can bring you pride from family and friends along with accolades from fellow culinary chefs.
Culinary a Latin word for culin as in kitchen or cookery and Chef is French meaning chief cook. Both words will bring you into the fine art of cooking and preparing a meal; be it breakfast, lunch or dinner your taste buds will thank you a professional chef prepared your meal.
Hard work, long hours and determination are the forefront of becoming a culinary chef in the highly advertised world of food. Not all chefs will attain the status of some of the chefs we watch and idolize on TV, such as Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay or Giada De laurentiis. I would think many chefs would like to achieve what these three well known chefs have accomplished but very few will attain their stature.
Whether you choose and education or hands on training the road to a successful career is a difficult one. A Culinary Chef unlike a Pastry chef will have to work long hours in the evening and most weekends. Where as a pastry chef will work the wee hours in the morning before the sun comes up. Which ever career choice you choose and as rewarding as it is, will take a dedicated indivual who has a strong affinity to food.
This profession is a step up career that with hard work and diligence you can achieve the level of expertise to have a fulfilling life as a culinary chef. Your first step will be to master the drudgery work done in a kitchen everyday. This may mean peeling 500 potatoes or slicing bags of onions cleaning lobsters or chopping green pepper until your hands are green; but once you become proficient and can complete these tasks in and assembly line like manner you will precede to the next level.
Your second step would be probably be as a garde¢ manager, (gahrd mahn-ZHAY), where you will be preparing soups, salads and appetizers. This step all depends on the executive chef in charge as to what would be the responsibilities of the garde¢ manager. Again this is a monotonous job that entails long hours of standing on your feet. But you will have a little more variety compared to the first entry level.
The third step you can achieve would be a line cook. Once you know the workings of a professional kitchen you will most likely be assigned a station to take charge of it could be a certain meat such as steak or fish or the type of cooking being done like sauté¢e or grill. You will be master of this domain with the pressure of preparing the foods to the executive chef’s specifications along within the time restraints. During the busiest times of service such as lunch and dinner you will need to be at your peak performance and are expected to fulfill all the executive chefs’ orders in a tasty and timely manner.
The fourth step and right below the executive chef is the sous chef. They are second in command in the operations of the kitchen. Not only will you be in charge of the line cooks and oversee their production but you will also be responsible for everyone employed in that kitchen. Oh don’t let me discourage you with this position you have added perks and a higher salary. The sous chef like any culinary chef still works long late hours but has the added responsibility of overseeing the whole kitchen.
Finally all culinary chefs want to attain or achieve to be and executive chef or even better to be the executive chef of their own restaurant. With hard work and dedication anyone willing to make the culinary world their life can achieve everything they dream of. This rewarding career choice is full of highs and lows but hard work and dedication can bring you pride from family and friends along with accolades from fellow culinary chefs.
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