How a Degree in the Culinary Arts can Give You the Edge
Memorable chopping skills
Everyone remembers that scene in the ‘Long Kiss Goodnight’ where Geena Davies goes berserk with a knife in the kitchen. But if you want to learn those kinds of chopping skills for real, it’s easier to try and get a degree in the culinary arts than become a secret assassin. Even then, it’s not easy!
Of course there are plenty of excellent reasons for committing long-term to a gourmet cooking class to get a degree in the culinary arts besides learning to speed chop. First of all, if you have a passion for cooking, a degree will open all kinds of doors for you in the restaurant business. And if that appeals to you, then you will have to commit to a minimum of three years before you have a qualification that will carry enough clout to set you on a lucrative career path in the cooking industry. That’s why you need passion. A 30-second dream can take half a lifetime to realize.
Careers in the culinary arts
The field of culinary arts is a broad one. The first job that occurs to most people is that of a chef. It’s high profile, creative and we see celebrity chefs mixing their magic on our screens almost every day. But there are many other equally satisfying jobs behind the scenes, including:
- restaraunteur
- catering manager
- food and beverage manager
- sales manager for a major food or cookware brand
- government health inspector
- hygiene councillor
Although it’s not a requirement to enter the food industry, a degree in culinary arts will pave the way for the highest paid positions. The courses themselves teach everything from food preparation and nutrition to accounting and law. Many cooking schools put a lot of emphasis on teaching the business aspects of the food industry, so you can expect some in-depth tuition on business management and running IT systems such as CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems. You may even get to play with foodstuffs in a laboratory to better understand the complex chemistry that takes place in the kitchen.
People skills are key
Heating up foodstuffs is not the only chemistry that is crucial to the cooking business. the chemistry between people is just as important. You’ll be taught about client management, which is essentially good business communication and marketing. But you’ll also be taught how to manage the people who will be working with you, either in the kitchen or in business administration. That’s why nearly any degree in culinary arts will include an integrated practical component.
The practical aspects of a bachelor degree course are key to success both during the course, and afterward when you are looking for employment. Great chopping skills won’t be enough to impress your fellow professionals. You’ll need to develop good people skills. You’ll need to be able to manage a kitchen from food purchasing and hygiene, to communicating clearly in the heat of a busy kitchen. you’ll need to be able to plan. But most of all, you’ll need to have a transparent and infectious passion for food if you’re going to make it in the professional kitchen environment.