When we think about a career in culinary industry our first thought is how to become an award winning executive chef like Gordon Ramsay or Wolfgang Puck . While being a chef is a rewarding career path, it requires so many steps to be achieved.
The number of culinary art students is increasing, many aspiring are exploring different paths from sous-chef, pastry chef to even personal chefs and food bloggers and writers.
students graduate from culinary arts programs in the U.S. every year
What Is culinary arts?
Culinary art is more than cooking, it is like creating something artistic from simple ingredients that can be visually appealing and at the same time delicious and eatable.
Many chefs today consider themselves as artists because they keep innovating and creating something new.
Food is not simply organic fuel to keep body and soul together, it is a perishable art that must be savoured at the peak of perfection.
E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly
To create culinary art does not mean you need to become a chef necessarily. In fact there are several career paths you can take and they are all equally satisfying.
Best Culinary Career Paths in the US
Working in the culinary industry in the US is a dream for many students and spiring cooks and chefs.
Understanding how the kitchen works is essential to becoming a chef. Yet, be cautioned; you may receive ordinary assignments like cleaning dishes and making garbage runs at the start.
Notwithstanding, one needs to be open-minded and patient, as this stage is considered the rite of passage for budding chefs.
Food stylist
As a food stylist, you will be responsible for creating different dishes that will be photographed and used for food blogs, cook books or advertisement.
Caterer
As a caterer, you will be responsible for preparing food for big events. whether it's a wedding or a big ceremony, caterers need to prepare hundreds if not thousands of plates at a fast pace.
Sous-chef
The sous chef is the executive chef’s right hand. The sous chef may be responsible for ordering inventory, training new staff, and managing schedules
Restaurant management professional
Many aspiring chefs dream of opening up their own restaurants. This role requires managerial skills in addition to culinary skills.
Pastry chef
A pastry chef is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods.
They might be employed in large hotels restaurants, bakeries, by caterers, and some cafés but they might also create and sell their products using digital channels such as social media and websites.
Personal chef
A personal chef is a chef who is hired by clients to prepare meals in the client's home kitchen, based on their needs and preferences. Many celebrities and high class people hire personal chefs to cook for them on a daily basis.
Chef
A chef is a professional cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine.
The word "chef" is derived from the term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen.
There are several types of chefs:
- Head chef, who is the specialist and also called chef de cuisine
- Sous chef is the second-in-command and works under the head chef
- Chef de partie oversees a particular area or station of the kitchen
- Commis is the one with the least experience and is a fresh graduate of culinary school, often working under chef de partie
Food writer
Food writers develop recipes and write about the food that they created for magazines, newspapers, websites, and cookbooks.
What culinary career attract you the most:
Which Culinary Career Is Right for You?
Choose a Career That Matches Your Goals:
If you are just discovering your passion and want to try out different careers in food, it might be a good idea to start with some cooking classes to discover what your passion and your goal is before you engage yourself fully to a culinary school.
Superprof offers many cooking classes for beginners, enthusiasts as well as professionals.
Identify Your Strengths in the Kitchen:
It is important to start out with several jobs in the kitchen, you might start with washing the dishes, cutting the vegetables or throwing the trash, but being in a kitchen allow you to observe different people and try out different things which will help you identify your strengths.
Explore the Educational Path You Want to Take:
If you would like to start a career in culinary art, it is advised to get professional training from culinary schools across the US.
Some examples are:
- The Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
- Johnson & Wales University (JWU)
- Institute of Culinary Education (ICE)
- Institute of Culinary Education (ICE)
- Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
- The International Culinary Center (ICC)
How Much Do These Culinary Careers Pay?
The income for a culinary expert or head cook is $53,380 each year or $25.66 per hour, as indicated by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (BLS).
A cook needs appropriate tools and quality products, which can come at a high expense on the off chance that you go the conventional schooling course.
Since they oversee kitchen staff and supervise meals, culinary experts are also called head chefs.
Chief culinary specialists acquire their salaries by routinely working 12-hour a day. In addition, they are responsible for being punctual during the first part of the day to check the delivery of food supplies.
Moreover, they need to stay late to shut the kitchen down and plan for the following day.
Roughly, there are around 134,000 culinary specialists and head chefs in the United States of America. They obtained an average salary of $47,390 annually in 2016, as stated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Leader culinary specialists are the highest experts in the kitchens. They plan menus, recruit and train kitchen staff, and administer the activities of secondary culinary specialists.
Top assistant chefs go about as the second-in-order. Expert chef specialists specialize in food types like baked goods, meat, soups, vegetables, and mixed greens.
The BLS projects occupations for chef specialists and head cooks to develop by 10% from 2016 to 2026, which is somewhat quicker than the 9% development anticipated for managers of food arrangement laborers.
Furthermore, over the 7% expected for all positions in the country.
An increasing population with open cash flow will demand better dishes, which will drive cafés to employ more experienced cooks.
| Job | Earning brackets |
|---|---|
| Sous Chef | $50,000 – $66,900/y |
| Pastry Chef | $61,000 – $79,000/yr |
| Food Writer | around $83,000/yr |
| Chef | $70,000 – $150,000/yr |
| Caterer | $40,700 – $50,600/yr |
If you are passionate about cooking and creating arts from ingredients it is very easy to learn where to learn to cook today. It's also an excellent opportunity for those with prolonged cooking experience and outstanding business instincts.
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
