Category: Culinary
There is something relaxing about cooking a favorite meal at home. The delicious aromas while the food is cooking and then there is the final product awaiting your taste buds. Have you ever given any thought to taking your love and passion for food and making it into a career?
Many people are finding rewarding careers in the food industry. Culinary schools are experiencing record enrollment thanks in part to television shows such as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Top Chef’.
Each week participants put their cooking skills to the test and it makes others yearn to be in the kitchen doing the same thing. Even if cooking is not your idea of fun there are other aspects of the food industry that are taught in culinary schools.
You may want to work on the business side. Where ever your passion for food lies, a culinary school can help you find the skills you need. In this article we will cover the basics of culinary schools and what you can expect from this fiery career choice.
What do culinary schools teach?
Culinary schools begin with the basics of the kitchen. One of the first lessons you will learn is about kitchen safety such as handling knives and what to do in an emergency such as a fire. You will learn basic food preparation guidelines such as what temperature is acceptable on meats.
You will learn basic accounting, computer skills, inventory management and even some psychology. Culinary schools want you to have a diverse background because the workplace is so diverse. The most important lesson you learn is how to work together as a team. One person cannot run a restaurant or kitchen alone so teamwork is absolutely essential.
Are culinary schools all about learning how to cook?
You may be surprised to learn that culinary schools do teach more than kitchen skills such as knife handling and how to make a souffle. They also teach students how to deal with the public, how to handle finances and how to manage inventory.
There is also instruction on how to communicate effectively as well as manage employees. Culinary schools want to give you a broad background on the food industry. The more information you have the better prepared you will be when you graduate.
Do certain schools specialize in different areas of the culinary world?
There are schools that do specialize in certain cuisines but you would typically find these specialized schools overseas. The culinary schools in the United States tend to teach a broad spectrum since culinary palates are so diverse here. Should you wish to study French cuisine exclusively it would be best to attend a school in France where you can learn from the masters of the trade.
What are some of the jobs that I can expect to work in after I graduate from a culinary school?
There are a wide variety of jobs that can open up for you once you have graduated from a culinary school. You can be a line chef, an assistant baker, a restaurant manager and even be a pantry cook. Do not expect to get out of school and immediately become a master chef.
It takes years of hard work in order to obtain the level of experience that you need in order to say you are a master chef. You may study for ten years under another chef before you go out on your own. Eventually you will gain the knowledge and skills you need in order to be considered a master chef. The trick is patience and practice.
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Think about the last time you went out to eat. Chances are you opted for something out of the ordinary, something a little more exotic. That’s not surprising considering that many diners are looking for international culinary experiences. Centennial College’s International Culinary Management program option brings a global perspective to traditional culinary management by teaching students culinary techniques, sanitation practices and management strategies.
The offering takes two years to complete and during the time students are in the program, they are based at Progress Campus. This location is home to cutting edge culinary and baking labs, which enhance learning by allowing for hands-on application of theory. Additionally, as students through exposure to the unique relationship between cuisine culture, and religion become comfortable with managing diversity in the workplace, they have the opportunity to complete a field placement.
Here is a closer look at some of the courses that put students on the pathway that allows them to achieve success by addressing the need for cooks and chefs with a diversified portfolio of international cuisines (as identified by Ontario Job Futures).
Cuisine and Culture (Theory): Students learn how food shapes societies and cultural practices by covering the actual preparation, consumption, and food customs from different parts of the world. As a hands-on component, students complete a research project on a specific cuisine and culture.
Principles of Food, Beverage & Labour Cost Controls: The role of the restaurant or food and beverage outlet manager is to manage operations, the expectations of customers and the employees. This course teaches students management practices such as: predetermining food, beverage and labour costs; application of the control process to the primary phases of restaurant operations (purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing and production); and menu analysis and engineering. It also explores the factors affecting labour cost, performance standards, monitoring performance and taking corrective action.
Restaurant Practicum: Kitchen/Dining Room: Students apply skills they have learned in an operating kitchen and restaurant. To ensure they are gaining an all-around experience, students rotate to different sections of the kitchen, which also allows for understanding of the brigade system.
Sustainable Food System Practices: With society increasingly becoming aware of green practices, students learn everything from composting, recycling and energy-conservation programs to sourcing locally grown, organic ingredients.
Cuisines of Europe/Mediterranean and Middle Eastern/South Asia/ the Americas/ South-East Asia: These five courses are offered throughout the program and teach students about the actual preparation, consumption, and customs of food from each area of the world. In a lab setting, they are also introduced to methods of cooking applications, tools, utensils, common ingredients, seasonings, flavour builders and combinations.
After completing each Culinary Management course, students will have developed specialty well suited to the cruise ship industry and the all-inclusive resorts, both of which offer many types of diverse cuisines as part of the dining experience.
We all know that the largest number of vegetarians stay in India. So while we are wondering what kind of food they eat – here are some insights that you would like to know.
Indian vegetarian food is mostly influenced by factors like region, caste, religion, etc. There are many varieties of vegetables and spices that are used to make the Indian cuisine. Those who know Indian culture well would understand how much efforts are put into making the food perfect. After all, everyone loves to have a wholesome meal here.
There are many dishes in the typical Indian vegetarian food. The North has a lot of spicy sabzis that include paneer kadai, paneer makhanwala, dal, yellow dal makhani, chole, rajma etc. This is eaten with Indian bread of naan, roti, chapatti, kulcha etc. The east has a lot of sea food and chaat while the West has a spicy range of food items. The South has a lot of rice varieties and curries that include avial, sambar, rasam, idlis, dosas etc. The list here is very few there are way more items that are included in these region specific cuisines. India has so much of diversity in its platter that one can never taste all the items of the country even in their entire lifetime.
That is exactly where and how thali restaurants come into the picture. Thali is a complete meal right from starters to dessert that is served in one big plate. Indian food is always freshly cooked and people believe in eating food that is served hot. There are different kinds of thalis served in different restaurants. That of course depends upon the audience that they cater to.
Thali restaurants serve delicacies that are native to a particular region. The food items are served in small bowls. The thali usually comprises of chapatis, some starters, sabzis, salad, yogurt, rice, dal and a sweet dish. A beverage called chaas is usually served along with it too. The recipes of these Indian dishes have been passed on from generations. Its rich taste is always something that cna never be replaced by the fast food phenomenon.
Thali restaurants do well because many of them often serve unlimited thalis – which means one can eat till they are completely satisfied. The charge for the thali is same irrespective of the difference in appetites. During the festive season especially they do very well.
Thalis mostly consist of the Indian vegetarian food. They are mostly preferred during lunch or dinner because those are the times when people prefer having heavy meals. This is one reason now there are growing numbers of patrons who are visiting thali restaurants. Because paying a limited amount you get to eat how much ever you want. Though the number of health conscious people has increased, there is a huge chunk of population that still prefers having heavy meals that satisfy one’s stomach. Thali restaurants will surely have a roaring business in future too. Indian vegetarian food is just too vast and tasty to compete with.
Making macarons is not easy – anyone that tells you otherwise has either never trued making them or is lying for some reason. If some of the world’s greatest chefs admit that they often struggle to make perfect macarons, how can any of the rest of us claim otherwise?
However, the good news to come out of all this is that making decent macarons you don’t in fact intend to serve to members of the aristocracy or sell to the public doesn’t have to be an unmitigated nightmare. The basic recipe is pretty simple and so too is the process of putting the ingredients together – tasty and pretty macarons do not demand a degree in the culinary arts.
So, you may ask, why are you coming out with pure garbage pretty much every time you try? Well, the simple answer is that you’re most likely making once of a few extremely common mistakes and not even realizing it. So if you happen to be guilty of any of the following, you probably have your answer as to how and where you’re going wrong:
1 – Fresh, Cold Eggs The most common pitfall of all that’s happening all over the world right now as you’re reading this is the use of fresh eggs straight from the fridge. Any good recipe will tell you that it is preferable to use fresh egg delivery that have been -aged’ for a few days to get the right texture for your batter. It will also tell you that using eggs that aren’t at room temperature is inadvisable. Of course, some see it as easier to ignore the rules than to delay their baking any longer, so they end up with a batch of bothersome biscuits they have no use for. Ignore this tip and you’re wasting your time.
2 – Weak Whisking If you don’t give your egg whites enough time and attention with the whisk, your batter will be a disaster. This is pretty much the be all and end all of your macarons after all, so be prepared to really go for it and not stop until you know you’re on the money – even if you’re getting sore and bored. Just to coin a comparison, you’ll know you’re heading in the right direction if and when the mixture looks similar to shaving foam.
3 – Timing the Sugar Call it dull and boring all you like, but if you don’t time the adding of the sugar exactly, you’re in for a disappointment. You need to add the icing sugar – NOT icing mix – after you’ve been beating the egg whites for about 30 seconds-no more and no less. This timing is essential to ensure the right consistency, so don’t ever overlook its importance.
4 – Oven Issues About half way through the cooking process, you should open the oven door and rotate the baking trays. Why? Two reasons – one being that you need to let the excess moisture escape from the oven and the other being the importance of even cooking across the board. Ignore either and you may end up with half your macarons fit for a king and the other half not fit for the dog.
Many restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina feature Charleston she crab soup on the menu. It is one of Charleston’s signature recipes. Sometimes referring to the types of foods in a particular region, signature foods are those which are typically used to identify the chef who cooks it the best.
The soup is named after the ‘She-Crab’, or female crab, which supplies the flavorful orange roe, or eggs, that consist of a chief ingredient in the soup. A culinary icon of Charleston, South Carolina, the Charleston she crab soup was conventionally a rich combination of cream, crab meat, roe (eggs), and a splash of sherry. The meat from a female crab is supposed to be sweeter, but it was the addition of her red-orange roe that created the dish’s depth of flavor and beautiful pale color and that resulted in the name she crab soup.
Roe is no longer harvested in order to maintain the crab population ecologically. But Charleston she crab soup traditionally has roe in it. Is it still she crab soup without the roe? The core of the recipe remains the same, but purists know that including roe in the basic recipe is the true Southern tradition. When you can, make the soup with roe and enjoy every precious spoonful.
It’s crucial that your crab meat be fresh, and so catching your own is the best way to make this recipe. Have a dozen crabs ready to shell–if you shell the female crab and find clumps of miniature red-orange beads inside, get excited! This is roe and you should be careful with it, removing it delicately and then stirring it into your soup. Crabs with roe on the outside, however, should be put back in the water.
The onions, garlic and celery need to be cooked in a heavy bottom medium sized sauce pain with some olive oil until they are clear. The next step is to deglaze the pan using sherry followed by the crab roe, bay leaf and shellfish stock. When that is done, get it to a slow simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.
After you add the milk, allow the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes. Then, keeping it on simmer, add the rice and cook until the rice softens up. Next, add hot sauce to taste, Worcestershire sauce, and mace. Take out the bay leaf and then use a blender to puree. Once smooth and thick, strain the soup using a fine sieve. Finally, add crab meat and season with salt and pepper.
When making the best she crab soup be sure to use high quality crab meat. Cheap crab meat that you need to take out of the shells is always mushy so don’t waste your time. Crab roe however can be a bit salty, so do use it sparingly. You can freeze crab meat and it will keep well if you use a secured sealed bag.