Going back to school?

[seaboy4hire]

I've tossing around the idea for a few months of going back to school and the last month have been giving the thought of going to a certified cooking school. So I figured I'd ask here since we are a diverse bunch, has anyone gone to cooking school and what challenges did you come across? I know that some might not want to express in public their professions so feel free to shoot me an email or a private message on here.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[Guest greatness]

well

 

Being a chef is a very hard job. Some people succeed and make money and some people don't. However, if love cooking and devote your life into it then you will be happy no matter what. I didn't know you had a talent for cooking. Good for you.

 

I've tossing around the idea for a few months of going back to school and the last month have been giving the thought of going to a certified cooking school. So I figured I'd ask here since we are a diverse bunch, has anyone gone to cooking school and what challenges did you come across? I know that some might not want to express in public their professions so feel free to shoot me an email or a private message on here.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[seaboy4hire]

Being a chef is a very hard job. Some people succeed and make money and some people don't. However, if love cooking and devote your life into to it then you will be happy no matter what. I didn't know you had a talent for cooking. Good for you.

 

I'm not sure if I have the talent for cooking but I do like to eat and watching the Food Network is really inspiring me and is getting the creative side of me in gear. I do have great pride in the few very extremely simple things I can cook and it's so nice cooking up a meal that is enjoyed. I'm not sure if I'd want to work in a big kitchen. I am more along the lines of yummy simple comfort foods. Bacon pancakes with chocolate anyone?

 

Hugs,

Greg

[josephga]

I was the cook at a training base during my term in the army and really liked it. I never attended any type of special school I started learning on my own around the age of 12. I have decided to change careers from massage too something else. I really like dogs allot so iv decided to train and become a groomer I start in early march.

[+ honcho]

Hijacking the thread ...

 

I'm going back to school, but it isn't cooking school.

 

I've enrolled half time at one of the California state universities as a music performance major. It is interesting being a 57 year old freshman ... most of the time it feels pretty much like the first time around (math and physics major then) with folks passionate about what they are studying.

 

But occasionally the age difference does evidence itself in surprising ways sometimes.

 

After the first orchestra concert a very nice lady walked up and said "I *know* you from somewhere ..." we eventually figured out which community orchestra we had both played in several years ago, and then the co-concertmaster came up and gave her a hug (his mother .........) (I *really* hadn't expected that. She didn't look quite *that* old) ;-)

[Guest greatness]

congrats!

 

That's an exciting thing!

 

I really like dogs allot so iv decided to train and become a groomer I start in early march.

[+ sf westcoaster]

Go for it! Don't be afraid of what might be, be afraid of what might not be!

[jackcali]

What's your goal?

 

Greg, what's your goal in going to culinary school? You say you don't want to work in a large kitchen, but do you want to try to make a career out of cooking or do you just want to be more knowledgeable about cooking so you can cook something for yourself and your friends that's better than Easymac?

 

A couple of stories about cooking school and cooking as a career. Years ago, my best friend went to a well-known culinary school and quickly realized that as much as she loved cooking she didn't want to be a full-time chef. She stuck through school though, and every day from the day she graduated until the day she died, she cooked the most delicious food. She had real talent.

 

But what she liked to do most of all was bake, so she started baking cakes and pies and cookies in her home and selling them out of specialty food stores nearby and later (after Al Gore invented it) on the internet. As her business grew, she converted her garage into a kitchen complying with the local health regulations and baked five days a week. It was quite a good business and she could have expanded it further, but instead she kept it small and did everything herself except when she hired an assistant at the busiest times of year. I think that if you might love cooking that much, culinary school would be a hoot regardless of whether you make it a career and there will be opportunities to you other than working in a large kitchen.

 

But, if you ARE thinking of making it a career, you should know that working in a restaurant kitchen (large or small) is hard work and not especially well-paying. When I was young, I worked for a year in the kitchen of a fairly high-end French restaurant here in New York. I slaved for hours, basically making salads and cleaning fish and trimming cuts of meat for most of my time, and it was quite a while before I was allowed to get near a stove or a grill. There's a real apprenticeship system in the kitchens of good restaurants and, while culinary school probably moves you a couple of rungs up the experience ladder, you're still a newbie and have to learn how to apply your schooling in the real world. I realized I could never make this my career, so I gave it up after a while, but I did learn a lot about cooking, I can still cook some classic French dishes from those days and I have continued to try out different techniques by watching videos and reading Julia Child, James Beard, etc. It's great fun.

 

I guess I tell you these stories (1) because I'm bored at work today (there, zipperzone, that's your cue to say that now I'm boring everyone else on this board too) and (2) to suggest that before you jump in with both feet maybe you should take one course at a culinary school, either a basics course for non-cooks or the first course that new students take. That will help you get a sense of what being in culinary school will be like and may help you figure out what you want to do with that sort of education.

 

Whatever you choose, good luck!!!

[Guest zipperzone]

I guess I tell you these stories (1) because I'm bored at work today (there, zipperzone, that's your cue to say that now I'm boring everyone else on this board too)

 

What ever possessed you to think I would even think that - let alone say it?

You should have more self confidence in your ability to enthrall.

[Racketjock]

Greg,

 

Kudos to you for finding your passion in life and pursuing it. At one time in my life, that passion for me was cooking. I attended and graduated from culinary school some many years ago and worked both privately and professionally for a few years. I love to cook, but did not love it for a profession and consequently went back to school for something else entirely before I grew to hate it. I still consider it a passion, although I have never confessed to being great at it. I am happy to answer any questions for you I can, just send me an email.

 

best,

RJ

[seaboy4hire]

Everyone thanks for the encouragement and some of your knowledge of cooking. Next step is going into the school that I have chosen and talk to a counselor and take my placement test. Placement test just shows the school and myself where I place education wise in English, math and comprehension. I am sure I will still place fairly well in English and comprehension but not sure about math as that has never been my strong subject in any level of schooling I've done. Algebra, geometry and trig? It's like a foreign language to me from another planet. If things go well I am thinking of either baking up yummy sweets or private cooking. Who wouldn't want to have a cute guy in a wife beater and jock cooking up yummy treats to be enjoyed?

 

Hugs,

Greg

[seeker630]

Yummy treats

 

Everyone thanks for the encouragement and some of your knowledge of cooking. Next step is going into the school that I have chosen and talk to a counselor and take my placement test. Placement test just shows the school and myself where I place education wise in English, math and comprehension. I am sure I will still place fairly well in English and comprehension but not sure about math as that has never been my strong subject in any level of schooling I've done. Algebra, geometry and trig? It's like a foreign language to me from another planet. If things go well I am thinking of either baking up yummy sweets or private cooking. Who wouldn't want to have a cute guy in a wife beater and jock cooking up yummy treats to be enjoyed?

 

Hugs,

Greg

 

A cute guy in a wife beater and jock cooking IS a yummy treat!

 

Best of luck, Greg!