10.16.07
Starting Advice
Again I have received a question in the comment field of another one of my posts that is just too big for me to reply to in the comment field. Back on my post about how we had a culinary student working in our kitchen, Angelica posed me the following question:
“I have just enrolled in culinary school. Do you have any advice you can give me?”
Well first off let me say that I’m honored Angelica that you’d think that I’d have advice worth listening to on the subject. But seeing as how I’ve been down this road, and to date have had a pretty successful career of it all, maybe I do have a few pointers that can help get you, or any other students starting down this road, on the right path.
 For example: Why is it that every culture from Eastern Europe through Asia has some form of dumpling in their culinary history? |
The first thing I would say, and this is the most important point I feel, is to stay curious about food and cooking. And not just in school, but outside of school, all the time. You have to try new recipes, new techniques, new styles - and not worry about failing as much as worry that you might not be learning while you try them. Your chef instructors will teach you lots, but they can’t teach you everything, so take it upon yourself to learn even more.
That includes the science of cooking, the history of cooking, the cultural aspects of cooking. Take it all in, and never stop. The second you stop being curious about all there is to know about food is the second you’re done in this business. A chef who is not interested in where food came from, and where the culinary world is going ceases to be a chef, and becomes merely a cook.
And it is in that sense of curiosity that I come to the second point. Get into the world of cooking as soon as you can manage. Again, your chef instructors will teach you a lot, but a classroom is nothing compared to the learning experience of a professional kitchen. The fast-paced, injury-laden, ego-busting experience that is working in a professional kitchen can’t possibly be replicated in a classroom - but it’s what we live for and learn from.
This learning comes mainly in the form of developing your own style based on what your chef will teach you. There is more to learn than you can imagine from them, so be open to what they are showing you and take it all in. But someday you will learn all you can from them, and when you realize that time has come, it is time to move on to the next place.
Be careful with this though. It’s easy to think you’ve learned all you can - hell, I moved through three kitchens in my first year - so don’t let your ego cloud your judgment on this one. I still stand by my decisions to move like I did, I really had learned what I could in those specific instances. But I know that where I am now has a lot to show me, and so I’m not planning on moving for some time now. And that’s what you’re looking for ultimately: a place that “fits”. Once you find that fit, stick with it and learn from it - and some day you’ll have learned enough to pass on your knowledge to someone else.
 The circle of life…yadda yadda… |
And that is the last piece of advice I have to give. Share what you learn with others. Be a teacher, a mentor, an advisor to anyone who’s willing to listen. Not to get all “Lion King” on ya, but that’s how the cycle continues. You learn all you can from others, and then pass it on to the next round of people like yourself who want to do the same.
After all that, the only thing I can say is: have fun and enjoy yourself. It’s one hell of a ride. 
Stumble it!
Angelica said,
October 17, 2007 at 11:32 am
Thank you for the advice. I am about to finish my third week of school. I am really excited about next week I finally get to go to the kitchen and use my knives. Hope you do not mind if I pick your brain everyonce in a while. I want to soak up as much information as I can from wherever I can. Thanks again.
Dave said,
October 17, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Another piece of advice, not only related to the kitchen…
…look for bosses who act like mentors and avoid those bosses who won’t teach you anything. I’m sure there are chefs who are so concerned with their own advancement that they will see you more as a threat than as an apprentice. Run screaming from those chefs and seek out the good ones, who realize that the more you know the better the kitchen runs.
Ruthie said,
November 18, 2007 at 3:39 pm
That’s all such great advice — I wish someone had told me all of that when I started out. I would also say to pay close attention to the overall atmosphere in a kitchen before you take a job there — are people yelling, stressed, burned out, aggressive? All of that badness comes from the chef, who sets the tone for the entire place. I once worked in a restaurant where the bakers came in at 5am to start working, and when I’d walk in at 7am, they were SINGING as they worked. That’s how cool and supportive the chef was. The image of chefs as maniacs is so prevalent that a lot of people think its the the norm, but in reality there’s nothing normal about it.
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