Before you apply to culinary school, there are a few things you should keep in mind. If you have a passion for food and cooking, culinary school may be the only option for you. For chefs, there is not much any other career can offer. In the culinary industry, the kitchen will be your domain. However, you want to be sure that you are ready. Simply enlightening yourself with some things to expect will help prepare you. Also, you won’t be so surprised when you get there. In reality, culinary school will be incredibly exciting, but it will move fast and you have to be able to catch up. What they are getting you ready for is the commercial kitchen – you only have so much time before hungry patrons start to angry, so you have to pick up the speed. Here are four things you should know about culinary school.
- It’s Fast Paced
Culinary school has one of the fastest paced learning environments. If you go to Maryville University, or even UC Davis, you won’t have such an intense experience. Not only will you be timed in culinary school, you will also be cooking under the pressure of some pretty intense professors. This will get you ready for the real world – when you are working under head chefs who have a lot of demands. It is important that you don’t get discouraged by this fast paced atmosphere – after a few months, you will get used to it. In a year or two, you will learn to love and thrive on it.
- You Will Learn a Lot
No matter what, though, you will learn a lot in culinary school. Many people try to learn how to cook on their own, but it often ends badly. For instance, most personal kitchens don’t have the right equipment to make restaurant grade food. This is especially the case if you are making something more specialized. In culinary school, you will get to work with large machines, sorters and industrial ovens. Moreover, you will have all the tools of the trade at your fingertips. When you are actually working at a restaurant, you want to be able to know what to do with these tools – if you don’t, you may not get hired and your reputation may be tarnished.
- There Will Be Other Ambitious Chefs
In culinary school – you will be around a lot of likeminded individuals. However, just because someone has the same ambitions, it doesn’t mean that they will be nice to you. Some people in the restaurant industry are very competitive. They see other chefs as a threat to their livelihood. You want to get used to this, or else school may be very uncomfortable.
- Your Teachers Will Push You
On top of everything, you have to get ready for some very intense professors. Of course, many of them will be nice, but they will also encourage you with a lot of pressure for you to outdo yourself. In the end, this is essential if you want to become the best chef.
