Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0d Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 19:04:45 GMT Accept-ranges: bytes Last-modified: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 17:59:20 GMT Content-length: 6503 Content-type: text/html CCA: Teens Prepare For Culinary School
teens prepare for culinary school

Are you a high school student obsessed with going to culinary school? Do you spend hours watching cooking shows, reading food magazines, and trying out recipes in the family kitchen? You're not alone. CCA's Admissions Department hears from many teens asking about culinary school. While the average age of CCA students is 28, recent high school graduates who are mature and self-motivated enter our program and graduate successfully.

If you love cooking and know you want to become a professional chef, here are some tips to help you prepare for culinary school.

The three most important things you can do are: cook, explore and study. Cook at home, in a culinary arts program or in a professional kitchen to gain confidence and skills. Explore the culinary world around you to develop your palate and expand your knowledge. And study hard in school, taking a college preparatory program, to give yourself the academic skills you will need for our demanding curriculum.

Expand your cooking range by cooking meals for family and friends. Throw a party. Offer to make appetizers for a school or community event. Some high schools offer a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) with a foodservice emphasis. You could also take cooking classes geared to your age group at a cooking school. If you are in the San Francisco area, sign up for one of our Teen Professionals programs. For more information click on Stir the Soul Catalog.

Get a part time job in a restaurant. Start with the nicest place in town. Many chefs began their careers as teenagers, bussing tables or peeling potatoes. You may not get to cook at first, but you'll be in the professional kitchen environment. Watch the chefs and cooks and learn as much as you can from their example. Make yourself as helpful as possible - chefs will share more tips with assistants who are hardworking team players.

Find a culinary mentor, an older person with lots of experience in the industry, who can guide and advise you in the culinary arts. Chefs have a long tradition of helping young people break into their profession. Ask for information and advice and develop relationships with trustworthy, successful people in the industry.

Learn as much as you can about different ingredients, cuisines, and techniques. Cookbooks are a goldmine of information, available for free at your library. So are trade magazines such as Bon Appetit, Art Culinaire, Chef, Culinary Review, Food Arts, Food & Wine, Pastry Art and Design, Saveur and Gourmet. Check the food section of your newspaper for unusual recipes and to learn about restaurant openings.

Closer to home, visit farmers markets to find out about fresh produce and meet the growers. Go to ethnic grocery stores in your town and try new spices, condiments, breads and produce. Go to food fairs, gourmet product shows, and country festivals. Visit cookware departments and specialty stores, and investigate cooking equipment.

What part of the country do you live in? Are there any foods special to your area? Some states, like North Carolina, Texas and Kansas, take pride in their local barbecue styles, many cities are known for special dishes, like seafood cioppino in San Francisco, or jambalaya in New Orleans. Every part of the country has a local food specialty, even if it's just a uniquely shaped fried doughnut served at the county fair. What foods are in season in your area right now, and are there special ways of cooking these products? Be a culinary sleuth, and investigate!

Keep a diary of your culinary adventures. Paste recipes into a scrapbook, adding photographs or drawings of special dishes. You could use a three ring binder and slide your recipes into plastic sheet protectors. Or make a journal of your favorite recipes and menus. Make notes about your failures as well as your successes, so you know what NOT to do! You may want to design commemorative menus. Paint them yourself on heavy paper, and decorate with drawings of plants, fruits and vegetables.

Last but not least, to get yourself ready for a successful career at the CCA, study hard in high school. All of your classes will help you succeed at culinary school. Math helps every successful chef make a profit. English class will teach you to research recipes and menus and put your ideas on paper. Foreign languages like French, Spanish and Italian will help you understand words in your favorite international cuisines. History teaches you about the countries your favorite foods come from, and the people who developed those wonderful recipes. Science teaches you the chemistry of cooking. Computers are used more and more in today's restaurants and hotels. Even Physical Education is important - you have to be in good shape to work in a hectic restaurant kitchen. Take your high school studies seriously - they are key to your later success as a chef!

-- By Leila Abu-Saba

TEEN'S READING LIST

  • "Becoming a Chef," Andrew Dornenburg, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1995

  • "Food Work," Barbara Sims-Bell, Advocacy Press, Santa Barbara Ca., 1993

  • "Careers for Gourmets and Others Who Relish Food," Mary Deirdre Donovan, VGM

  • Any book by MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David and Richard Olney


    Quick Questions Admissions Inquiries
    navigation
    educational programs | stock pot | store | cca news | cca development co. | site map | home