Free Culinary Education

Economic reports all over the US are enticing culinary experts to come out of their cocoons, and that\'s good news for restaurants, hotels - and eager job seekers, no matter their level of experience.

The restaurant industry is coming back.

Here is some important information for those who are interested in learning culinary arts but are not able to afford huge costs involved.

The Institute:

The San Francisco Hotel Restaurant Labor Management Education Fund - a union-sponsored training program to be a chef is free for aspiring candidates.

About the Institute:

Here you can earn while you learn. The union program is a great place to begin your climb to celebrity chef status. This state-approved program, which began in 1976, is overseen by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local #2 as part of its bargaining agreement with the hotels.

It is a three-year, on-the-job-training apprenticeships with classroom instruction. In fact, this program is the only one, except for the Armed Services, that pays you to learn.

Eligibility Criteria:

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma or GED.

Screening Process:

After the initial application process, candidates are interviewed and ranked by a panel of industry officials.

Job Prospects:

There is a campus interview. The hotels do the hiring. Those accepted into the program begin earning 55 percent of union scale.

Apprentice chefs start in the pantry doing preparation, moving to food sanitation, soups and stocks, pastry and line cooking. It\'s the full work progress of the kitchen.

After Completion of the Course:

Apprentices must become union members and, upon completion of the program, they earn a certificate as a journeyman cook. This training is as important as a good set of carving knives.

The program also provides ongoing training for hotels that want to retrain current employees. This year\'s class has 512 students and the goal is to begin a new class each semester.

Special attention is given to banquets, which are big-ticket items for hotels and for food servers. In addition to their salary, servers can earn $100-plus in tips from a single event.

NOTE: If you are interested in publishing this article in your site please copy paste and publish it in your site AS IT IS. A link to our site is required at the end of the article like this:

Source: http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

About the Author

Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

Career Change Why Culinary

Most culinary colleges and cooking schools nationwide report that an increasing number of students are older adults with prior careers. Whether fulfilling lifelong dreams or trying something different, the old students are attracted to the wide variety of jobs in food service and to the possibility of success in an industry the National Restaurant Association projects will need an additional 1.8 million workers in the next 10 years.

A recent survey concludes that fifteen percent of this year\'s freshman class at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., are career changers or are those who previously studied subjects other than hospitality.

There is a strong response to recruitment efforts with students from other careers. There are many who want admission to improve their skills and increase their likelihood of achieving the goals they set for themselves.

To appeal to older career changers, schools are offering shortened programs, smaller classes, fast-track application processes and internships in restaurant and food operations.

Along with two-year associate\'s and four-year bachelor\'s degrees, the culinary-arts school of the art Institute in Denver offers a one-year cooking program for older students who already have degrees in other disciplines or who want to enter the industry quickly.

Whats most discouraging is that career changers may be naive about what it takes to become a professional chef, and therefore most do not fare well in their courses.

Most people get into culinary because of the glamor. You have to be organized, think on your feet and have a certain temperament for it. There is stress, heat, hot oils, boiling water, sharp knives. You have to be organized and focused and have a real passion for it. Cooking in a restaurant is very different from cooking at home.

About the Author

Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

Improving Culinary Skills

Preface: Its a known fact - culinary skills of Americans is declining. Its time for food manufacturers to bring a \bon appetit\ quality to their prepared foods. Read to know how to improve culinary skills of Americans.

Folding culinary arts into food service - includes related article on trendy food manufacturing.

It is increasingly important for food manufacturers to utilize both culinary professionals and food scientists in their Research and Development efforts, else we are heading towards a society where there wont be any good food to eat.

Food flavors can be either added to foods or developed during cooking processes. However, processes used in the kitchen usually produce different results than those in manufacturing.

Culinary professionals can help scientists envision fine restaurant food presentations, which can then be taken and duplicated on a large scale through flavor and/or process technology.

The Odd Couple?

Although working together can be challenging, food scientists and culinary professionals can benefit from learning each other\'s perspectives on product development. Language/terminology differences can create communication gaps as are often the case when people in different disciplines work together.

Matthew Walter, corporate chef at a flavor and ingredient house, says, \To work with manufactured food, a chef does not need to become a food technologist, but does need to understand the ingredients and the parameters within which they are working. When both the culinary and technical views come together, the highest quality product results.\ Walters also adds that it is definitely possible to have fine restaurant-quality manufactured food. \Anything can be done for a cost, and while cost has traditionally been the biggest inhibitor of high quality, people are willing to pay for good food,\ he adds.

Some feel that a smaller setting can be a friendlier atmosphere for a combination culinary/food science developed product. The larger the company, the more challenging it can be for the two disciplines to work together. Developing a product with fewer people allows everyone to wear more hats and it may be easier for the group to collaborate. People tend to be more specialized in larger companies with each person providing a specific contribution to a product before handing it off to someone else.

Although it is still not extremely common to have personnel from these two differing disciplines working together, the end product is often superior and more quickly developed when scientists and culinary experts put their heads together. This combination of talents creates a synergy that helps the product development team cover all its bases.

Does this mean that a new hybrid type of food expert will soon be in demand in the industrial food world? To a certain extent, this is already true. However, some in the industry are concerned that with a hybrid food background, expertise in each area will become diluted. Evolution is a slow process.

NOTE: If you are interested in publishing this article in your site please copy paste and publish it in your site AS IT IS. A link to our site is required at the end of the article like this:

Source: http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

About the Author

Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

Culinary Traditions Of France

French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home of some of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the world. The French people take excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds to one\'s usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.



Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all its own. French food in general requires the use of lots of different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk and cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food, heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.



On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their culinary creations.



Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive, decorative plate presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon. These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as this.



As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine into nearly every meal, whether it is simply as a refreshment or part of the recipe for the meal itself. Even today, it is a part of traditional French culture to have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Kirsten Hawkins is a food and nutrition expert specializing the Mexican, Chinese, and Italian food. Visit www.food-and-nutrition.com/ for more information on cooking delicious and healthy meals.

Culinary Education

Preface: This article is intended to introduce you to cooking schools and culinary institutes, and to give you a few things to think about as you investigate a culinary education and career.

Do people like your cooking? Do the dinners you serve make guests say \How lovely!\ or \Mean spread, dude!\? Have you worked your way through a recipe book or two? Do people tell you that you ought to be \a chef or something\? Or do you just feel like you could really get into food and hospitality? If the answers to any of these questions are \yes,\ maybe you should look into attending a culinary program such as those offered by a cooking school or culinary institute.

At such a school, you can quickly master culinary techniques that took the chefs of centuries past lifetimes to create and perfect. As at other schools, you can make good friends while studying in a culinary program, but you can also learn the deeper trust and skilled interpersonal organization it takes to function as part of a team in a restaurant or hotel. If you\'re so inclined, you can learn how to manage such a team. You might even learn how to make dozens of new dishes well enough to dazzle your family and friends, and not just your customers.

About the Author

Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

The French Culinary Institute in NYC

The French Culinary Institute was founded in New York City in 1984 by Dorothy Cann Hamilton. It quickly became one of America??s foremost cooking schools, due to its combination of classic French techniques and American inventiveness. Today, it is recognized as one of the world??s most prestigious culinary schools due in part to the distinguished faculty at the school.



Faculty members include culinary luminaries such as master chefs Alain Sailhac, Jacques P??pin, Andr?? Soltner, Jacques Torres, Alice Waters, and master sommelier Andrea Robinson. They also have a series of visiting lecturers to compliment the teachings of their core faculty. The FCI provides students with rigorous, hands-on, training that allows for an easy transition into the workforce.



There are three core programs available at the FCI: The Culinary Arts Program, The Classic Pastry Arts Program, and their Art of International Bread Making Program.



The Culinary Arts Program will teach you much more than French cuisine. This program will provide you with the foundation necessary for all great cuisine. The program is broken into four levels, with each progressively more intense than the last. By the fourth level you will have direct responsibility for the menu at \L??Ecole\, a restaurant highly rated by the Zagat Survey and the Wine Spectator.



The Classic Pastry Arts Program will teach you all there is to know about making the perfect pastries. Under the stewardship of Jaques Torres, one of the youngest recipients of the prestigious \Meilleur Ouvrier de France P??tissier\ Award, you will be on the road to success. The day you graduate, you will be qualified to create pastry art and designs in the finest commercial kitchens in the country.



The Art of International Bread Making Program is a 180 hour intensive immersion in all things bread making. Students will learn to bake artisan breads of France, German and Eastern European breads, and Italian breads in three two-week sessions. Graduates will receive \Le Diplome du Boulanger\ upon successful completion of these courses.



For more information about The French Culinary Institute, feel free to visit their website at www.frenchculinary.com.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Michael Lansing fancies himself a chef in the making, and spends much of his day dabbling in the kitchen. When he is not trying to convince his family to try his latest creation, he writes for www.cookingschools101.com ?? an independent resource for future culinary students, with information about cooking classes, Italian cooking schools, Information about culinary colleges and more.

Culinary Star in the Nations Capital Ceiba

Culinary Star in Nation?s Capital ? Ceiba
Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
For full article with photos visit:
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/food/dc/ceiba/ceiba.html

Washington , D.C. has been harboring a secret for the last decade; a secret that is getting harder and harder to keep from the nation. Alhough D.C. was noted as a magnet for excellent ethnic cuisine in the past, it never savored a reputation for fine dining.

Maybe it was the conservative streak prevalent in the city and surrounding suburbs, or maybe it was a reputation of having loads of lowly paid federal workers lacking sophisticated palates and owning tightly zipped wallets. Whatever the reason, the sidewalks of D.C. basically folded at night. Those were the days when gourmands in search of great food traveled to the likes of Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.

A secret no more! Over the last decade, Washington, D.C. dining has arrived on the culinary scene in a big way, easily competing with culinary greats such as San Francisco and New York. One of the more innovative and latest entries into the world of sophisticated dining is Ceiba ? a Latin-American fusion restaurant with contemporary flair and urban chic. The restaurant?s name is the same as the magnificent umbrella-shaped ceiba tree. Native throughout the American tropics, the ceiba was considered sacred by the ancient Maya, supposedly connecting earth with the celestial heavens. One thing is for certain about Ceiba ? its star is rapidly rising.

Ceiba offers an engaging menu inspired by our neighbors to the South: Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean, El Salvador, and Peru. Specialties also include Mexican fresh flavors and favorites from Veracruz and the Yucatan. What is presented is a wonderful fusion of exotic and festive tastes, capturing the world of sun-drenched lands with a vigor and intensity without equal on today?s dining scene.

Read the full article with photos for free at:
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/food/dc/ceiba/ceiba.html

? By Karin Leperi, Washington D.C. Correspondent. Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com

About the Author

Karin Leperi, Jetsetters Magazine feature writer for Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com

Culinary Arts School

I sometimes wonder why many people have the love for culinary arts. It seems everybody loves food and want to carve a career out of their love. Is it easy? Well, the answer is tough.

A couple of months back I met a friend who is a software developer. He was bored with his job and wanted a career change. When asked he told me he was looking for a good culinary arts school to study culinary arts - he wanted to be a culinary artist. What amazed me was that this friend of mine is over 35 years of age.

For most people a career in culinary is very glamorous, high paying and no work job. Its WRONG!!! These are some of the reasons why many men and women are willing to change their careers even if they are at a middle of one. That farther explains why we see many older people attending classes at culinary arts schools.

Are they right? First there isn\'t any glamour in a chef\'s life. Ask him and he will reply the same. Second they are one of the busiest professionals in the world. However there is one thing to contend with, they are paid well and have quite a good lifestyle.

So if you are food lover, and love to cook - and are ready to work 8-10 hours a day, hospitality keeps you satisfied and ambience of hotels/restaurants is what you want - head for a good culinary arts school - you should consider becoming a chef.

Wait - there is more. Restaurant-industry employment will reach 13.3 million by 2012. At present the restaurant industry is the nation\'s largest employer outside of the government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the restaurant industry\'s growth will be 30 per cent over the next two years.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article can be re-printed and/or published online or offline for free, provided the website,
http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com, is posted along with it. The article must remain intact without any alteration. Please make sure that you have linked the URL properly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author

Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

Culinary Herb Gardening

There is nothing more pleasing than walking right outside your kitchen door and finding all the spices you\'ll need for a tasty and fresh dinner. How about picking a bit of rosemary for those lamp chops, or cutting a bit of that fresh dill for that flounder you\'re baking, or pulling some fresh oregano leaves to add to that spaghetti sauce or snipping some fresh basal for a tomato, mozzarella cheese and basal salad. The availability of fresh herbs can add a real kick to your ordinary dishes and turn them into something special. Fresh herbs are also likely to help you boost your imagination in the kitchen.

One of the best things about an herb garden is that you don\'t need to be a gourmet cook to enjoy it, and it can be grown without a huge amount of space. Some people only grow three or four different types of herbs. If you are an apartment or condo dweller you can plant your herbs in a window box or in strawberry pots. You should know that herbs generally don\'t survive the winter outside left in plastic window boxes and pots. Their roots will freeze. If you have enough light inside you may be able to winter them inside, but they are so inexpensive it\'s easier to start a box again in the spring.

Most herbs are very easy to grow and do well with little care. They also become fuller and produce more the more you use them. Most herbs are perennial plants, meaning that when they are planted in the ground they will come back year after year. As your plants mature and get older you may need to start thinning them out.

Another fun thing to do with your herbs is to dry them to use during the winter. You can carefully cut bunches of herbs, trying not to disturb their leaves, and hang them inside to dry. The herbs are best cut mid day, when it has been very dry outside. Once they are dry they can be stored in zip lock bags in a dry and dark area. You will not want to crumble the leaves until you use them.

When you cook with herbs you will find that if you use fresh herbs you\'ll need to use more than you would of dried herbs. This is because dried herbs tend to have a stronger flavor.
About the Author

This article provided courtesy of http://www.gardening-answers.com

Culinary Traditions Of The Caribbean Islands

Authentic Caribbean cuisine is truly an excellent representation of all the cultural influences the Caribbean Islands have experienced since Christopher Columbus\' landing in the late 1400\'s. With a fine mixture of French Island and African recipes, Caribbean cuisine is widely prepared and enjoyed by people of all nationalities, in many areas of the United States and the world.



Caribbean food and culture was forever changed when the European traders brought African slaves into the region. The slaves ate mostly the scrap leftovers of the slave owners, so not unlike the slaves in the United States they had to make do with what they had. This was the birth of the more contemporary Caribbean Cuisine. The African slaves blended the knowledge of spices and vegetables they had brought from their homeland and incorporated them with the precious fruits and vegetables of the Caribbean Islands, as well as other staples to be found in the area. This created many one-of-a-kind dishes, because many of the produce on the islands at the time was too fragile to make it through the exportation process. Fruits most often found in Caribbean cuisine include yams, yucca, mangos and papaya fruits. Among the produce that is too fragile to be exported is the tamarind fruit and plantains (a fruit grown on a tree that is similar to the banana).



Caribbean food, while spicy, is one of the healthier options among culinary traditions from different regions. As discussed, the lush Caribbean islands are chock full of vegetables and fruits for healthy living. In addition to that, America introduced beans, corn, chile peppers, potatoes and tomatoes to the islands, broadening their palate.



When slavery was abolished on the islands, slave owners had to look else where for help. Bringing in labor from India and China, different types of dishes using rice or curry were introduced and blended into mainstream Caribbean cuisine. This is how the Caribbean favorite curry goat was born.



The Caribbean islands are in a prime location for one of their specialties--seafood. Salted codfish is a specialty on the Caribbean islands. It is usually served in a salad or stew, or at breakfast in scrambled eggs. Lobster, sea turtle, shrimp, crab, and sea urchins are also specialties on the islands. They are used to make such exotic, spicy Caribbean dishes as Antillean crab pilaf and curried coconut shrimp.



Desserts are an integral part of the Caribbean culinary experience. Sugar cane is one of the area\'s chief products, so there are always an abundance of cakes, pies, and dumplings. Caribbean natives incorporate dessert into almost every meal. At Caribbean restaurants you may notice the emphasis they put on their desserts; in their culture, dessert is just as important as the main course.



Caribbean cuisine incorporates flavors from all of the different cultures that have ever graced the shores of the islands, from Africa to China to India. The flavoring in Caribbean cuisine is intense and rich, strikingly similar African and Creole food.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Kirsten Hawkins is a food and nutrition expert specializing the Mexican, Chinese, and Italian food. Visit www.food-and-nutrition.com/ for more information on cooking delicious and healthy meals.

Culinary Traditions Of South America Argentina

Argentina is South America\'s second largest country, snugly situated between the Andes mountain range, the Pacific Ocean, and the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile. Being situated in such a manner, Argentina is exposed to many different cultural influences from all directions, including countries all the way across the Pacific. Spain took it upon themselves to permanently settle in the country in the late 1500s, and remained there until Buenos Aires formally emancipated themselves in 1853. One of the most remarkable differences between Argentine Cuisine and exotic cuisines from around the world is the heavy influence that the cuisine of the Italian and Spanish cultures had on it.



Startlingly enough, due to the influence of the Italian culture on the country of Argentina, Italian food staples such as lasagna, pizza, pasta, and ravioli are commonly seen on the Argentine table, at least in the country\'s major cities. Unusually enough (when it comes to Italian food), white bread is also common, as are side dishes made of vegetables native to Argentina, such as potatoes, egglpants, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini.



Argentina is also one of the world\'s leading producers of milk, wheat, corn, and meat (including, but not limited to beef, goat meat, pork, and lamb) so naturally, these things are very common in the Argentine dish.Argentine dishes are normally very high in protein, so grilled meats are commonly seen on a plate of Argentine food.



Empanadas, pastries stuffed with meat or cheese, are also an Argentine favorite. They are commonly served in Argentine restaurants, and are national favorites.Empanadas are normally eaten baked or fried, and are often served at parties or festivals as appetizers. The dessert version of an empanada usually consists of brown sugar or fruit such as apples or oranges.



In smaller cities, the foreign influences of Spain and Italy are less apparent. Milanesas, thin slivers of meat dipped in eggs, bread crumbs, and then fried in oil, are common fare in the rural areas of Argentina. Their simplicity makes them great snacks, but they can also be served as part of a meal piping hot served with mashed potatoes, or between two slices of bread as a sandwich.



The master chefs are more apt to return to the more classic, provincial style of preparing and cooking food, which bears more of a resemblance to Mexican cuisine than that of Italy. Bolder, more intense spices are used. Calling forth once more the Spanish influences in Argentina, Argentine cooks are famous for their tortillas; unlike the Mexican version of the tortilla the Argentines use potato dough, in contrast to the traditional Mexican corn or flour tortilla.



Desserts are more popular in these areas, as well. Dulce de leche (which roughly translates into \Milk Jam\), a sweet pudding of sugar and milk, is a popular dessert in Argentina. This lightly brown-colored pudding is eaten alone, or stuffed in cakes or pies. Sometimes the treat is also crystallized into a solid wafer-like candy substance.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Kirsten Hawkins is a food and nutrition expert specializing the Mexican, Chinese, and Italian food. Visit www.food-and-nutrition.com/ for more information on cooking delicious and healthy meals.