July 25th is Culinarian’s Day. It is a day set aside to celebrate all of the men and women that work in the wide world of culinary arts. This is a broad field full of nearly endless opportunities. Usually when most people think of someone working in the culinary field, they imagine a chef or a cook working in a restaurant. Today, in celebration of Culinarian’s Day, we are going to dive in and touch on a few areas within the world of culinary arts that might not immediately come to mind.
Culinary Arts Program at Dorsey Schools
The Culinary Arts program at Dorsey Schools aims to prepare students to work in professional food serving facilities. Education takes place in both kitchen and classroom settings to provide students with the opportunity to participate in hands on learning.
The Culinary Arts Program offers instruction in the following areas:
- Fundamental skills such as proper sanitation, knife cuts, “mise en place,” cooking techniques, food preparation, food purchasing/specifications, catering and professionalism
- Various aspects of the culinary industry, including baking, butchering, and healthy cooking and nutrition.
- Menu planning and pricing, kitchen management, and inventory control
- And more
Baking and Pastry
The whimsical world of baking and pastry involves the creation of sweet and savory baked goods. Bakers and Pastry Chefs are in charge of the baking aspect of kitchens and restaurants, preparing cakes, breads, and other treats. Along with baked goods, they also work with frozen desserts, candies, confections, and create art in the form of sugar, Pastry chefs and bakers often work together to prepare, bake and decorate their food, they also create recipes or follow existing ones, using creative flair
Butchering
Butchery involves breaking down and packaging meat for retail sale. Butchers use knives and other carving tools to cut, trim and prepare large pieces of meat into steaks, chops, roasts, sausages and other cuts that people will buy and use for sale to customers. They may work at grocery stores, for large scale butchers, or at smaller specialty shops. While one may not necessarily associate butchery with the culinary arts, depending on job title or place of employment, butchering skills may come in handy in fulfilling a role in a restaurant or other culinary setting as well.
Regional and International Cuisine
The field of regional and international cuisine involves cooking dishes associated with a specific culture or region. Each type of cuisine involves food preparation in a particular style and perhaps method. A cook choosing to specialize in this field may need to be well versed in different preparation and cooking techniques and may have traveling opportunities. They may work in restaurants, casinos, or as private chefs.
Catering
The world of catering involves buying, preparing, moving, cooking and plating food. Caterers are cooks and food prep workers who make large amounts of food for parties and other events. They usually prepare all dishes at once, course by course, so that everyone is served at the same time by banquet servers. Caterers may create menus, work with special requests, and often cook in non-kitchen environments or with mobile food prep stations, depending on where an event is being held.
Kitchen Management
Kitchen management involves running the overall operations for the “back of house” and kitchen area of a restaurant. Kitchen managers hire and train staff, purchase and dispose of food, stock and clean the kitchen, plan and proportion menu items, ensure company standards are upheld, and manage costs to optimize profits.
These are just a few areas found within the wide world of the culinary arts, it is an extremely vast industry filled with numerous opportunities. As a whole, this a field that strongly values experience. Although you may not start in you ideal career, working your way up is a great way to pursue advancement opportunities in the future and chase your culinary dreams.
Did any of those areas of the culinary arts sound appealing to you? If so, the great news is that we cover all of those areas of the culinary field, and more, in our Culinary Arts Program.
The program is offered at the following Dorsey Schools campus locations:
Interested in learning more about Dorsey Schools?
Give us a call at 888-422-1188 or Request Info Online
Culinary Arts Program – Gainful Employment Disclosures
For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who have completed the program, and other important information, please click here.
Sources:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Bakers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/bakers.htm (visited June 13, 2016).
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Butchers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/butchers-and-meat-cutters.htm (visited June 13, 2016).
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Food Service Managers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/food-service-managers.htm (visited June 13, 2016).
