I always wanted to be a chef, i love to cook many different things like macaroni,fish,steak,etc. Although a chef doesn’t necessarily have to follow any set educational track, to compete in the market for the top jobs, chefs should include culinary schooling on their resumes in addition to a varied list of restaurant positions. Most chefs begin their careers in entry-level kitchen jobs as they pursue their education. The skills required are
Knife skills-including knife sharpening.
Keeping kitchen equipment, tools, and practices sanitary.
How to select and procure quality ingredients.
Seasoning. How to use salt and acid (lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) to balance your food
There many different chefs and the salary range is different for each
Pastry Chef
The pastry chef has a degree from a culinary institute and two to four years of experience in the kitchen. The job requires the chef to be creative and skilled in pastries and baked goods. The salary range for a pastry chef starts at $34,000 and goes to a little over $51,000
Assistant Chef
The assistant chef works closely with the head chef when preparing the menu. The assistant must be experienced in the workings of the kitchen and staff members. The assistant chef creates dishes that complement the chef’s entrees. The average salary for an assistant chef is around $35,000 annually.
Sushi Chef
a sushi chef must be trained in the art of Japanese cuisine. There are health issues and certain safe food handling practices that must be strictly
adhered to when creating sushi. The salary for the sushi chef can start at $25,000 for someone with little experience and grow to $70,000 for a sushi chef with years of experience.
How to Become a Pastry Chef
A pastry chef’s job is interesting, challenging, creative and complex. Of course, you create wonderful breads, pastries and desserts. But they must also be beautiful—artistic presentation is more important for desserts than for any other part of the meal—people want something that is a feast for their eyes as well as their palates.
Personal characteristics
Pastry chefs need to be organized and detail-oriented. Making desserts often requires several components that must be assembled individually and then brought together to create the final product. Every ingredient has to be measured precisely and added in the correct way and in the correct order. Pastry chefs are hard working, Baking can start as early as 3 or 4 am. Pastry chefs work long hours and they spend many of those hours on their feet. It takes stamina and strength to do the work of a pastry chef. Creativity is an important quality, more so than for any other type of cooking.
For example, Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier was the White House pastry chef for 25 years, creating all the wonderful and beautiful desserts for every White House gala and state dinner. In all that time, he never served the same dessert twice. Now, that’s creativity. Patience is definitely a virtue for a pastry chef. Desserts can require extensive preparation—and the people who order the desserts can require extra patience, too. It’s also good to have a sense of humor; laughter is a gift that makes patience much easier. Knowledge
To be a good pastry chef, you need an understanding of the scientific principles behind your craft. You’ll be using perishable and fragile foods and will need to understand the biology of food safety. There’s a chemical basis for the way certain foods are combined. You need a good understanding of nutrition and of human physiology. You also need to know the basics of design—how to create visually appealing desserts.
Gordon Ramsay
Famous UK celebrity chef that has several successful restaurants. Ramsay is also well known for presenting TV programs. His competitive cookery show such as the British series Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef, Hotel Hell appeared to be a huge success. It is obviously that Ramsay is not only a fantastic chef but also an equally engaging showman. Famed for his bad temper and swearing, Ramsay had set himself up as a real figure in food television world. You either love him or you hate him. He built up his reputation by his goal of culinary perfection. He once was named as the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry. Gordon going back to college, not for the culinary arts but for hotel management. It was only after he completed his studies that he decided to place himself under some of Europe’s top chefs.
Ramsay then apprenticed with Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s in London, worked for Albert Roux at Le Gavroche, and then he worked under master chefs Jol Robuchon and Guy Savoy in France. It was until 1993 that Ramsay finally went out on his own as the head chef of the newly opened Aubergine in London. Over the next five years he earned several prestigious awards there including the Newcomer of the Year at the Catey Awards in 1995. For those of you who don’t know what the Catey’s are, they are like the Oscars but for restaurant and hotel. 1998 he open his first solo restaurant called “Restaurant Gordon Ramsay” In 2001 it made Gordon Ramsay the first Scottish chef to have won three Michelin stars.
Worked Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_Gordon_Ramsay
http://reluctantgourmet.com/education/culinary-career-path/item/1222-becoming-pastry-chef http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/food/articles/20100126chef-dish-top-five-chef-skills.html?nclick_check=1 http://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/articleid/631/default.aspx
