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I'm looking to go into a career for culinary arts, and have some questions about the field of work.
What are three important things I should know about working in a kitchen?
What are some tools of the trade I should be familiar with?
What steps would you recommend I take to prepare to enter this field?
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Robert’s Answer
1. Invest in knives. Learn how to take care of them and keep them sharp.
2. Be prepared to work your way up. The myth for the average person is that they will be an Executive Chef out of culinary school.
3. Listen, Learn, work under different chefs. The beauty of this industry is you can learn something new from everyone you work with. Perfect your craft.
4. When you climb the ladder do not forget where you came from and what you had to do. Help the new people out.
5. Take care of your dishwashers and stewards, without them the kitchen is nothing. Respect people!!
2. Be prepared to work your way up. The myth for the average person is that they will be an Executive Chef out of culinary school.
3. Listen, Learn, work under different chefs. The beauty of this industry is you can learn something new from everyone you work with. Perfect your craft.
4. When you climb the ladder do not forget where you came from and what you had to do. Help the new people out.
5. Take care of your dishwashers and stewards, without them the kitchen is nothing. Respect people!!
Updated
David’s Answer
Hello Christian, good questions.
Three Things About Working in a Kitchen:
1. The Chef is always right. It may sound a little dictatorish and it can be. You may not like the task that the Chef assigns you, but there is a reason for everything to be done in the kitchen and your Chef is managing an insane timeline under a Herculean amount of stress. This does not mean to suffer physical or mental abuse, bullying, those days are over, take the work and tasks as they come and you will get through it.
2. A kitchen is not a typical job it requires passion, dedication and drive. Be ready to work long, hard hours a 40 hour work week is almost considered part time. You will also be working weekends, holidays, birthdays. You will be called in to work on your days off. It is one of the last jobs that does not require a college degree to rise to the top. You will get out what you put in. This may require sacrifice on your part of time. I used to give up my days off just to learn a new station or culinary technique. Also, come with an open mind and willingness to learn.
3. Take notes, bring a pocket pad and pen. Accidents happen in the kitchen, you are new to the industry and expected to mess up. However, do not make the same mistake twice.
Tools of the Trade:
-A good 8 inch Chef Knife, I use Shun, but there are cheaper ones out there like MAC. Stay away from knives with bolster, they are a beast to sharpen.
-Mise En Place: A Culinary Term and philosophy for everything in its place from the mental to physical. There needs to be a reason why something is on your station the way it. All of the components to one dish are together in one area as to just scattered around haphazardly. This goes for your mental prep as well. Get the items that take the longest to do out of the way or in the oven first. There is no point in cutting the chives if the potatoes aren't cooking yet.
-Knife bag, peeler, steal and spoons
Entering the Field:
-Honestly, just do it. Find a restaurant that you really like, one that is reserved for you on special occasions and apply there. Offer to work as a dishwasher if they don't have a prep position. You can learn a lot from starting off as a dishwasher. From how the Chef runs the kitchen, what the customers are eating, the chemistry of the kitchen crew. And also how to start working on your Mise En Place (MEP).
Read Kitchen Confidential, it's a little dated, but the overall message is the same.
Three Things About Working in a Kitchen:
1. The Chef is always right. It may sound a little dictatorish and it can be. You may not like the task that the Chef assigns you, but there is a reason for everything to be done in the kitchen and your Chef is managing an insane timeline under a Herculean amount of stress. This does not mean to suffer physical or mental abuse, bullying, those days are over, take the work and tasks as they come and you will get through it.
2. A kitchen is not a typical job it requires passion, dedication and drive. Be ready to work long, hard hours a 40 hour work week is almost considered part time. You will also be working weekends, holidays, birthdays. You will be called in to work on your days off. It is one of the last jobs that does not require a college degree to rise to the top. You will get out what you put in. This may require sacrifice on your part of time. I used to give up my days off just to learn a new station or culinary technique. Also, come with an open mind and willingness to learn.
3. Take notes, bring a pocket pad and pen. Accidents happen in the kitchen, you are new to the industry and expected to mess up. However, do not make the same mistake twice.
Tools of the Trade:
-A good 8 inch Chef Knife, I use Shun, but there are cheaper ones out there like MAC. Stay away from knives with bolster, they are a beast to sharpen.
-Mise En Place: A Culinary Term and philosophy for everything in its place from the mental to physical. There needs to be a reason why something is on your station the way it. All of the components to one dish are together in one area as to just scattered around haphazardly. This goes for your mental prep as well. Get the items that take the longest to do out of the way or in the oven first. There is no point in cutting the chives if the potatoes aren't cooking yet.
-Knife bag, peeler, steal and spoons
Entering the Field:
-Honestly, just do it. Find a restaurant that you really like, one that is reserved for you on special occasions and apply there. Offer to work as a dishwasher if they don't have a prep position. You can learn a lot from starting off as a dishwasher. From how the Chef runs the kitchen, what the customers are eating, the chemistry of the kitchen crew. And also how to start working on your Mise En Place (MEP).
David recommends the following next steps: