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Is it best to specialize in one cuisine or multiple cuisines?
I would to know about my career in the future. I want to be an Italian chef, but I’m from India. Will it be okay to be an Italian chef for me
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4 answers
Sean Ryan
Exec Chef
13
Answers
Boston, Massachusetts
Updated
Sean’s Answer
The most important thing to learn at this point are the basics. You can't " specialize.. until you've learned the basics. Knife cuts, cooking temps, how to make a soup!! I've asked young cooks who come into my kitchen looking for a position and I ask them to make me a soup.. any soup. Most can't do it . After 10 or 12 years of hard work and running your own kitchen you can hopefully be in a position to pick a cuisine that you want to emphasize , and then learn as much about that as you can absorb and share with your guests Good luck !!
Gabriel Hennsssey
Financial Aid Administrator
69
Answers
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Gabriel’s Answer
Please take this with a grain of salt. It's not a culinary reference…I say it to almost everyone. I've worked in financial aid for twenty years. But I worked in the service/restaurant industry for years in college and beyond. There aren’t a lot of details you gave to deal with so please forgive me if I state the obvious or irrelevant.
The quick answer is yes. If you can cook well and please others with your cooking that’s all that SHOULD matter. If I am a patron at a restaurant I do not care who the chef is...if they follow the training from their sanitation license and make me feel like I got my money’s worth…brilliant.
Here’s the long answer…
I would ask you to take a step back and think about your long-term goals. (I know I’m not your dad, but humour me.) Do you want to own your own restaurant? Do you want to work along-side a Michelin Star chef? The only reason I ask is that if you want to have your own restaurant you want to make sure you’re familiar with the not-as-glamorous parts…like business, management and accounting. I love to cook but I enjoy the rush as well…so I am a great short-order/diner-level cook. I did better there than anywhere else.
The other big warning I would give you is to be careful if you want to go to culinary school and to please research. It goes back to your endgame. I know many people who work in the culinary industry that never went to culinary school. They did an apprenticeship, or “staged” for a chef. It was an unpaid internship but it gave them real-world experience and saved them a bunch of student debt. And Co-Vid be darned, they are all still employed and love their jobs! A lot of culinary schools also drill French Cuisine into you first-and-foremost. So you will learn basic skills, but likely not hit your goal unless you go to Italy. (Your parents are going to kill me for suggesting that.) The only reason I mention that is because I was fortunate enough to go to Italy decades ago. My first dinner there was lasagna in Venice. While I make lasagna for my family occasionally…after having that food I can never go to an Olive Garden again. (And you have not lived until you’ve had homemade pasta with chicken and a limoncello glaze with herbs and vegetables LITERALLY grown in the garden behind the restaurant.)
The last thing would be to see if you have any connections with a local restaurant – if you have any, even as a customer. If possible, something akin to what you want to do. I have never known anyone in the industry who turned down a request to talk to a potential future chef to share details/advice about how things work – and what did and didn’t work for them.
To the specifics of your initial question…being from India does not preclude you from becoming a great Italian Chef. But try to focus on your current long-term goal. And if that changes…it’s okay! Hopefully you have a strong support system in regards to family. I did not originally…and it made things tough. I am of Irish descent and can make a wicked shepherd’s pie…but I also make a spicy butter chicken that my wife and daughter love. A former co-worker from Eastern-Europe once taught me a phrase - “Food is love.”
You’ve got this!
The quick answer is yes. If you can cook well and please others with your cooking that’s all that SHOULD matter. If I am a patron at a restaurant I do not care who the chef is...if they follow the training from their sanitation license and make me feel like I got my money’s worth…brilliant.
Here’s the long answer…
I would ask you to take a step back and think about your long-term goals. (I know I’m not your dad, but humour me.) Do you want to own your own restaurant? Do you want to work along-side a Michelin Star chef? The only reason I ask is that if you want to have your own restaurant you want to make sure you’re familiar with the not-as-glamorous parts…like business, management and accounting. I love to cook but I enjoy the rush as well…so I am a great short-order/diner-level cook. I did better there than anywhere else.
The other big warning I would give you is to be careful if you want to go to culinary school and to please research. It goes back to your endgame. I know many people who work in the culinary industry that never went to culinary school. They did an apprenticeship, or “staged” for a chef. It was an unpaid internship but it gave them real-world experience and saved them a bunch of student debt. And Co-Vid be darned, they are all still employed and love their jobs! A lot of culinary schools also drill French Cuisine into you first-and-foremost. So you will learn basic skills, but likely not hit your goal unless you go to Italy. (Your parents are going to kill me for suggesting that.) The only reason I mention that is because I was fortunate enough to go to Italy decades ago. My first dinner there was lasagna in Venice. While I make lasagna for my family occasionally…after having that food I can never go to an Olive Garden again. (And you have not lived until you’ve had homemade pasta with chicken and a limoncello glaze with herbs and vegetables LITERALLY grown in the garden behind the restaurant.)
The last thing would be to see if you have any connections with a local restaurant – if you have any, even as a customer. If possible, something akin to what you want to do. I have never known anyone in the industry who turned down a request to talk to a potential future chef to share details/advice about how things work – and what did and didn’t work for them.
To the specifics of your initial question…being from India does not preclude you from becoming a great Italian Chef. But try to focus on your current long-term goal. And if that changes…it’s okay! Hopefully you have a strong support system in regards to family. I did not originally…and it made things tough. I am of Irish descent and can make a wicked shepherd’s pie…but I also make a spicy butter chicken that my wife and daughter love. A former co-worker from Eastern-Europe once taught me a phrase - “Food is love.”
You’ve got this!
Benjamin Fuoco
Executive chef
17
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Benjamin’s Answer
As you progress in the field and have different jobs you will expand your knowledge. If you are dead set on one thing be the best at that one thing. I personally like having a varied experience.
Emily Fiala-Dagnan
Personal Wellness Chef&Holistic Nutritionist
1
Answer
Fort Worth, Texas
Updated
Emily’s Answer
Hi there! I can tell you as a chef, don’t limit yourself! Take your time to find your wheelhouse. Meaning, where you begin your career, may not be where you land. I always dreamt of becoming a pastry chef, my heart and journey took me to a path of wellness. There is nothing wrong with growing up in one culture, but loving the cuisine of another- that’s what makes great chefs!! I do recommend getting culinary training either in school or working on a line. A string basic skill set goes along way. Best of luck in your culinary journey!