A cook today is not only a satisfying and interesting profession, but also a creative one. You can just become a cook, a chef, a cook who specializes in a certain cuisine, a food stylist. However, in order to get this profession, you must go through a number of certain stages.

How to become a chef - step by step

The basis is self-education

If the culinary specialist of you is unsightly, and the desire to cook deliciously haunts, start learning and hone your cooking skills. To do this, learn how to use kitchen appliances and utensils (stove, oven, blender, etc.). All this you must master. Also cook at home as often as possible, as much as possible and as varied as possible. Cooking TV shows, special newspapers, magazines, recipes from the Internet to help you. Start with easy recipes and gradually move on to difficult ones. Do not despair if the first pancake is lumpy. Only those who do not follow their goal firmly enough give up easily. And you're not like that, are you?

Education in a special institution

If you manage to get a cook's crust at an educational institution, your chances of getting a good job increase significantly. You can enroll in a culinary college in your city. After grade 9, training is conducted for 3 years, after grade 11 - only one. If you have no time or do not want to study for so long, take short-term paid courses in cooking. There you will be explained in what proportion you need to take products for a particular dish, how to perform their primary processing, how to choose the right products, etc. Such courses last 2-3 weeks, and can cost up to 16-20 thousand rubles.

You can hire an individual teacher - tutor. Just to make sure it's not in vain, choose your tutor carefully. Let him have a cook's crust and experience in a good restaurant.

If you want to get a high salary, in addition to special education, study abroad with eminent masters. Expensive, of course, and not everyone can afford it, but you will have the right to demand a premium for prestige when applying for a job.

How to start a career

You can start a career as a chef even as a waiter. After working as a waiter for several months, you will understand and feel all the subtleties of the chef's work, learn a lot of new things. You can get a job as a cook in some cafe or restaurant, usually there are always such vacancies. There you will get invaluable experience and a lot of knowledge about the art of cooking.

Desired Target - Chef

How to become a chef? Becoming a chef is not easy. Experience in cooking is a must, and the more it is, the better. First you work as a cook, earning a reputation for yourself. Then you can become a sous chef, that is, an assistant chef. Well, if everything goes well, then the place of the chef in the future is just around the corner. You can become a chef in Russia after three years of active cooking practice.

But don't be fooled. Being a chef is a very hard and responsible job. He is responsible not only for the quality of all products and dishes in the kitchen, but also for the work of his assistants. Often the chef has only one day off per week, which, moreover, can be floating. The work schedule itself can be very busy - shifts sometimes reach up to 12 hours a day and more. In addition, the chef must have a stock of original recipes.

The salary of a cook depends on the institution in which he works, the presence or absence of education, work experience and position. It is clear that an ordinary cook in a public dining room receives less than the chef of a gourmet restaurant with French cuisine.

That's what it is, the profession of a cook! Despite its simplicity, it can be too tough for many. But if you are sure that being a chef is your calling, go for it! We hope that our tips on how to become a chef will certainly help you.

This book is for those who love to cook, want to dedicate their life to cooking and are going to work as a cook. You probably now have a choice - to go to study at a school, or go straight to college. But I don't recommend either option. For two reasons.

Reason one:

The education system is so outdated that after you graduate from an institute or college and come to work in the kitchen, the first thing you hear is: “Forget everything you were taught there. Forget it. It's completely different here." And in fact, this is what happens.

Reason two:

Most people in the world choose a profession to which they want to devote their lives, study for it for several years, then work for a while and realize that this is absolutely not what they need. But there is no way back. And people have to spend their whole lives doing things they don't like. If you want to avoid this mistake, then follow my advice.

And the advice is this - go right now and get a job as a cook in a restaurant. Or assistant chef. Yes, no work experience, no education. It's real now. I know a lot of chefs who work in the kitchen without education, someone has already become a chef, someone else is a sous chef, these are successful people who got such an opportunity in life. You can get the same.

How to do it? Very simple. You write out a list of the coolest restaurants and cafes in your city where you would be interested to work. Call there, find out if there is a vacancy for a cook or an assistant cook, come and say that you have neither experience nor education, but you really want to, you are ready to go to the kitchen right now and do everything that they tell you there, and you will do it when they will let you in, into the kitchen.

And in ten days, or maybe even earlier, you will definitely understand whether it suits you or not. If it suits you, if you understand that cooking is really what you wanted, you stay there to work, get knowledge, practical and theoretical, on the spot, and at the same time earn money. And then you can get a crust at an institute or a school with the money you earn.

And one moment. If you do as I tell you now, then you will learn how, having taken a job as a chef now with no experience and no education, in six months you can become a sous chef in this restaurant. This is my experience and I will share it with you.

How to become a chef. Right way! Part 2

About how to become a cook, for those who are now planning to enter a school or any other educational institution for this specialty.

I recommend that you do not waste your time and do not go to study in these educational institutions. And go straight to the restaurant, ask for a cook's assistant, a cook's apprentice, a cook. Let the chef and his cooks take you there as apprentices and teach you.

Yes, in the first days, in the first week, while you know nothing and know nothing, in other words, you do not represent a real value for the restaurant, you will not receive money there.

This is training and this is normal for a cook - skill level is "zero". You need to look at this situation from a different angle - after all, when you come to a school and study, you spend money on this education. And in a restaurant they will teach you and not take money from you for this, only your diligence in learning.

I am now answering the question of those people whom I have already recommended to go straight to get a job in a restaurant. These people told me, they say, how is it that I will work there, but they won’t pay me a salary?

When you go to school to study, you pay for the education. You come to a restaurant, people teach you there, and this guarantees you that in 2 weeks, in a maximum of a month, you will be able to earn money on the knowledge that you will receive directly in the restaurant.

No school guarantees you that it will teach you exactly what restaurants need from graduates of these schools now, and that it will help you make money in the future. No school guarantees you a job in a restaurant. And if you get into a cafe or a restaurant right away, and establish yourself as a proactive, interested, motivated and hardworking person who wants to become a chef, grow up to a chef, maybe open your own restaurant in the future, then this practice will immediately guarantee you that if you are such a person, then you can earn on it.

And voila, your dream has come true. Moreover, after 5 days, probably even earlier, during this internship in the kitchen, you will understand that maybe this is not for you at all. Maybe cooking is not what you really wanted.

Because what is taught in schools and what happens in practice are completely different things. Completely two different worlds, absolutely, existing, as if in parallel, without intersecting. They intersect only when a graduate comes with a diploma and says - I am a cook, I want to work as a cook.

As a chef and restaurateur, I'm more interested in a person who just wants to be a chef, ready to learn, develop and grow in his career, than a graduate who can't do anything comes and starts telling me what he learned there, for example: eggs 1 categories weigh 40 grams, and some other nonsense that is economically useless or not applicable in real work.

Most of this theoretical base is not needed. We take an egg, break it, knead it with milk and make an omelet - that's what you need. And we do it right now, we sell it to guests, the guests eat, they like it, then it's cool. All theoretical knowledge can be obtained in parallel with training in the kitchen in an existing restaurant. There are a lot of modern books about cooking, the authors of which reveal the really important basics and subtleties of working with products. I can immediately recommend the books of William Pokhlebkin, they can replace the standard annual course of study at the school.

Therefore, my specific recommendation is to think about what the school will give you, what it guarantees you. At the same time, think about what training will give you directly in the kitchen in a restaurant, and what it will really guarantee you in the future.

How to become a chef. Right way! Part 3

Again for those people who dream of becoming a chef, this will be the 3rd part.

I'm here more, probably, answering questions that I often write to. And they write this:

“How do you know, what if I’ll do everything for free in a restaurant, peel potatoes, wash something, and in a week or two, using my labor, they’ll throw me out, they’ll say you don’t suit us, that’s all, get out of here.

And all the people who are concerned about this issue write what they are told - it all depends on you. So it is, it all depends on you. Show yourself well, you will quickly learn everything and be of value to acting chefs, then you will be accepted into the kitchen and to work in a restaurant. In my kitchen they will also tell you - it all depends on you.

There are two important points that will allow you to answer this question yourself. How to find out whether they will throw you there or not, whether they will use you or not.

First important point.

Let's say you want to become a chef, and you are now not 25, but 17 years old. You go to college or college. Who pays whom? You pay money to an institute or a school, and they train you there for that money. What will happen to you, how you will learn is your responsibility. After you have graduated from this school or institute, look for a job. Somewhere, maybe someone will take you. You are on your own, you have no guarantees for employment, the knowledge that you received at an educational institution is in most cases not applicable in modern restaurants. The most popular faculty is "food technology". For more than 15 years of work in public catering, I have never come across a restaurant in which there is such a position as a technologist. Draw your own conclusions.

Second important point.

When you come to study at a restaurant, you don't pay anyone. Not every restaurant takes students from the street. If in one of 10 restaurants there is an adequate chef who will undertake to train you, then this is good luck. There are a lot of people in catering who do not want to develop and do more than the job description requires of them.

You will agree with the chief, who will tell you - man, will you study? We are ready to teach you. We will spend our time, our nerves, strength, products on you, to train you. You don't have to pay for it. If you study well, we will hire you, we need people who are interested in this. This already guarantees you further employment if you study effectively.

But if you do everything with a kick, do not show interest in working in the kitchen, then you will be kicked out in the coming days. And do not think after that that becoming a chef is unrealistic without education. Over the past year, I had a dozen such people who came and said: “I want to become a cook, the dream of my life.” After three days in the kitchen, everything changes, a person no longer has an interest in cooking. Moreover, it turns out that there is no interest in working in principle.

No interest - go to hell with the kitchen. What are you brains doing to us here? That's why I recommend going to the kitchen in a restaurant before deciding to go to a cooking school. In a couple of days you will understand for yourself whether it is yours or not, and you will not waste time studying.

When you come to a restaurant, you demand a guarantee that you will work as a cook. Moderate your show off. At the same time, you do not give guarantees that the time spent on you will bring results, that you will become a professional in your field, a fighting unit of public catering.

And you have to have too much opinion of yourself, worrying that your work will be used and driven away. No one uses anyone, no one needs left-handed people in the kitchen, because of whom you take risks, waste time, nerves. Nobody needs it in a restaurant. There are chefs in restaurants who want to find people who will work with pleasure and effectively in their teams. And often these are people who have received some kind of education that is not related to catering, under pressure from parents, society, and so on. Who realized that the profession they studied does not bring them joy, and they really want to be cooks. Most people who come from cooking schools, getting into practice, understand that the kitchen is not what they want in life, so I suggest people who have realized their calling as a cook, but who have worked in other areas, go through this.

I had students practice in my restaurant, none of them is going to follow their profession. They would come to a restaurant and do tasks from the chef, they just did it to get credit for the practice. Without showing any interest in the processes taking place in production, as from bell to bell, they worked out and left. And so they spend several years on useless training.

Most of the successful chefs I've trained are people from the street who have studied to be accountants, computer programmers, and so on. They wanted to do cooking, came to the kitchen and learned, now they work in restaurants, have fun and earn money. One of these students is now my business partner. He and I own and operate our cafes and restaurants together.

They will throw you, they will not throw you, they will deceive you, they will not deceive you. Think, on the other hand, who should pay whom for training, and who should produce what results. Any chef who takes you on training will work for the result so that you learn. An extra person in the kitchen is not needed, there are always people who have something to do and who know what to do.

Therefore, do not make brains, as they say. If you really think that the kitchen is yours, go to a restaurant, ask for training, for free, until you learn there. When I moved to live in St. Petersburg with my culinary education, I had experience as a butcher, but I had no experience in restaurants. It turned out to be a discovery for me that no one needs my cooking diploma as a ship's cook-baker. I was looking for a job for a month, I traveled to three restaurants a day and had interviews, I didn’t even have to get a diploma, everyone needed a person with work experience. And in the end I found a place where it didn't matter if I had experience or not. I was taken for training and after two weeks of free internship, I learned to be a cook of a hot shop, I studied the menu in grams, learned how to cook all the dishes, and my career went uphill.

If you feel that the kitchen is yours, then please go ahead to the kitchen of restaurants.

More details about how I was looking for a job in St. Petersburg.

In 2004, I came to St. Petersburg to enter the institute, and I had a diploma from the cooking school. As soon as I entered the institute, I began to look for a living. And because of the stereotypical thinking that I have a professional education, of course, I began to look for work as a cook. Moreover, at that time I had experience as a butcher for about a year. I looked through job ads, called, arranged interviews and went to them, at first with the certainty that my diploma was an entrance ticket. But it turned out that this is not so at all.

I could visit a maximum of three restaurants a day, because I lived in Kronstadt and the road took about two hours one way. The procedure is standard - filling out a questionnaire, sometimes an interview and the usual feedback: "We will call you back." Familiar, because already in the second week I realized that my diploma does not matter for all types of institutions that I encountered: cafes, restaurants, bistros and others.

Everyone needed someone with experience in a restaurant, no one wanted to mess around with an inexperienced cook. My experience in butchering carcasses was inapplicable. By the way, I dismantled the carcass of a small pig in 30 minutes, with pilaf cut into the bargain.

In general, everywhere I was leaked.

And already, when more than a month of unsuccessful searches had passed, and my confidence in the success of this enterprise was coming to an end, I arrived for an interview at one of the restaurants of a large international chain. This is an Italian restaurant called Patio Pizza. I go in, the administrator meets me, seats me at the table and brings the questionnaire!

Here I could not stand it. Another flush survey! I got so angry inside myself, freaked out, I couldn’t see these questionnaires anymore, they pissed me off so much.

I tell her (to the administrator): “If this questionnaire is so important, then of course I will fill it out, but after you let me into the kitchen and I will show that I can be useful in this restaurant, despite the fact that I have no experience in a restaurant. I'm a very fast learner, I need a job and I'm ready to start right now."

My words, the determination with which I said them, played a key role in this interview. I got the answer: "Tomorrow go to the internship." I filled out the questionnaire and agreed to come tomorrow.

The next day I went there for an internship.

After two weeks of training and practice in the kitchen, I was able to cook all the dishes of the hot shop and knew their composition by grams by heart. I was hired and my career took off. I was delighted with this work and this restaurant. It turns out that in this network it has long been practiced to take people without experience, they have their own training program, which suits me perfectly. After three months of working in this restaurant, I received an offer to become a sous chef in it.

By the way, someone may say that I had to go to work as a butcher, but no, I physically could not work in production because of back problems. I blew a draft through my back, even when I worked in a meat shop in the Krasnodar Territory and could not stand for more than two hours butchering carcasses and making semi-finished products.

What conclusions can be drawn from this story?

A diploma doesn't mean anything.

Perseverance is rewarded.

After all, I could have ended up in this restaurant from the first day of searching.

There are several guys who a few months ago came to me with a request to become a cook, trained for a day in my kitchen, and I sent them further to this net. And they are now successfully working there. So, if after this story you don’t understand what to do, you, a person who wants to change his life and become a cook, then the kitchen is not yours, you don’t have to go there.

And for those who have already worked out this technique, left their hated job, which did not bring you satisfaction in life, and now have already embarked on the path of a cook with the goal of becoming a chef or owner of their own restaurant, I wish you guys success. You are handsome.

I want to especially note one young man, his name is George. He came to me as a student, a very good healthy guy. Came from the Krasnodar Territory to St. Petersburg. I spent the day in the kitchen of my cafe, another day I went to an off-site buffet, then I went to a well-known chain that I recommended to him, and now he is successfully working and developing there.

These guys are handsome. That's all respect, success. I wish you good luck, develop, achieve your goal, open your own restaurants.

When you are already a chef. How to deal with constipation! Four principles of success

I will tell you what to do, what principles to follow in order to calmly and easily cope with a large volume of orders.

The first principle is knowing the menu exactly in grams and a complete description of the cooking process. Yes, this is cramming, and without it in any way. Take technical maps, layouts and teach. Some chefs say they don't have time because they are at work all the time. It is impossible to work effectively without accurate knowledge of the ingredients in the dishes, at least economically, and even more so if you are faced with a situation in steaming when you don’t know how many tomatoes go into a salad.

The second principle is that you must know exactly where and what products you have stored. In refrigerators, on shelves, everywhere in the kitchen where they are. To do this, it is enough to come every morning and check the availability and quality, check everything that you have. Or what you don’t have and place an order or blanks after writing a list of necessary products and semi-finished products.

The third principle is that you need to properly organize your workplace. That is, if you have greens for decorations, then it should be as close as possible to the distribution, where you work, so that you do not have to run to another shop for a sprig of parsley to decorate some dish.

And the fourth principle, I think, is very important and one of the most key, but not active, without the rest - this is the principle of efficient logistics.

We must try to do several things at the same time and make the most of every second of your free time in the kitchen. That is, when you give three dishes in one course and you have some fraction of a second between slicing the onion and pouring the pasta through a colander, and use this fraction of a second to chop the garlic, for example. We must learn to make the most of every second.

Or, if you go, for example, to the refrigerator for beef sauce and know that you have more pasta, chicken or salad in your order, and you can still take something with it, then be sure to take it. Let it lie a little on the table, a couple of minutes, it's okay. The main thing is not to waste time and energy on running after one or another ingredient. There is no need to spend a lot of time on empty actions, on walking from one place to another, all these transitions affect the speed of the return of dishes. And by the evening, your legs will fall off and you will be mentally exhausted, because you have done more useless gestures.

Properly organized workplace, the most efficient use of time between cooking processes. For example: pasta is boiled and the pan heats up, at this moment you can chop something else, go somewhere else, take the right ingredient, and help your colleague. Make the most of it. Never go empty-handed. If you went to the refrigerator, took the sauce, then take something else for decoration, if necessary. There will always be something needed.

But in order to know what you need to take somewhere, you need to follow the first two principles. That is, accurate knowledge of the menu, to know exactly where everything is. And in order to have less running and winding kilometers in the kitchen per day, you need to properly organize your workplace, as compactly as possible. Just reach out and grab what you need.

By following these four principles, any zapara will be a game for you, not a torment. You will be able to give away 12 different dishes at the same time, and maybe more.

It seems to many that no special education as a chef is required - it is enough just to be able to cook and love this occupation, like millions of housewives who delight their family with excellent dishes. But this opinion is wrong. Firstly, between cooking dinner for several people, and one that is cooked for several hundred, there is a big one, including technological one. Secondly, the range of dishes that a chef should be able to cook is dozens, if not hundreds of times wider than any home menu. Thirdly, the chef of the highest class practically does not use ready-made recipes and must be able to improvise, but in such a way that the new dishes he creates are tasty. And for this it is necessary to know many secrets of thermal and mechanical processing of products, their compatibility and necessary ratios. And fourthly, most importantly, without which even a person who knows all these nuances can never become a good chef, this is an innate talent for cooking.

Where to get special education

This is available in the lists of specialties that graduates of some universities, schools or colleges receive. You can also earn a Chef Course Diploma in just a few months or even weeks. These educational institutions teach the theory of cooking: the rules for choosing, storing and processing products, the recipes for the most popular dishes, and the principles of cooking. But, unfortunately, graduates of such institutions do not receive full-fledged practical skills in the learning process, they are more suitable for managerial activities.

But, nevertheless, theoretical knowledge will be necessary and in demand if, after graduating from such an educational institution, you yourself take care of the necessary practice. Some cafes and restaurants offer graduates of food institutes and colleges free training in their kitchens, and you can even count on a scholarship. But these restaurants include mainly fast food restaurants and cafes or chains.

You can get to the kitchen of a good or cafe even without special education “crusts”, but in this case, the practice will be more difficult for you, and you will have to start with the dirtiest work - washing dishes and washing vegetables. However, employers are not very willing to recruit people without education. In this case, it is important to get under the guidance of a good professional and get skills lessons from him. And it will always be possible to consolidate the acquired knowledge and skills at paid courses and master classes conducted by well-known, including abroad.

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Probably, almost every person wants to learn how to cook delicious dishes. To understand how to become a professional chef, you should first learn as much as possible about the art of cooking. What does it take to become a chef?

An experienced chef knows how to quickly prepare the most original and rare desserts, salads, soups, main course and appetizers. Of course, the experience and qualified education of the cook plays an important role in this. So let's look at the sequence.

Education

You should not gain experience through television programs or rumors, it is better to get a chef's education in a specialized educational institution. Over time, it is the educational institution that will make your hands more skillful in preparing extravagant and original dishes.

A chef's career can be better developed not only thanks to a good education, but also to such human qualities as:

• punctuality,
• scrupulousness,
• attentiveness,
• accuracy
• perseverance.

Do not give up specialized literature on cooking, it can greatly facilitate the process of preparing some dishes.

Demanded chefs cook with a special twist, have branded recipes and dishes, so understanding the intricacies of cooking, you will need not only to learn how to cook deliciously, but also to contribute to the recipe of the dish.

The art of cooking may take a few years, but the result will be worth it.

In addition, students in specialized educational institutions of a cook have a unique opportunity to practice in the best restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues. After graduation, a young chef immediately receives category 3, thanks to which a successful career as a chef is a matter of time.

Start simple

If you are a beginner cook, then you should not delve into the preparation of complex desserts and cakes, it is better to start with something simple.

After you master dishes such as salads, appetizers, the first, you can start cooking second courses. It is important to pay more attention to design and presentation - this can play an important role in your professionalism in the future.

talent and vocation

There are many cooks, but only the most talented achieve great success. A chef's career should not begin with persuading acquaintances, friends or relatives to become a chef. You must have a great desire to cook for your loved ones. If they tell you that you have a talent and a calling to cook, then you should think about your future career.

Often, talented chefs do not copy other people's dishes, but try to be original.

Talented chefs have a special imagination, which sometimes strikes the limits of the possible.

A sense of taste cannot be copied, so a vocation for any profession is a matter of fate.

Patience

Of course, first of all, you need to be patient, because not everything will turn out the first time, and not even the second and third. Only, as they say, water wears away a stone, and everything comes with time and experience. The result of long work will be rewarded in the form of the sympathy of regular customers, in addition, professionals always receive higher salaries compared to beginners.

Endurance

If you set yourself the goal of becoming a professional, then waiting for manna from heaven is a waste of time.

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As the character of the cartoon "Ratatouille" stated: "Everyone can cook!". And this is not a joke, because if you have a desire to join the high art of cooking, everything is in your hands.

Even if until this moment your signature dish was a sandwich, the road to the world of great cuisine is not yet closed.

What is the chef doing? Responsibilities of cooks at various levels in the kitchen

No one has any doubts when answering the question "What does the cook do?". Of course the chef cooks. But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.

There are three classification systems for cooks in the world: American, European and for the CIS countries. The latter operates in Russia.

Classifications of cooks in Russia:

• Chef- the highest level in the profession. A high rank means great responsibility, so the chef does not only prepare delicious dishes. He manages the kitchen, oversees the work of cooks and waiters. The chef creates technologies for preparing new dishes and refines old recipes. Responsible for the purchase of products for each dish.
• pastry chef. This person specializes exclusively in the preparation of culinary masterpieces, which require taste, imagination and ingenuity.
• Cook technologistcontrols the preparation and quality of the resulting culinary and confectionery masterpieces. Their responsibilities include creating new recipes and specialties, as well as compiling flow charts for different dishes.
• cookengaged directly in the preparation and decoration of dishes.

In Europe, the cook "team" is much larger due to the more detailed division, and includes (for example):

• sushifa or assistant chef, who is his right hand
• sauce or sauté chef who is responsible for the sauces
• fish cook, meat cook, grill cook and vegetable cook
• cold food chef
• baking chef

Ranks of chefs in Russia

In cooking, there are cook categories, from 2nd to 6th, which are kind of levels, steps from beginner to pro.

The ranks are registered in the unified tariff-qualification reference book.

Let's talk in more detail about each category of the cook.

• The highest grade -6th cook category. For the sixth category of a cook, you need to have a higher professional education. Such chefs work in gourmet restaurants and trendy cafes. They know the peculiarities of cuisines of different countries and dietary nutrition.
• Cooks of the 5th category– highly qualified specialists who, in addition to preparing complex dishes, can make a menu.
• Cook of the 4th categoryknows how to cook dishes that require complex processing. From salads, hot dishes and pastries!
• Cook of the 3rd categoryprepares simple dishes: cooks porridge, fries vegetables, pancakes, prepares toppings.
• Cook of the 2nd categoryperforms mainly auxiliary work: cleans vegetables into blanks, washes and sorts vegetables and fruits, prepares ingredients. This is a rookie chef.

Who is suitable for the profession of a cook?

In addition to useful information on how to become a chef, you will also find tips from experts in the article. We interviewed Vladimir Inzhuvatov, the chef of the ShchiBorschi online culinary school, and Pavel Zavarzin, the brand chef of the Distillery restaurant.

Many people think that being a chef is easy: mix the ingredients, put them in the oven, and you're done.

Finding a recipe in our time is easy, there would be a desire. But talent, imagination and a sense of taste, together with professional skills, distinguish a real chef from an amateur.

What qualities should a chef have?

• physical endurance, because you have to work for 10-12 hours in a hot room and on your feet;
• good memory to know by heart recipes for simple and complex dishes;
• attentiveness and a good eye also necessary to determine the right amount of ingredients, evenly chop products, etc .;
• neatness, cleanliness and organization here they will be not only not superfluous, but practically obligatory qualities;
• a good cook must have high sensitivity to tastes and smells;
• have good imagination, aesthetic taste and creative streak so that, looking at the recipe, already imagine the future dish.

Professional skills are laid down during training and are honed to perfection with experience.

In the culinary profession, experience is of the utmost importance, so be prepared to spend a lot of time acquiring it.

Where to get experience as a novice cook?

According to our experts - experience comes only with practice! Therefore, you need to constantly try new unknown techniques and technologies, learn the basic recipes of world cuisine. This can be done even at home. It is not always necessary to even go on an internship or courses.

However, you still need to understand what goals you want to achieve!

You can train either in chain restaurants, where a novice chef will come into contact with routine processes and train his skills to automatism, as well as learn how to work in a team. Or it can be hotels, as they have their own specifics for ordering products, planning preparations. Pavel believes that it is ideal for chefs to explore both directions. For more professionalism.

How to become a chef after school

Many people dream of trying themselves in the culinary profession from an early age. For those who managed to maintain this desire by the end of the school, the opportunity to enter culinary colleges and universities is always open.

Is it possible to become a chef after 9th grade?

Already after the 9th grade, you can try yourself in the art of cooking by entering college. As a result, you will not only receive a diploma earlier than your peers, but you will also be able to earn money by starting a career in cooking.

For admission to the culinary college after the 9th and 11th grade, you will need to pass mathematics and Russian.

In addition to school exams, some colleges may conduct interviews for applicants. The applicant needs to tell as convincingly as possible why he chose this particular profession. At the interview, they can introduce you to the nuances of working in the culinary field. If you already have some knowledge, feel free to show them.

Education in a culinary college after the 9th grade takes 4 years. During this time, you can become a chef with all the basic knowledge. However, they also enter the technical school after the 11th grade, then the training will last less, 3 years.

The reason for faster learning lies in the fact that the program for enrolled on the basis of 9 classes includes general education subjects that are studied in grades 10-11.

What do you get by studying to be a chef in college?

After the technical school, you will receive not only a certificate of general education, but also a diploma of a cook of the 3rd or 4th category. This means that you will already be able to do more than peeling potatoes for harvesting, you will be able to cook full-fledged meals.

Is it possible to become a chef after 11th grade?

You can go to study as a cook even after the 11th grade. In this situation, since you passed the Unified State Examination, not only culinary technical schools, but also universities are available to you!

Unfortunately, in Russia there are no higher educational institutions with a purely culinary focus. Higher culinary education can be obtained at some trade institutes in Russia. To enter a culinary university in Russia, an applicant will need to pass the exam.

At the same time, you need to try to score high scores in mathematics, the Russian language, as well as chemistry and physics, which a particular university may require for enrollment (this should be clarified on the website of the institution you have chosen). On average, the total score for the three exams can range from 150 to 200, depending on the institution.

You can also get a quality education in culinary schools in Europe and the USA. In this case, you will receive an international diploma and broader career prospects.

Note!

Education at a culinary university lasts 4 years and provides more opportunities than a technical school. A specialist with a diploma from a culinary university has specialized knowledge about the organization of the cooking process, can calculate the number of necessary components and the cost of one dish, knows how to create technological maps, knows how to make a menu. Such an employee is highly valued.

What will you get by studying to be a chef at a university?

After graduating from high school, you get a diploma of a specialist chef. In foreign schools, graduates can receive not only a certificate, but even a degree in cooking.

Professional courses and refresher courses for chefs

If you decide to become a chef, you cannot do without professional education. To save time without wasting it in culinary colleges and universities, you can sign up for culinary courses.

AT The option with courses is also suitable for those who have long graduated from school, but do not lose hope of becoming a cook. After graduation, you will be given a diploma with which you can start working in a small institution or in fast food.

If you just love to cook and want to improve your skills, cooking classes are also a great solution.

According to Pavel, it is also important to gain basic knowledge of food processing, preparation of basic dishes, basics (sauces, broths, dough, minced meat, etc.). You also need to pay attention to the availability of modern equipment, whether the chefs and teachers know modern cooking technologies, Pavel believes.

Cooking courses are good, first of all, because in a short time you get not only theoretical, but also practical knowledge. The teachers, of course, are professionals in their field - chefs with extensive experience and a good reputation.

On average, courses last 2-3 months. During this time, you are taught the basics of culinary skills, the primary processing of products, the preparation of ingredients, the preparation and presentation of dishes. Great emphasis is placed on practice: you will have the opportunity to try yourself in a real kitchen!

Upon completion of the courses, you receive a certificate, depending on which course was chosen, you are assigned the rank of a cook. The cost of the course pays off with interest.

The work of a cook is prestigious and in demand in the labor market. If you are determined to embark on this path, do not be afraid of difficulties and strive for excellence. A cook must know and be able to do a lot, but the main thing is to do his job tasty and with soul.