Chef
Chef is an adapted film directed, written and produced by Jon Favreau in which a restaurant chef loses his job in a popular restaurant and starts a restaurant in Los Angeles. The film also features Robert Downey in its role. In his first film, Favreau wanted the film to take us back to basics and primarily cook the dishes. 3 Food truck owner Roy Choi is the co-producer who oversaw the menu of the film.
Table of Contents
Contents
- Do you have it?
- Commitment as a Student & Job Commitment
- Basic Qualification
- Attitude Aptitude & Skills
- Future Prospects
- Area of Specializations
- Other Professions
Do you have in you?
The aroma of the food on your plate sends waves of sensation and you immediately know what are the ingredients and spices in the dish. Do not worry! Being a Chef is not this difficult. But you have to essentially be a passionate foodie. The way into one’s soul is through the stomach, and Chefs live by this rule. If you have a taste for good food, love testing and innovating, and desire to please people, as your mothers and grandmothers did with their culinary skills, then Chef is the profession for you. An eminent Experimentalist Chef advises, “Just barge into the kitchen and experiment. The kitchen can be at your home or in a five-star hotel. That will make you a true chef.”
Commitment as a Student & Job Commitment
Commitment is key to this profession. You have to be ever ready to read and research, increase your knowledge base and be willing to learn even as the Chief Chef. You require constant practice to master any recipe. You have to work towards improving your ability to handle stress and work under pressure. Being punctual and organized is essential.
Basic Qualification
There are many institutes that offer a course in cooking. A plus two is necessary to get into a good Hotel Management Institute. The National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology offers a degree to prospective chefs. It is useful passing this test. You should try getting into a good college to ensure a good job at the end of the course. You can apply to the Culinary Academy of India in Hyderabad; the Presidency College of Hotel Management in Bangalore, Ahmadabad, and Goa; The Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, and The Oberoi Center of Learning and Development in New Delhi. Other institutes of repute are the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad; The Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal; Delhi Institute Of Hotel Management, New Delhi; The Oriental School of Hotel Management, Mumbai, Delhi, and Vadodara; and National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, New Delhi. Short-term courses in Cookery are also available. Specialization in any of the segments (hot kitchen, cold kitchen, or confectionery) or cuisine (Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, etc.) is better than being jack of all.
Attitude Aptitude & Skills
You have to be in love with the kitchen to be a successful chef. Cooking is not a job, it is an art that earns you not only big bucks but the respect and love of your loyalists. There are many food outlets that are visited not for the place but for the crafty food prepared by the chef there. You have to be curious and have an urge to gain more and more knowledge about food all over the world and learn new recipes. You should be willing to learn various cuisines, though being a specialist in one. Be experimental and innovative. That may gift you a unique recipe that people will crave and make you famous. You have to be dedicated and be tenacious to bear the stress of the job. Take initiative to rise to the top. Concentration is a must. You have to be flexible and want to try different things. Equally important is being punctual. You have to learn the skill of planning, deciding, and organizing if you want to lead a team of cooks at your behest. If you want to be the Head Chef in record time or have a restaurant chain commanded by you, leadership skill is a necessity. Complacency leads to a fall in this profession.
Future Prospects
Chefs find jobs in a variety of industries. There is a great demand for good chefs in the market. Opportunities abound. You can get employed by Restaurants, Hotels, Corporates, Cruise Liners, Confectioneries, Railways, and Air Catering. Food Processing Companies also employ chefs. You can teach in a hotel management institute as well. Many chefs become culinary writers and researchers, and food experts. A very good example to motivate you is Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
Area of Specializations
Cold Kitchen Expert
Cold Kitchen includes the skill of hand making salads, vegetables, cold meat, butter sculpture, fruit carvings, etc.
Hot Kitchen Expert
Hot Kitchen is the art of preparing gravy dishes, roasting, tandoori dishes, grilling, and making different sauces.
Bakery and Confectionery Expert
All that is baked falls under this category. This includes pastries, cakes, cookies, biscuits, etc. this is in great demand in the market.
