I am interesting in becoming a pastry chef. how do i start?
Like working in hotels or country clubs or catering making pastries, wedding cakes, and bakery items and such. how do you get started in that field? are there decent jobs? were are the best places to work? Is it totally dumb? i dont want to end up homeless and unemployed. Do you need college for that and if so like what would you take? are there any pastry chefs out there?
Go out and get a job in a bakery. Any job, any bakery, supermarkets count!. You need to be exposed to the odd hours, extreme heat and overpowering stench to make a truly informed decision.
Food service is a great career if you are well suited to it but akin to the 9 circles of hell if you are not. After you have spent a few years in the industry, then think about school.
If you love it and have inherent talent you may even find your employer will pay for school!
Good Luck!!!!
February 17th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
First of all, you should start doing some baking at home to get used to recipes, ingredients, textures, etc.. Next, contact bakeries in the area to see if they can use assistants. This will provide you with some insight as to the complexity of baked goods produced. Those in the business should be able to help you . I don’t think college is a requisite.
References :
February 17th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
You would go to a restaurant school or culinary academy or cooking school. Community colleges offer cooking programs, but I wouldn’t recommend them. Go to a school that will make you a professional, not a low-level worker.
The College Board website will list schools for you if you click the College Match link, then click Majors, then type "pastry" in the keyword box. Add it, then click See Results. You can narrow your search by selecting some of the other criteria, like location. http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/servlet/advsearchservlet?buttonPressed=viewResults&navigateTo=9&viewpage=2
Here are a few examples of schools so you can see what they’re like. They often offer regular cooking in addition to pastry chef courses.
http://www.therestaurantschool.com/PastryArts.asp
http://www.baychef.com/programs/baking_and_pastry.asp
http://www.chic.edu/academics.asp
References :
February 17th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Go out and get a job in a bakery. Any job, any bakery, supermarkets count!. You need to be exposed to the odd hours, extreme heat and overpowering stench to make a truly informed decision.
Food service is a great career if you are well suited to it but akin to the 9 circles of hell if you are not. After you have spent a few years in the industry, then think about school.
If you love it and have inherent talent you may even find your employer will pay for school!
Good Luck!!!!
References :
Many happy years in the back of the house