Choosing a Route
To Becoming a Chef
by Isaac Frierichs

Brandy asked the web chefs,

I am looking to become a chef. Which route is
better to go. An apprenticeship with education
or without?

Dear Brandy,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Isaac Frierichs and I am currently going to The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. I love it!!!

You have a very interesting question. I hope these answers will help.

Thre are four types of education. The first being an apprenticeship, then a certificate, then a diploma (or othrer wise knows as a AOS degree) and the last, a bachelor's (BPS). lets talk about them:

Apprenticeship:

This used to be the old way of getting a good education. Traditionally, it started in France and one would work at a restaurant for many many many years learning. This is a good way to learn. You learn the basics and also learn a good sense of urgency and timing. However, it lacks fundamentals that a formal education can and will teach you. For example, they will not, more then likely, teach you how to write menus, pair wines, learn restaurant law, ect.

Certificate program:

This is a program which you can recieve a certificate. Normally it can be achieved it in about 6 months to a year. They cost less money also, which is nice. You learn the v foundations of cooking with a lot of hands on experience. However, since the courses are all scrunched together, learning might be tough and they skip over a lot of important information that one would learn if they took the full courses.I have found that people coming out of certicate schools know how to cook but dont know the ":whys" of cooking, which is important.

AOS (associates)

This is, by far, to my knowledge the best education one can get. Normally, it can be reached in two years. not only do you have sit down classes with lecture but also good hands on experiance. they go into depth , teaching you the hows and whys of things. They teach you important things like cost control, menus, restaurant law, ect. All these things are very important. the AOS takes longer vs. the certifacate program and costs more but is the best way to go in my opinion.

BPS (bachelor's)

This is a great way of education, normally, it can be reached in 4 years. The first two years are normally all cooking classes and the last two years are buinsess managment.

How do you know what to pick?

There are three ways that I recommend looking at the choices, of what kind of education you need.

1) Your age, and desire to get out and work

This matters in a number of ways. If you are 40 years old, I suggest that a certicate program be the best. why? becaswue it usually takes only 6 months, letting you enter into the a lot faster. If yo are younger, I suggest a long education. It all depends on how you feel
also, if yo want to get out and work ASAP, then a shorter program might make since.

2- looking at the whole picture:

it is important view the business as a whole. Along time ago, an apprenticeship was expectable. But now, as times are changing and the meaning of chef hood is changing, more and more places are wanting certificate or even diplomas. Some places are wanting bachelors degrees too!! I tend to look into the future and try to see what will be asked for when I get out there in the real world.

3- Competition

Some people want to be more competitive in the industry. That's another point to look at

4- money:

when I say money, I mean do you have money to pay for an education. They are expensive but well worth it. If you come out with a BPS degree, you will be more marketable and make more money than someone coming out with a certificate program.

I am in the BPS program at the CIA. I picked the BPS because I know when I am 40-50 years old, I wont want to be working on the line. I might want to teach or go into management.

Oh, another benefits of doing AOS or BPS Vs. certificate program or apprenticeship program is that it will not give you a rounded education as the AOS or BPS.

I do wish you good luck. If u have any more questions feel free to email me and if you ened help picking schools, i have a whole book on them that might be of help.

good luck,

Isaac Freirichs

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Some good books for Chefs in Training

The Professional Chef

The Professional Pastry Chef

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Last updated Feb5, 2002