Culinary Arts Schools & Career Changing

Here is the 3rd and last installment of the series of posts about cooking school in Paris and the culinary arts. See post #1 for a description of the full time programs I attended. See post # 2 for a review of Ferrandi & how I chose to go there.

Q: I'm considering making a career change also....how's it going for you? Are you glad you did it?

A: I feel very fortunate to have the ability to follow my dream. I'm still extremely glad I did it, 3 years into it. However, it is really hard work!!! This is a profession where you are on your feet all day, there's lots of heat at the stove, lots of pots & pans clanging away in the kitchen, and lots of cleaning up. So, forget the glamorous image that celebrity chefs can give...in reality, you're gonna sweat & run around a lot!

Another factor to consider is age. It's recognized that this is a "young persons profession"....it's very true. The average age of the people preparing food in fine restaurants is probably around 25 (and generally under 30), if I took a guess. So, have I experienced any age discrimination? Well, maybe. It's hard to say. A lot of people find it curious that I wanted to start this in my 40s, and they think that maybe I won't have the stamina for it (but they don't know the genes I inherited from the Rabideau-Manderfield clan where working like a dog is considered normal!)... I know that others seem to think it's almost courageous (their words, not mine) to do this at my age. My point is this: age is a factor in this game....just like Lance Armstrong is considered ancient for Le Tour de France at the age of, OMG, 37! Just like Nadia Comminich was done with her gymnastics career at something like 30! (Anyone remember Nadia?) Obviously, there are exceptions and some "old" people do just fine, and maybe even great. I'm just saying that don't have rose-colored glasses on if you're considering making a career change at the age of 40, 45, or 50....Make sure you're fit, it helps if you're athletic & coordinated (yes hand-eye coordination is important here as well), and don't even consider it if you have joint pains already!

Here's something else to consider: working in a restaurant kitchen is still a male-dominated profession. (Here in France, that is...I have no idea what it's like in the U.S. since I never worked there in this profession!). The number of male chefs far outweighs the number of female chefs...which means you can run into lots of testosterone, ego...and such. So be ready for some hot tempers. I was told once by someone I was trying to get hired by, 'women cooks are just plain calmer'. I think this loosely sums up what I'm trying to say about a kitchen full of guys.... Please understand that this is a general point that I'm trying to make. I did have one male chef welcome the idea of having a female enter the kitchen as he thought it'd change the dynamics nicely...which I suppose also supports the general point I am trying to make here!

Another point of consideration: I would add that it's not an easy profession to learn because the training format is very much in the style of military training. It's hierarchical, male-based (still), and there's little room for opinion when you are a student. That's OK if you understand that this is only a temporary stage....of learning. While working in a restaurant as an intern, I had a sous-chef (2nd in command) explain to me, "I must be critical of everything because this is the only way people improve". (OK, but did he also need to display signs of a stark, raving-mad lunatic, at times??!!) Yes, working in a kitchen can feel like a "negative reinforcement" environment instead of "postive reinforcement" one. If you're not used to that, it will crack you in a second. Having thick skin will carry you far! Or you must quickly learn to get thick skin to stay sane! I guess there are enough reality cooking shows on tv now to give you an idea of the stress that can exist in the kitchen...

Final point to consider: the starting pay is virtually minimum wage. The working hours in a restaurant are very long (typically double shift services from 8ish in the morning until midnight or beyond, with a short 1.5-2 hour break before dinner, multiple days in a row). It's a lot of work, for little financial reward (initially anyway....I guess there's always hope to become the next Charlie Trotter...).

Wow, there are a lot of not so nice things here. Well, trust me, there are also some really great things...otherwise I would've gone back to the office by now. I simply wanted to share with you a slice of reality that I didn't have available to me at the time I was considering a career change. Sure, I did my research, but I didn't really understand what I was getting into until I got there & experienced it first-hand. Therefore, I thought I'd write about it with the hopes that it helps someone else better understand the game. And therefore, play the game better.

Before

After - Pommes Anna

Let me finish the question with the things I love about this profession....I love learning how to handle "raw materials", be it celeriac, a whole fish, artichokes, a rack of lamb....etc, etc. I love learning which cooking technique is best for which cuts of meats or ingredients. I love demystifying french cuisine, which appears at first glance to be snobbish at its base, but it turns out to be very approachable (hearth & home). I love learning to respect the codification of the french cooking techniques & all the prior generations who figured these things out & documented it. These are the starting blocks of countless other world cuisines. I love the challenge of putting together a well-balanced menu (tastes, textures, nutrition, portion sizes, colors, etc). I love trying which wines taste best with what menu. I love what food represents -- it represents bringing people together, no matter what culture you are from. It represents tradition and the passing down of information from generation to generation. It also represents taking the old & mixing the new. It means playing around in the kitchen trying to figure out why something works or doesn't. I love building on what I've learned or tasted and trying to come up with my own twist on it. I love reading what others are doing because it's constantly evolving and ever-changing. I love to see the free spirit of american cooking and I also love the long held traditions of french cooking. I see a place for both of these esprit. Sometimes together on the same plate! I love the fact that this is a life-long learning profession....there is absolutely something new to learn each day...I love to see reactions on people's faces when they taste something good....and I also love to see people's reactions when I can demystify the techniques ("is that all there is to it?? This is so good...and that's all it takes"? some will say!) - I love that! I love working with generous people & generally speaking, people working to prepare food for others will tend to do it from their heart. OK, getting back to the question. It's a tough road, but the rewards can be rich. So, the answer is yes, yes & yes!

Must end on a sweet note....wasabi & white chocolate ice cream, pistachio & strawberries, by Chef William Ledeui (Ze Kitchen Gallerie, 75006)

/dma

Michel Bras & Omnivore New York

"Cooking is the fulfillment of oneself, to share."

"To cook is to put your heart into your work quite simply: beautiful products, perfect cooking, delicate seasoning. One or more guests invited, and you are on your way. How I love the food born of emotion that has more to do with love than science." Michel Bras.

A rich sentiment. No surprise. It comes from one of the world's greatest contemporary french chefs.

For the full article, click here.

Michel Bras will be a guest chef at the Omnivore New York food festival starting September 13th. Yes, it's the same Omnivore group as Deauville (OFF4). This time they are co-sponsoring an event in New York. It's the first time that Omnivore is reaching over the Atlantic. Bravo!

Wish I could go....to either Laguiole or New York! And I hope to hear back from anyone lucky enough to have the chance...


Related links:
Michel Bras (a great website)
FIAF - Omnivore New York

Credit for pictures above:
Michel Bras website.

/dma

Sheila Lukins

I'm saddened to hear the news that Sheila Lukins has passed away this week at the age of 66. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in June. And three short months later, that's it, she's gone.

Her book, "The New Basics Cookbook" influenced me immensely. This book was a collaboration between her and Julee Rosso back in the late 80s. They also worked together on "The Silver Palate", which sits on my shelf as well. I didn't get into Betty Crocker (was it too sterile or too old fashioned?...already too industrialized??), and I didn't have access to Julia Child's book....but my sister Fran discovered this (substantial) treasure & shared it with the family.

"The New Basics" helped get me started in entertaining & cooking adventures. It nicely unveiled its mysteries. It made obscure ingredients & party planning accessible, even in my 20s when I had no idea what I was doing! To boot, it's an entertaining read. How often did I sit down with that book simply to read it? And guess what, there are no pictures!! Unheard of in a cookbook, isn't it? As you can see, it has some drawings instead that I understand Sheila Lukins did herself.

My first beet purée came from it, to the initial horror of my parents when I decided to bring it to a Thanksgiving dinner that included screaming toddlers who were more content to be flinging food around than tasting it! (Luckily, no disasters, even with the white carpet/white walls in the dining room...). My first ginger pork loin & spring risotto came from there. In fact, a lot of firsts came to me from this book. I think this is the most used cookbook I own. Just look at the state it's in. I do take care of it, but it's gotten a lot of use! A bit frazzled around the edges. Definitely in need of a re-binding. And full of scribbled notes. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Isn't it true that authors or artists can influence you but you may never know the creator first-hand? Yet it feels like I know Sheila...through her work. I feel like she was my first cooking teacher after I moved out on my own...(besides mom who I called often). To this day, I go to that book to seek inspiration. And for that, I will always remember her, and say my secret thanks...because, even if she was still with us, she would not necessarily know I felt this way. But what a a sign of a great teacher.... those who create and share and encourage....with the hopes that it inspires others...to step out & try new things....

/dma

ESCF - Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi - Culinary Arts Schools in Paris - Part 2

To continue from the prior post on this rather lengthy topic....more Q&A on cooking schools in Paris, and on a cooking career in general...


Q: Do you think the French will be willing to hire an American with a certificate from Ferrandi?

A: You need a work visa to work in France legitimately, if you are not French or from an EU country. You can also work in France legitimately if you have a student visa. As a student, you can be hired for internships and part-time work (with a restricted number of hours of work per week) without any problems, it seems. However, once school is over, it is a challenge to find a legitimate job here without that work visa. I've witnessed "travaille noir" (illegal work) without the visa, but it's not necessarily steady or reliable, and if in a restaurant, I've seen people move from place to place to avoid problems. Despite that, I would say this is fairly common practice.

The other option is to try to find someone (a company) who will sponsor you. This can be difficult because oftentimes the french companies/restaurants themselves don't understand all the administrative steps that are required to process the work visa request....plus there's a cost to do this....so it's easier for them to just hire a local. Other companies, usually big hotels & such, have the right staff who are well trained in processing the paperwork. I have seen a couple examples of sponsorships happening....so it's not impossible! It's just not necessarily easy. This hasn't been a problem for me since I am married to a Belgian, and that gives me the work visa I need. (I'm very fortunate.)

One more thing to add. Based on my experience, when I tell people (french people in the profession) that I went to Ferrandi, their eyes all light up, and they almost unanimously say "that's a great school; that's the best; students from there are well trained". I'm not exagerating. Other french people, not from the profession, haven't heard of Ferrandi!! They are the type who probably know more about "les grandes écoles" (France's equivalent to our Ivy League).

Q: How does Ferrandi compare to other programs in Paris such as Le Cordon Bleu, or The Ritz, or

Difficult for me to say. I can only respond about what I prefer & why I chose Ferrandi....

Before deciding on Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi (called Ferrandi for short), I visited Cordon Bleu & The Ritz. I didn't get a good vibe from either places, but the manager of admissions for the Anglo program at Ferrandi (Stephanie Curtis) was very welcoming & extremely available to explain the Anglo program. My decision was actually easy because I could understand what the Ferrandi program would offer (which I explained in great detail in my last post; refer there if you want to know more!). With the other programs, I didn't clearly understand what they were offering as far as content goes....however, their fee schedules were crystal clear! And, oh yeah, the kitchen at the Ritz LOOKED awesome! (It is a very, very beautiful kitchen...)

The strongest selling point for me at Ferrandi was the amount of time spent actually learning in the kitchen. Ferrandi offered the most hands-on learning time in the kitchen. When trying to decide on which school to attend, I used these criteria: (1) total hours spent in the kitchen, (2) class size & student-to-chef ratio, (3) placement services for internships & work, (4) course content (what skill level will you leave the program with - which techniques do they cover?) (5) teaching approach used (Is it demo only? Do you work alone or on teams?), (6) Reputation of the school. And of course, (7) cost plays a big factor, but that's easy to understand from all programs.

I don't know anything first-hand about the Ducasse program, the pastry program in Perpignon or any other program!

View from Ferrandi's 4th floor - early morning when everything is all calm & peaceful in the world! Just wait a few hours when you find out there is no cream cheese in the delivery & you're trying to make American style cheesecake for 35 covers (people) for the restaurant's lunch menu!! That's when the fun begins!

Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi - ESCF - Culinary Arts School in Paris - Part 1

I receive quite a few emails from people asking my opinion about the culinary arts schools in Paris, and about the profession. I've been responding individually, and happy to do so....however, this is extremely inefficient!! From all my prior year's experience in the office, with perpetual goals to optimize, to improve processes, to save cost, etc, etc, I know that my current approach just does not cut it! So, I've decided to write a post about it. If you are considering going to culinary arts school, as a career-changer or not, and are considering Paris....maybe you will find this helpful. After reading this, if you still have questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment on the post. Someone else is probably wondering the same thing...!

Q: I'm considering going to Ecole Ferrandi. What do you think of the program there?

A: Well, Ecole Ferrandi (a school run by the Chamber of Commerce of Paris) offers several programs (covering 13 different professions), so it depends on which program you're considering. There are different programs for boulangerie, patisserie, cuisine (cooking), charcuterie; there are programs for adults, for young kids; programs that are part-time, full-time, etc, etc. See what I mean?

I can only respond about the programs I attended. I attended 2 different full-time programs for cuisine - cooking. The first one is referred to as "the Anglo progam" and then I also participated in one of its french programs, referred to as "the Sup program".

The Anglo program is aimed at adults & is international in profile with a class size of up to ~12 students. The age bracket is from the early 20s to no limit (our class had a 50 year old!). The program is english-based, and provides translations to English if needed.

Let me say upfront that I found the Anglo program to be excellent - the content was excellent & the chefs I learned from are top notch, highly professional, and very demanding. I've described the program that I went through in some detail (below). However, I understand the format has since changed slightly so it's best to contact the school to see how much of what I described below is still contained in the current program.

When I went there in 2006/07, it was full-time Mon-Fri for 9 months followed by a 3 month internship at a restaurant...so 1 year of solid training in total. We were in the kitchen learning cooking techniques 4 days a week and were in the patisserie learning pastry techniques 1 morning (5 hours) per week. We had wine & cheese + food pairing classes 1 morning every 2 weeks. We also spent some limited time learning theory in a classroom. Once every 2 weeks we ran the production kitchen (meaning we ran the kitchen for the school's restaurant) which enabled us to see first-hand how a restaurant kitchen works. The weeks we weren't in the production kitchen, we had a day where we prepared a "regional menu" for our own class. This gave us an opportunity to, as a class, prepare a 6-7 course tasting menu for our class that focused on a different region of France. This gave us a chance to learn about the specialty dishes & products that come from the markedly different regions of France. On top of that, we went on a few "field trips" to such places as Rungis (one of the world's biggest markets), to the Champagne region, etc., to Brittany, etc. What else? Oh yeah, a guest chef was brought in to show us some of his favorite recipes (we were very fortunate to have Pascale Barbot be our guest chef!)

This program is intended to prepare students to earn the school's certificate that is given after passing the school's written and practical exams. The testing was a bit stressful, but everyone passed & got their certificates at an award ceremony. The "Anglo program" can also prepare you well enough to pass the national C.A.P exam (see question below about C.A.P), although that's not a requirement of the Anglo program. A few of us took this additional test anyway. Some of the other programs at Ferrandi require the student to pass the C.A.P exam.

To do this program it is highly recommended that you understand french. Many cooking terms are french to begin with, and plus, you would be living in France....so if you had a little french under your belt, you could enjoy life outside of school more, and you could absorb as much culture as possible.

The Sup program (at Ecole Supériure de Cuisine Francaise) is a 2-year full-time program intended for students less than 25 years old and its class size is up to ~12 students. Other requirements: it's only in french, it requires that you have passed the C.A.P testing, and you have to pass an entrance exam. It's mostly french students, although it attracts a few international students as well. This program alternates between learning at school for 6 months & learning in a restaurant for 6 months as an intern. While at school, students spend half their time in the classroom learning about hygiene, law, marketing, etc, and that prepares them for their project plan which they must develop & present as a sort of dissertation at the end of the program. The other half of the school time is spent in the kitchen to hone the skills (starting at a review of base techniques and developing into advanced ones). The thing that's especially unique about this program is that students are responsible for creating and realizing their own recipes at the school's production kitchen. This makes it comprehensive hands-on learning about ordering & receiving ingredients, inventory control, running production as a chef de partie, training the commis on your recipes, and analyzing the cost of production. Each week there are three consecutive days of production at the school's restaurant with new, never-before-done recipes each day (created by the students, as I already said). So you learn a great deal about flexibility & speed, and it requires creativity. And there are weekly "debriefings" where each service at the restaurant is analyzed, critiqued & customer feedback is provided (for the food & service). I should have mentioned another very important aspect of this program: you work hand-in-hand with the front-of-the-house crew. The students learning the art of service are "partners" with the students learning the cuisine. It's definitely a cross-functional, team approach to service. There are even rotational assignments (where a kitchen student will work as a server & vice versa.). Finally, in the Sup program, the student class (cuisine) receives at least 2 demos from some of France's top and most interesting chefs (from Ze Kitchen Gallery, Le Bristol, Le Meurice, L'epi dupain, just to list a few off the top of my head...). We also went on a few field trips (food festival in Deauville, etc).

I think this program is also top-notch. It's very rich and extremely demanding. Talented & demanding chefs are also running this program. You cannot however, even consider this if you are not able to speak french. My level was intermediate at the time I took this....and let me tell you, it was a killer! But I'm glad I did it. I learned alot. (By the way, I did the kitchen part only.)

Q: Which program is better?

A: The answer is "it depends". It depends on what your ultimate goal is. As you can see, the programs differ vastly. The Anglo program is going to teach you what you need to know to get launched into this profession. It's the starting point. With this training, you will generally find a job as a commis. The Sup program will help get you moving in the direction of working for yourself, or on your own project if that's what you want. But more likely, the next step is working in a restaurant to gain more experience. Students from this program are generally hired at the demi-chef de partie or chef de partie level. (These are my views of what happens after each program....obviously there are some brilliant people from the Anglo program who can be hired as chef de parties, and some in the Sup program who could be hired as commis....) Because there's simply more practical time spent learning in the Sup program, the kitchen skills you pick up there are simply more (logical, isn't it?). You can't do the Sup program without prior training or experience in the field. As a career changer, I could not have considered registering straight away for the Sup program because my baseline was not yet there. You can, however, do the Anglo program with no prior experience (which is why I did this one!)

Both programs are very, very intense, rigorous, and physically demanding. Equal in that regard!

Q: What is the C.A.P & do I need it?

A: CAP is an acronym for le Certifcat d'aptitude professionelle (Certificate of Professional Aptitude). This is something very specific to France. It represents a certain level of qualification that a worker has in a determined profession. There exists around 200 specialties for the C.A.P. in the industrial, commercial & service sectors. It's a french national certification. For Cuisine, there is a practical exam & written exam (math, history, literature, etc).

Some professions, like boulangerie, require that you have a C.A.P - Boulangerie it in order to operate a boulangerie in France. (Oddly enough, other professions, like cuisine, do not require the chef to have this certificate in order to prepare & sell food!) Outside of France, I don't think this certification means much. Inside of France, it's clearly more important (and mandatory depending on the work sector). For working in a kitchen, some employers require that you have this and others won't ask.

This is getting entirely too long, so I'll continue it some other day...

/dma