>"Gregory Morrow" writes:
>
>PENMART01 wrote:
>
>> All goes to prove what I've said inumerable times, if ya don't have the
>innate
>> talent then all the best cooking schools in the world can't help, yer
>totally
>> hopeless and will NEVER be a good cook... cooking is an art form... just
>like
>> a painter, sculptor, musician, even an athlete, ya gotta be born with the
>> talent. You can learn *about* cooking but you cannot learn to *actually*
>> cook, those culinary schools, ALL of them, are a total rip off, they prey
>on
>> vanity same as a vanity press.
>
>
>Agreed. I know some pretty good professional chefs and none of 'em went to
>a cooking school. They started out early washin' dishes and peelin' taters
>and bussin' tables and then worked their way up in the resto biz...
>
>These chefs have job applicants coming to them all the time, their entire
>relevant cookery experience is more often than not, "attended such - and -
>such Culinary School and graduated with a degree", and on top of it all
>these newbies want to start out as a sous chef at 40K a year or some
>such...and on a 9-5 schedule with weekends off, *lol*...
>
>One chef I know hired one of these types, they were acquaintances so my chef
>friend gave her a break and a chance. The first day the newbie was asked to
>make a creme anglaise, she couldn't do it. At the end of the month she was
>out the door*, and eight years later she is still working the cold pantry at
>some middling hotel which is the job she got after getting canned by my chef
>pal...of course the fact that daddy paid for her expensive culinary
>schooling might have had something to do with her lack of initiative,
>too...a lot of these culinary school attendess are just bored yuppies who
>have an entitlement mentality in any case...
>
>[* another reason for her termination was that one day she called in sick.
>That night my chef friend went to our corner bar after work, and the "ill"
>person was there sipping drinks and watching the Big Game and having a great
>time. I mean we all hung out at the same place and we all know each other,
>how DUMB can ya be...*lol*)
>
>If you wanna get in the chef bizness you'll know this at a tender age and
>you'll know you'll have to get crackin' at a pretty early age in order to
>get somewhere...
>
>I've been complimented many times about my culinary abilities (which are
>better than average, but not all *that* great); I've had many folks say to
>me, "Gee you'd make a great chef, why don't you do it for a living?". My
>retort is always, "I like sex too, but I wouldn't want to do it for a
>*living*..." ;--)

That's what we say at 60, shoulda asked us at 20. hehe

However, for those with or without natural cooking talent I would recommend
schools for culinary specialties: bakery finisher (icer), confectionist,
chocolatier, garnisher, butchering, food preserving, various ethnic cuisines,
etc. One can be a lousy cook and still be a great butcher, and vice versa. I
would never recommend any general cooking school/academy for anyone, not for
any reason whatsoever.... in fact I'd never hire any graduate from such a
school to work in my kitchen.... what would I do with someone who thinks they
know it all but can do nothing... a "You're fired!" waiting to happen.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
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