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Old 06-17-2018, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Tennessee at last!
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You can also do on-line training. The Great Courses program offers several cooking series. My son has enjoyed them and learned a lot too! And they go on sale often, so if interested wait until the course you want is on sale.
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Old 06-17-2018, 09:10 PM
 
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Your local community college may have something that interests you. I took a knife skills class at mine and it was fun.
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Old 06-17-2018, 10:23 PM
 
Location: Florida
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I always thought how much fun it would be to combine a vacation with cooking classes. France for things like pastry, Thailand for their curries, South America for their regional specialties and so on. I’ve been to some one hour classes on the beach at various Caribbean resorts, actually had fun and learned some things.

How much more fun would it be, to take it to the next level or two! Don’t think I could do the rigors of professional cooking. My BIL is an executive chef and he has issues with aching back and feet. But bumping up cooking skills for friends and family is a goal worth pursuing.
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Old 06-17-2018, 11:33 PM
 
Location: So Cal
19,213 posts, read 15,074,923 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taz22 View Post
I always thought how much fun it would be to combine a vacation with cooking classes. France for things like pastry, Thailand for their curries, South America for their regional specialties and so on. I’ve been to some one hour classes on the beach at various Caribbean resorts, actually had fun and learned some things.

How much more fun would it be, to take it to the next level or two! Don’t think I could do the rigors of professional cooking. My BIL is an executive chef and he has issues with aching back and feet. But bumping up cooking skills for friends and family is a goal worth pursuing.
I was actually going to mention this, how fun that would be, traveling to a certain region and learning how to cook their cuisine.

And, yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking, I would just love to serve food to my loved ones and have them just be blown away. Not for ego's sake (mostly, lol), but just to make people happy in one of the most basic, primitive ways.
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Old 06-18-2018, 06:13 AM
Status: "Mistress of finance and foods." (set 12 days ago)
 
Location: Coastal Georgia
49,968 posts, read 63,265,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaOfGrass View Post
Thanks so much for your input, Ivy. Yes, I figure it doesn't really make sense for me to put so much into it if I'm not pursuing it as a career, but I just want to be really good at it and want to figure out where the right balance is, for me, as far as effort/money vs. the payoff. Food can bring so much pleasure, and I'm very passionate about it. I want to be REALLY good at it.



I definitely want to keep it fun. Like English Ivy said, I love just learning new things, and I don't want to turn it into a "chore." There's no way I could handle the stress of a restaurant kitchen, so that's not even an issue. lol

Do you mind my asking why the nephew left the business?
A few years after college, he was going to partner with someone and become the executive chef in a new restaurant. The venture fell through, he returned to be near the family, and started an unrelated business. He’s still a great cook, but for some reason, never worked in another restaurant. I think he sometimes thinks of getting a food truck.
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Old 06-18-2018, 07:22 AM
 
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As a culinary professional, I second the info in English Ivy's post.

Attending culinary school was useful for me in the beginning of my career, but back in the late nineties getting a basic culinary degree outside of the big name schools wasn't the budget breaker that it now is. An associates degree cost $19,500, which included uniforms, a basic knife roll and lab/instruction fees. What the students now pay for the same degree is beyond ridiculous--especially as the starting pay hasn't moved much since my externship days while the cost of living has.

Since you've no intention of "going pro," I recommend taking a few continuing education courses in areas of cooking and baking that interest you at a local college. I've taught a few of those classes over the years and really enjoyed having students like you to instruct.

I don't know if this is still the case, but the Cordon Bleu in Paris used to offer non-pro courses for foreigners. That might be worth looking into if you'd like to combine travel with a few classes.
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Old 06-18-2018, 08:06 AM
 
Location: 89052 & 75206
8,095 posts, read 8,222,848 times
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My son completed a 20 month program and became CIA certified. He was a 40 year old student among mostly younger people. He owns a business so could manage it around his classes. He never intended to use the program for professional purposes. He worked hard and loved the program. He took it because he has always loved cooking and just wanted to take it. After he completed the program, he volunteered for a school term teaching high school kids in the foster system after school 2x a week, how to cook for themselves with simple equipment like using a toaster oven, hot plate and blender or hand mixer. I am proud that he used his learnings to be a good example to boys and girls and impart practical skills. It was an expensive program and I don’t think it was worth it, but he does and that’s what counts.
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Old 06-18-2018, 08:52 AM
 
13,395 posts, read 13,398,918 times
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Take short classes and workshops. Classes that last a week or less. I'm planning on doing a bread class with Peter Reinhart and some classes at NY Food and Wine Festival. There are short classes all over.
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Old 06-18-2018, 09:09 AM
 
1,830 posts, read 1,341,956 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Twenty Years in the Burgh View Post
As a culinary professional, I second the info in English Ivy's post.

Attending culinary school was useful for me in the beginning of my career, but back in the late nineties getting a basic culinary degree outside of the big name schools wasn't the budget breaker that it now is. An associates degree cost $19,500, which included uniforms, a basic knife roll and lab/instruction fees. What the students now pay for the same degree is beyond ridiculous--especially as the starting pay hasn't moved much since my externship days while the cost of living has.

Since you've no intention of "going pro," I recommend taking a few continuing education courses in areas of cooking and baking that interest you at a local college. I've taught a few of those classes over the years and really enjoyed having students like you to instruct.

I don't know if this is still the case, but the Cordon Bleu in Paris used to offer non-pro courses for foreigners. That might be worth looking into if you'd like to combine travel with a few classes.
I think this was the type of course Julia Child initially took. For amateur hobby cooks, not for restaurant-bound pros. But she later switched to professional-level courses. I think she was awarded a type of degree that specified high-level, non-professional. I think?

I learned most of the professional-level cooking techniques from watching Julia Child's "The French Chef", "Cooking With Master Chefs," and Jaques Pepin's shows on PBS. This was supplemented with various books and magazine articles. And a lot of trial and error, with close observations of the how's and why's for the failures and rescues.

Youtube is a great venue for all this now. Thanks to y'all, I've rediscovered "The French Chef," on it, now that my taped VHS episodes have become obsolete. (I feel old.)

Last edited by mingna; 06-18-2018 at 09:20 AM..
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Old 06-18-2018, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
5,775 posts, read 6,823,299 times
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Originally Posted by blazerj View Post
Your local community college may have something that interests you. I took a knife skills class at mine and it was fun.

Our local community college has a culinary program. Apparently, the first classes consist of a lot of physical labor to weed out those that are not serious - eg, lugging and peeling large bags of potatoes, etc.
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