ImStillMags wrote:
>
> You are correct Dimitri. The only thing most culinary schools can
> teach you is 'technique', knife skills and basic formulas of how to
> make stock, how to make a roux, etc.etc.etc. Restaurant management
> and kitchen management are courses where even the least skilled in
> cooking can at least learn things that would help them in a 'career'.
>
> Cooking something that actually tastes good and is pleasing to the eye
> is an ART, a SKILL, I like to call it a KNACK.
>
> That is inherent in a person. You cannot teach the knack for
> cooking. That is why there are so very many 'chefs' who
> never rise beyond 'cook'. I have personally hired 'chefs' who have
> the degree, the piece of paper, but no knack and not
> a lot of sense of what goes with what and what compliments this
> ingredient. They couldn't cook their way out of a paper bag.
>
> So.....big bucks for a fancy degree from a major culinary school is
> great certification. But you better have the innate knowing to make
> it work if you want to climb up the culinary ladder.

This reads so much like discussions I've read about IT workers and
degrees in computer science. There are plenty who suceed without a
degree, but my degree sure opened doors for me that had been blocked
before. There are enough degreed folks who aren't any good.

But college is about a lot more than the point skills in the major and
those other aspects end up making more and more difference as the years
go on. People who never went to get that degree don't like that.

Appenticeships are for technicians and skilled laborers. University is
for professionals engineers and scientists. To my engineering biased
view this should map - Apprenticeships are for prep cooks and line
cooks. University is for professionals chefs, menu designers and
culinary experimenters.