Posted by Gerard on January 25, 1999 at 09:49:09:
In Reply to: Re: Wannabe baker would appreciate some advice posted by Leslie on January 21, 1999 at 21:20:32:
>>a well trained chef will never have to beg for a job.>>
But an apprentice would, thats the point.
A school cannot train you, only instruct and educate, seeing as its 90% hands on skill the knowledge is secondary...but still valuable.
My apprentice has been with me for 18 months, makes a good living and said the time he spent at J&W was money down the toilet(someone elses money I guess).
I'm not greedy or selfish, I gave him a trade and skills no school could have. He's now working PT at a bigger place that I also supply french pastry to, for more money than I can afford to pay him but he still comes in for 2 hrs on his way to the other job because with me he learns and that MORE than makes up for the lower pay. I stole him from the supermkt meat dept, he was making $6hr, I started him at $7. I pay him $9 now and he makes $12 with the other bakery so he's coming along fine, slowly but is getting a deeper more thorough training than a wanna be exec pastry chef who can't wait to do the actual training.
I understand what you mean about French diplomas , but don't confuse that with the money mills called culinary institutes in the US, the Parisien fella who TRAINED me also said he had to pass their test after some classes in Paris and that was back in 1951 so nothing new there.
I also agree you don't know if the chef you start with is actually any good, I was lucky but .. who says the instructors are any good either? I've worked with enough sous chefs who came out of the CIA to know they didn't know what they should have.
Croque monsieur with roast beef/onions anyone?
I looked into becoming a culinary instructor, try and pass the trade on to the next generation of kids, the schools are very politically correct and are a disservice.
A good salary at the beginning of your career is the kiss of death , it ensures you won't be trained by blokes like me or the guy who trained me or the guys I train, as you can see its a closed shop if you want to walk in to a good salaried position with little experience, walking out of a school into a hotel is a good way to get stuck. I thought it sad that no-one at the hotels I was at knew the price of a bag of flour or the price of anything we used. It takes yrs really and the best place to start is at the beginning, short cuts show in the final product.
Regards, Gerard