If you’re going to become a chef, you’re going to need to figure out how to get into culinary school first. Careers in the culinary arts can be very rewarding and the field has been growing exponentially, but it’s hard to get your foot in the door if you don’t have the education to back up your skills. If you are even just half-mindedly considering this type of career, you will need to think about how to get into culinary school long before you embark on your new professional life.

If you want to get into a good culinary school, you will need to start early. This is the first thing most experts tell prospective students that are wondering how to get into culinary school. If you can start developing your skills as early as high school and have something to show when you apply to these culinary programs, you will have a better chance of getting in. Even if you are an older adult student, you can begin participating in competitions and attending community classes to enhance your knowledge base.

There is no point trying to get into a culinary school if it is not going to provide a worthwhile education, so the next step is to find a reputable school. Only apply to schools that have good reputations among chefs, restaurateurs, journalists and former students. A little research goes a long way here.

It will help you determine how to get into culinary school programs if you look for simple information like deadlines, too. Each school has its own academic sessions that start and end at a particular time of the year and different deadlines for applying, so you need to find this out far in advance. They may also have varying requirements for admission that must be fulfilled before you can apply.

The requirements will vary for each culinary school depending on whether it is a vocational school, a community college, a four-year university or a prestigious institution. If you want to learn how to apply to culinary school, first decide which schools you want to attend and contact them individually.

The art of cooking is referred as culinary arts. Culinarians work in kitchens honing talents in culinary arts. Food becomes appealing and tasty if prepared well alongside effective decoration and presentation. Culinarians [aka chefs / cooks] transform raw materials into eye pleasing, aromatic and tasty preparations that tingle our taste buds. If you are inspired, creative and love flavors of food, then a culinary arts career may be for you. Culinary degrees are offered by several institutions like Associate and Bachelor degrees alongside Post-graduate degrees. These programs prepare culinary artists in fundamental cooking techniques and skills, cuisine, menu development, materials management, costing, budgeting, decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Career prospects are encouraging and demand exists for successful chefs. Post completion of formal programs, entry level jobs open up like line cooks, pantry cooks and assistant bakers. Industry outlook is favorable with forecasts that jobs for chefs may increase by 11% through 2016. However, competition is intense at the top is intense and formal programs provide an edge to students against others. Salary ranges vary based on type of culinary job, relevant education, experience, location and employer. Executive chefs earned median annual salaries of $57,982-$88,386 whereas line cooks’ salaries ranged between $19,957 – 26,118 [data as of June 2009].

Among institutions offering programs in culinary arts, International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute stands tall with country wide locations imparting learning. The USP of Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America is programs designed as per latest trends in industry. It is followed by Le Cordon Bleu International which maintains a global presence and excellent standards. Not far behind is The French Culinary Institute which is a chef school that imparts practical training. Completing the list is The Culinary Institute of America that sets standards of learning excellence for the industry as a whole.

Catering Management is not about providing food to people and organizations. It involves individuals who love business and immerse themselves in the flavors of food they work with. Hygiene, speed of service, pricing, quality and customer delight are key prepositions. It covers purchasing materials, menu development, food preparation, storing and serving food, and sales and marketing. Catering Management programs equip students with necessary business skills to rise to higher positions like Catering Manager. Importantly, if you are inclined, you could start own catering business in future. The discipline teaches managing people, materials, money and customers. Learning is through theory, simulations and practice.

In terms of careers for those who have pursued Catering Management programs, there are several opportunities beginning from entry level jobs and transitioning to Catering Managers or even starting own businesses. Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that employee turnover rates are higher in this industry, yet positions such as Catering Managers provide stability and a sense of job security. Importantly, salary levels are also higher at this level and range from $30,180 to $57,611 based on experience, region and employer as per statistics provided by salary.com [as of Nov., 2009].

The International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes leads the group with a variety of programs in this discipline. Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America is a close second with adaptability and flexibility inbuilt into its host of programs. Not to be left far behind is Le Cordon Bleu International that designs and implements its programs in such a fashion that they are acknowledged world-wide. The French Culinary Institute is unique in it being a chef school that teaches programs through world class faculty. Completing the list nicely is the The Culinary Institute of America that focuses on setting standards of excellence in the field. Its programs are second to none.

Indian cuisine has evolved from its remarkable past, acquiring varied tastes and traditions brought by numerous conquerors and traders, all of them adding one thing or the other to enhance the diversity in flavors of rich Indian Cuisine. Indian Culinary Art has a long and interesting history.

Indian Cuisine is basically known for its snacks, appetizers and Mughlai preparations. The huge variety of rich desserts is also worth noticing. All throughout the Indian sub-continent one can notice the diversity in cooking style, use of spices, preparation methodologies and use of sauces and ghee (clarified butter).

The Mughlai Cuisine style emerged as it crossed Indian borders via West Asia, way back in 12th Century with Babar’s reign. The use of rich spices, low flame and good ingredients is a cooking style that is mostly influenced by Central Asia, namely the Turkish and Persian cuisines. Mughlai cuisine is popular in northern India, with its aromatic and rich spices, cream, nuts and curd. A typical earth oven is used to prepare Kababs and Rotis. One of the most popular Mughlai preparations is Biryani, which is prepared from rice.

Rasogulla, a very popular Indian sweetmeat originates in the eastern part of the subcontinent.
The dish is prepared using small portions of casein with sugar syrup, and then cooling it off.
Another dessert that is prevalent in South Indian households is Payasam (also known as Kheer). In some parts of India it is an integral part of a wedding feast. Yet another Indian sweet is Gulab Jamun, which is the fried ball of milk in sweet syrup. Other dishes that constitute Indian sweets are, Halwa (made with sugar and semolina), Mysore Pak (chick pea flour, ghee and sugar), Kulfi (an indian Ice cream made of boiled milk with flavors to requirement), Jalebi (a sweet pretzel shaped batter fried and then soaked in syrup), and Jangiri (a south Indian Jalebi).

Thus, the cusine in India consists of a number of flavors, and cooking styles – all replete with rich spices and sauces (or curries) which please the palette and have been long savored across the globe.

If cooking is your passion and you love experimenting with food, and if are searching for scrumptious new recipes, or just love trying fancy meals, then here is a solution. Listed below are the top six websites for you to go through and start experimenting. Give your special guests some real fancy meal. Great recipes at your service!

1. Professional Chef Resources

This is the best recipe site ever! You will fall in love with the Guide to the practical cooking provided by the chef. Each section, forum, job board or directory – every section is a cook’s delight. With the new and recent recipes that are added almost daily the featured chef’s board is also a delight to read.

2. Epicurious

All you want to know about roasting, pickling, and prepping meat is right here on this website. If you enjoy all this then you will just love this site. Expert seasoned chefs know all about the trade and offer you with nothing but the most useful information and recipes about then same providing you with useful tips and secrets to prepare fabulous meals.

3. RecipeLink.Com

Influence your important guests, impress your boss, or colleagues, or prepare a scrumptious delight for your friends and family. There are plenty of recipes to keep everyone happy. The website even offers some safety tips for amateur cooks. What more, it also has a calorie counter that will inform you about the nutritional value too. So eat healthy!

4. 101 Cookbooks – Recipes Journal

Thinking of great recipes for appetizers, desserts, drinks and more? Then this website is your solution: Pastries, pies, soups, sandwiches, and every dish that will make your mouth water is in here! Experience the best of the recipes that easy to learn and hassle-free to prepare.

5. About.Com Food & Drink

 Any and every cuisine that you wish to prepare is here on this site. This site will pamper you and spoil you like crazy. With its amazing and tempting catalog of mouth-watering delicious cooking recipes you will never look any further.

6. Food Network

 Not just written text but this website provides you with videos that will guide you all along your preparation of the delicacy. On this website you will never run out of amazing recipes. So now no more boring text reading, lookout for demos and make cooking more exiting!

Use the above websites to prepare your next meal and you will never look back again. Improve your cooking and learn some very useful tips without joining any cooking class!

Spices are the food seasonings that come from the different parts of a plant like the buds, the bark, the fruits, the flowers, the roots, the seeds, and the stems. These spices have played a very important part in the development of the Western civilization. In ancient and medieval times, Spices were rare and precious. To look at the history of spices is to look at the history of civilization as we know it.

Today, spices play a major role in any cooking endeavor – they are used for their fragrance, their flavor and their taste. They also have a number of medicinal properties.

The first recorded documentation of the use of spices as medicines is found amongst the documents of the ancient Sumerians. This was over five thousand years ago. Over four thousand years ago, we have records that the Chinese also used over 300 different herbs and spices for medicinal reasons. Over three thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians used spices for a variety of purposes, including embalming mummies.

The Greeks and the Romans have also used spices for a variety of reasons. The Greeks used laurel leaves in the form of a wreath worn on the head to honor their heroes. The Romans used herbs for magic and sorcery.

From the middle ages onwards, herbs began to be cultivated even in the western parts of the world. But prior to that, trade was the only means of obtaining these spices. Hence these spices were often considered to be very precious and were quite valuable as trade goods.

From around 3000 BC to 200 BC, the Arabs were the prime traders of spices in the western world. The Romans took over the trade and were controlling it till about 1200. From 1200 to 1500, the Europeans explored different routes to the Eastern parts of the globe and began to take over the spice trade. The period between the 15th to the 17th centuries even saw wars break out for the control of the spice trade.

The period between the 16th to the 18th century saw the English explore and control the spice trade. After this period, the Americans also entered into the spice trading community.

Thus, one can see that the history of spice has always been a history of control, of power and of wealth. Spice has proved to be the number one commodity of trade that has made a lot of difference in the lives of many people – especially in the way we eat food – simply because it just tastes better with a little bit of spice!

The history of French Cuisine is as interesting as the tastes it embodies. When we talk of French cuisine, we know that dishes are going to be part of the most distinguished cuisine in the world and that they possess an elegant culinary style which is associated with their style of preparation.

Due to a lot of social as well as political transformations the French style of cooking has evolved gradually with loads of versatile quiche creations, such as Bouef Bourguignon, which is a beef dish prepared in red wine. The French have always treated food as an art and thus seasoned every dish heavily.

During the medieval era, French Cooking involved a great deal of presentation and preparation. The sauces that were prepared were thick, full and had a lot of seasonings added. Not just this, but the addition of mustard to the meat also started in this era.

It was in the 19th century that sauces became the foundation of dishes in France. And by the early 20th century the French kitchen was divided in to 5 main stations and was called as the “brigade system”. These stations were Pastries, Roasted grilled and fried food, sauces, cold dishes, and soups and vegetables.

Each region in France possesses its own unique and traditional style of cooking its cuisine. There are various regions in France that are known for their specialty in popular food and drinks.

There are highly impressive fruit preserves that are cultured in Lorraine, and the ham is scrumptious in Champagne. Normandy is known for its “moules a la crème Normande”.

And then there is the coastline of France that specializes in exciting seafood dishes, that includes sea bass, the herrings, scallops, as well as sole. In Brittany recipes of lobster, mussels and crayfish are popular too. In the North of France, the thick stews with cauliflower as well as artichoke side-dishes are one of a kind.

Not far behind are the famous creative salads such as “Salade Aveyronaise” (lettuce with tomato, the Roquefort cheese, as well as walnuts in the Aveyron). Cote d’ Azur is popular for its “Salade Niçoise,” that includes black olives, various other ingredients with tuna.

Crepe, a pancake cooked thin and made from the wheat flour is a popular dessert. The fillings as well as the toppings are never-ending, from cinnamon, berries, nuts, bananas, chocolate sauce, ice cream, maple syrup, jellies and jams to soft fruits and powdered sugar. Other French desserts are chocolate mousse, choux a la crème, tarts, and loads of delightful pastries.

And finally, the egg recipes constitute exquisite omelets, seasoned with herbs and spices, and of course marjoram, fennel, lavender, tarragon and sage.

Over a period of time, French cuisine has evolved to even higher and higher levels of ‘artistry’. Even today, French cuisine is hailed as one of the world’s best cuisines in the world.

Most people will recognize pasta and pizza – two of the most popular dishes that form part of the Italian cuisine. However, Italian cuisine has a lot more to offer than just these two well known dishes. Most importantly, Italian cuisine also has a rich and tempting history – just like the different dishes that form part of its offerings.

All over the land of Italy, all the Italians always maintain a distinctive cooking habit or style that shines in their eating habits, their styles of preparing a meal and the way they select local ingredients. Right from the pre-Roman era till date the Italian food history has gone through a considerable change.

In the ancient times, the preparation of food was very important. One of the ancient and surviving cookbooks is known as the Apicus. The Apicus dates right back to 1st century BC.

It was after the downfall of the Romans that the spread of the Italian cuisine began. Individual states started to uphold their separate traditions and identities. Every region started its own special and unique method of cooking, from the very basic preparation of the meatballs to characteristic varieties of cheeses and also the wine produced in any locale.

For example Northern states developed the Tuscan beef, on the other hand black truffles was prepared in Marches, and the very famous Mozzarella and Provolone cheeses developed in South, simultaneously being the host of a lot of citrus fruits.

There were varieties in bread, pasta, and other different food preparation methodologies according to the region. The eating habits were also a total contrast as the people in Southern Italy loved hard-boiled spaghetti, but those from the North preferred the soft-egg noodles.

Different cities started to become famous for their specialties like Milan for Risotto, Bologna for Tortellini, while Naples for Pizzas.

In these past few years the Italian cuisine evolved greatly due to the wealth from outside influences which added a flavor and an appeal. The ancient Greeks with their wealthy imports from various places added an exotic ingredients and spices to the Italian cuisine.

The Coastal regions of Italy are popular for delicious seafood and fish. For example,   while Sardinia has a traditional style of cooking that includes foods such as Swordfish, anchovies, lobster, sardines, etc, Sicily has heavy North-African influences.

Even today the varieties in Italian cooking show distinctions between the northern and the southern style of cooking. Each and every region carries their traditions reflecting deeply in history. This wonderful culture with never-ending preparations of appetizers, main-courses, and desserts that will always continue to tempt our taste buds.

A Commis Chef is an entry level position when you are at the beginning of creating your career as a chef. A Commis Chef reports to a Chef de Partie. Find out more about what are the responsibilities and skills required to become a Commis Chef.

Culinary careers are a very exciting, satisfying and an equally rewarding experience. And like in any other path of career, here too, to reach the top, one has to start at the bottom and work hard to reach the top position.

The post of an apprentice chef in larger kitchens to learn and operate a station is also termed as Commis Chef. A Commis Chef reports to a Chef De Partie and ideally needs to have completed formal culinary training. In larger kitchens, the Commis Chef job could also start as a kitchen porter or a kitchen assistant who would be promoted to the post of Commis Chef once the candidate is able to perform basic work like vegetable preparation and working of the kitchen.

The responsibilities of a Commis Chef includes preparing food under supervision of more skilled chefs, learning different styles of cooking, dealing with deliveries, stock rotation and requesting stock, gain knife and prep skills, preparation of vegetables and sauces, maintain accuracy while measuring dish ingredients and portion size, service of starters and desserts, maintain high hygiene standards, general day to day cleaning duties and basically understand and appreciate the pace and demands of a kitchen. The job entails working for three to six months in each section of kitchen. As the position of a Commis Chef is a varied role, the chef usually decides which area of the kitchen the apprentice would work in depending on their preference thereby enabling them to specialize in their area of interest. Further, as the job deals with every aspect of working in the kitchen, it is the ideal position to gain the widest possible experience before a specialization is considered.

The position of Commis Chef is normally obtained via catering colleges. If taking up a formal course is not an available option, then one could also start as a kitchen attendant and then apply for any training that the employer offers. The position usually requires working in shifts entailing 40 hours a week. The annual Commis Chef salary range is between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on the amount of training and experience of the chef. Part time, casual and seasonal opportunities are also available, the payment for which is made on a pro-rata basis.

If you are considering a career in cooking and you are a lover of wine, then working for the position of the Sommelier or the Wine Steward is the best cooking career choice for you. A  Win Sommelier is a trained professional who works in fine restaurants. A Sommelier specializes in all the aspects of serving wine. It is a much more sophisticated role as compared to that of a wine waiter.

A Sommelier has the principal job of procuring and storing wine, handling the wine storage rotation and of providing expert advice about wine to the customers of the restaurant. As a Master Sommelier, you will also be responsible for the development of wine lists. You will also be in charge of the delivery of the wine service and for the training of the restaurant staff with regards to the wine. With a Sommeliers education will also suggest the pairing of wine along with the different kinds of foods that are served in the restaurant.

How to Become a Sommelier

To become a Sommelier, you would need to have good knowledge of how different foods complement and combine with different kinds of wine, beer, spirits and other beverages.

As a professional Master Sommelier, you will be working directly with the patrons of the restaurant, working with the preferences of the customers with regards to taste and budget limitations. You will also be involved in conducting and attending several wine-tasting events which are designed to educate and attract wine lovers the the restaurant.  You will thus be in the enviable position of being able to guide, educate and talk to people about wine. As an experienced Sommelier, you will be able to describe the regions, grapes and even the vineyards and vintages of a variety of wines. As a Master Sommelier, you would also be traveling frequently to different places where wine is produced and would also be involved in the processes of procuring a variety of wines for the restaurant.

To start in this career, you will have to start with an Introductory Sommelier Certification or a bachelors in Wine, Food and Spirits Management, and then you can move forward with an Advanced Sommelier Certification and then a Master Sommelier Diploma. Typically, the sommelier salary range offered to Sommeliers will depend on the number of years of experience the candidate has in the field. Master Sommeliers who are just starting out may expect to earn approximately $28,000 annually as their salary, while Master Sommeliers who have anywhere between 3 to 5 years of experience can earn between $80,000 to $160,000 annually.

Thus, as a Sommelier, you will be in a unique position to combine your knowledge and passion into a productive and impressive career.