Any references for a young chef?
by Tyler Johnson
(San Diego, CA, USA)
Hi Chef,
I am 13 and entering high school and I want to become a chef, do you have any references or do you know of any ways, other than watching your amazing videos, that I could learn more about cooking? Thanks!
Tyler
Chef Todd Says:
Concentrate on High School. Being a Chef is so much more than being able to cook. A chef needs great math skills to calculate trim loss of beef, yield of batches of cake batter, profit margin on his products, payroll withholding, and many more.
A Chef needs great vocabulary and the ability to express him/her self in a high pressure environment. A chef needs to learn social skills and be a leader in the kitchen.
A chef needs understanding of science as a basis for cooking. Controlling evaporation of moisture, gelatinization of starches, coagulation of proteins, caramelization of sugars are all from high school science class.
A chef needs great computer skills to use planning software, to order food from purveyors, and communicate with customers.
A chef needs great marketing skills. You can make the best food in the world, but if nobody knows about your restaurant, you're out of business or a job.
That would be my first concentration if I were entering HS with chef passions. Get a rock-solid foundation for all you will learn in culinary school first.
Then, I'd get culinary school textbooks to review. Try the Culinary Institute of America textbook, or "On Cooking". You can probably find used ones on-line.
The best chefs I hire offer much more than just cooking ability. They are smart, informed people with well-rounded talents and abilities.
Best of luck to you. If you have early passion, you'll be a great success. It's just hard to have patience at a young age.
Chef Todd.
