The tasty world of culinary arts is an eye candy of the hospitality industry that never fails to draw customers’ attention! However, it’s not just customers who find culinary arts fascinating; it is also a subject of interest to those who aim to be hospitality workers. As such, culinary education serves as a means for people to gain culinary skills and knowledge before entering the industry.
There are hundreds of culinary schools around the globe, all offering a range of diploma, bachelor, and even master’s programs that encompass much more than just learning to cook food. Many culinary schools now provide various culinary arts studies that allow students to innovate and expand their career choices!
Today’s edition of our article will guide you to learn more about culinary arts education, including its brief history, choice of majors, best schools, and promising job opportunities in the field. Let’s begin our journey by scrolling down to the next section below!
About Culinary Arts Studies and Schools
Auguste Escoffier and his kitchen crew: this is what culinary apprenticeship in the past looked like. (via Skinny Chef)
Culinary arts (sometimes referred to simply as culinary) encompass everything that is related to cooking, preparing, and presenting food and beverages. Its history can be traced back over two million years ago when cave people began cooking meat over fires to improve its taste and texture. Since then, culinary arts have undergone many developments; eventually leading to the creation of culinary arts studies and schools!
It was during the Renaissance era when Western monarchs began to decline, and the chefs who had previously worked for them switched to cooking for inns or hotels. This was also the moment when the early form of culinary arts education, apprenticeship, began to rise. It allowed people who wished to master the art of culinary to work for one of those chefs and gain cooking skills and knowledge.
These apprentices worked in different areas of the kitchen, learning as many things as they could. As this trend of apprenticeship continued to grow, the first culinary school, the Boston Cooking School, was finally opened in 1879! It quickly rose to popularity as it introduced the first culinary textbook and encouraged the idea of culinary schools as a place to nurture successful culinary careers.
American Culinary Federation. (via ACF)
Along with the establishment of more culinary schools, there are also organizations supporting culinary education that have come to prominence. One of them is the American Culinary Federation (ACF), created in 1929 by culinary professionals. The ACF has accomplished many things that fueled the success of culinary schools, such as creating universal training standards for chefs in 1931 and launching the National Standards of Culinary Apprentice programs in the 1970s!
Today, culinary education not only concentrates on preparing students to become chefs. Many culinary schools now provide various subfields of study in culinary arts, with some popular examples including pastry arts, wine steward or sommelier, food entrepreneurship, and food nutrition – all offering interesting and favorable career paths in the hospitality industry!
World’s Best Culinary Schools
While culinary arts is a diverse field with a wide range of studies, the same can be said for culinary schools, as there are a lot of them scattered around the globe. Hence, choosing the right culinary school might become a little challenging for some people. If you are planning to apply to a culinary school, you don’t need to worry though; we have prepared a list of some of the best culinary schools for you to consider!
1. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. (via Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts)
Ranked as the first culinary school in the world, this school is the largest in the United States! The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts took its name and philosophy from Auguste Escoffier, a French chef known for his legacy in the history of culinary arts. Students of this school can choose either a diploma or degree program with various fields of study, such as pastry and nutrition. The best part is that Escoffier supports financial aid for most of its students!
2. The Culinary Arts Academy
The aerial view of the Culinary Arts Academy. (via JK Education)
As another member of the Swiss Education Group (SEG), this school is the number one culinary school in Switzerland with over 250 students enrolled per term and instructors who have worked in five-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe. The Culinary Arts Academy has two campuses in Switzerland; one resided in Le Bouveret and another in Brig. Both offer a range of diploma, bachelor, and even master programs!
3. Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu. (via Smapse Education)
This culinary school was founded in 1895 in Paris! Today, this establishment is considered as the largest network of culinary and hospitality schools worldwide with over 20,000 students across its 35 institutes. Le Cordon Bleu provides certificate, diploma, bachelor, and master programs for its students to pursue, as well as a teaching methodology that lets students gain experience through hands-on learning.
4. Institute of Culinary Education
Institute of Culinary Education. (via ICE)
The next in line is the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) which was established in 1975! Currently, this culinary school has two campuses, each located in New York and Los Angeles. ICE offers various diploma programs for its students, with chefs from top restaurants and food business leaders as its lecturer! Moreover, ICE also encourages its students to pursue internship and management training for their bright culinary careers!
5. Culinary Institute of America
Culinary Institute of America. (via New York by Rail)
With 4 of its campuses located in New York, California, Texas, and Singapore, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is one of the best culinary schools to start or advance one’s food and beverage career. CIA has been providing culinary studies for over 75 years and successfully birthed world-class chefs, bakers, food entrepreneurs, and more hospitality leaders. Just like the previous schools, CIA offers a variety of culinary arts programs for students to choose from!
Culinary Arts Career Prospects
Culinary arts career prospects.
Remember, culinary arts is not only about cooking! The diversity of this field offers culinary arts graduates a range of exciting and promising job opportunities. See below for the list of careers you can pursue with a culinary arts degree!
Research Chef
A research chef combines the art and science of cooking to come up with new food and beverage products or even new cooking methods!
Pastry Chef
As a subspecialty of culinary arts, this role is focused on creating everything that is a sweet treat, such as cakes, pies, and other desserts!
Beverage Professional
You can also pursue careers in beverage professions such as sommelier, brewer, or barista, which allow you to craft your own beverages!
Nutritionist
Aside from cooking-related culinary jobs, you can become a nutritionist and manage your own nutrition clinic to provide dietary advice or promote healthy lifestyles to people!
Food and Beverage Instructor
If you have a passion for teaching, this one is for you. With this role, you can work at culinary schools, train new hires at restaurants, or even open your own cooking class!
Food Photographer
Loving both food and arts? Try a job as a food photographer, where you can stage and photograph food for magazines, websites, television shows, and other forms of media.
Food and Beverage Writer
Do you have a knack for writing? Then, this job will suit you. Showcase your skills by writing recipe books or creating a food blog to sell culinary courses!
Wrapping Up
The historical background of culinary arts education lays a strong foundation for modern culinary schools to continue growing and innovating. Today, modern culinary education no longer limits culinary arts to just preparing and cooking food. As a result, culinary schools worldwide provide various subfields of study for their students to pursue – each with challenging yet promising career opportunities.
The high standard of education and training in culinary schools leads the graduates to achieve success in numerous industries, particularly the hospitality industry, where food and beverage, including culinary arts, play a central role. Aside from acquiring knowledge in culinary schools, many culinary arts students also hone their skills through culinary internships or management training. The best part is that you can get both in RMC Asia!
RMC Asia is a professional team that specializes in providing hospitality internship and management training programs for young talents worldwide. We partner with prestigious hotels and resorts across Asia to support our participants with hands-on working experience combined with unique cultural exchanges in our program destinations!
It’s time to cook up your outstanding culinary arts career with us! Find your dream culinary internship and join our successful participants here.
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