7 minute read
Culinary Education Today, Tomorrow and Beyond
from National Culinary Review (September/October 2024)
by National Culinary Review (an American Culinary Federation publication)
How educators are adapting to changing times and student needs
By ACF Chef Paul Sorgule, AAC
Many seasoned chefs reflect with great pride on their most rewarding accomplishment — training young cooks for a career in food. Helping to develop foundational skills, showing the importance of discipline, nurturing a growing passion for food and service, and providing opportunities to find a person’s niche is exhilarating and fulfilling. Some chefs embrace the role of culinary educator, shaping the next generation of cooks and chefs. Teaching is a calling; training is a way of life for chefs.
Culinary education’s exponential growth may have leveled off from nearly 1,000 programs at its peak years ago, but the need for accomplished graduates has not. The industry of food continues to evolve; so, too, must culinary education and the focus of those dedicated educators.
Change is a natural occurrence — some level of resistance to it is inevitable. Today’s educational institutions are busy searching for the critical answers to what, where, when and how they should teach and train in a rapidly changing environment while approaching a contemporary student who learns in a different way. Technology is a factor, how the food industry is portrayed is another, and certainly the stereotypical lifestyle of a cook or chef contributes to the what, where, when and how.
Here are some themes in the culinary education segment that will take hold in 2024 as the new school year starts and likely beyond.
The Changing Routes of a Career Culinarian
Working in a high-octane fine dining restaurant has long been the dream of many students beginning their culinary education. The adrenaline rush of preparing and plating works of art is real, but alas, it is not for everyone. There are so many other culinary segments that need and are actively looking for young culinarians, including corporate dining, hotels, resorts and health care to name a few. There are also more opportunities (and openings) for personal chefs, research chefs and culinary instructors. As such, educators are working to develop programs that meet the breadth of opportunities available to today’s students.
“Culinary career choices have exploded and evolved beyond traditional roles to include food truck entrepreneurs, wellness coaches, resort mixologists and even Hollywood producers and TikTok influencers,” says ACF Chef Kirk T. Bachmann, CEC, AAC , campus president and provost, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. “The common thread to preparing students for success is having a solid foundation of culinary skills, which can be learned in a variety of ways including apprenticeships and traditional culinary campuses as well as remote learning with hands-on practical application.”
Alternative Education Opportunities
These days, with so many challenges that students face, including needing to have the financial resources and time required to earn a culinary degree, some are choosing to veer away from traditional schooling and instead, “earn while they learn” through apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships — once the primary way cooks learned the trade — are coming back. They allow students to fulfill coursework on their own time while earning a paycheck and learning on the job at a quality operation offering a structured training environment.
Schools are also making changes to create more apprenticeship and apprenticeship-like programs. The food industry has a need for hardworking, eager, foundationally prepared employees, and the industry needs them NOW. Culinary schools, once focused solely on degrees, are now expanding their offerings to include skill certifications, quick job training, and specialized credit-bearing certificates that can be stand-alone or stacked to earn a degree. Programs from a few weeks to less than a year are becoming available as education and the business of food collaborate on needed solutions to the labor challenge.
“Success in the kitchen requires working in a professional manner encompassing the fundamentals of cooking, knife skills, proper sanitation safety and those soft skills that focus on interaction with and respect for others,” says ACF Chef Warren Leigh, CEC, professor and Culinary Arts Department chair, Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Mass. “Concise, seven-week courses that focus on these skills are one way to help the workforce prepare for entry-level positions or to move up to a better-paying job. These courses respond to the immediate needs of the industry and cooks looking for quick entry into the kitchen. This is an effective way to increase the inventory of products and services we provide while continuing to build a symbiotic relationship with stakeholders.”
Virtual Learning
The pandemic pushed educational institutions to adopt an online presence. Necessity is truly the mother of invention as educators were not only able to adapt, but also re-create connections with students, the way content is delivered and creative opportunities to assess skills and knowledge without in-person activity. Now that we “broke the ice,” online education, in some form, is and will remain part of a culinary curriculum. Whether fully remote or through various hybrid programs including some level of in-person assessment or short residencies, there is no turning back. Online education will continue to improve the way we deliver what it takes to be a successful cook and chef.
“Culinary education is constantly evolving to meet the demands of an ever-changing foodservice industry,” says ACF Chef Michael L. Carmel, CEC, CCE , department head, the Culinary Institute of Charleston. “As educators step up to meet these changes, the idea behind the words ‘mise en place’ still holds true. Educators now compete with technological advances that bring students instantaneous culinary knowledge that used to take chefs years to learn. To advance in our careers, we must continue to embrace technology so we can deliver our curriculum and impart meaningful skills to our students, whether in a physical teaching kitchen, virtually online or even through AI [artificial intelligence]. Our ‘mise en place’ must be our willingness and shared passion to learn new modalities and to continue to be effective educators.”
Ongoing Learning and Relationship-Building
The demands on chefs and the growing need for a different skill set are driving colleges to rethink the scope of connection with their students and graduates.
The belief that a culinary education never ends opens the door to a plethora of continuing education initiatives, refresher courses, advanced certifications, retreats, workshops, webinars and online courses designed to serve students or graduates wherever they are on their career ladder. (Don’t forget, the ACF Online Learning Center offers a host of beginner and refresher courses for students, mid-career and seasoned professionals to earn continuing education hours and specialized certificates.)
Culinary educators also recognize the growing importance of building relationships with other food industry leaders — and vice versa. A student’s education must include real-world application if that student is to be “kitchen ready” at graduation. Industry leaders need to communicate with schools so that there is a deeper understanding of expectations from graduates. Those same schools must help to “train the trainer” so that there is continuity in what is offered and how students are assessed.
In decades to come, this relationship will need to continue to improve — we share common goals.
These are exciting times for the culinary field, those involved in culinary education and the next generation of young cooks who will continue to move the profession forward. The foundations remain paramount, a new skill set is essential, knowledge is power, and strong relationships
Click here for more stories in the Sept/Oct 2024 issue of National Culinary Review, published by the American Culinary Federation.
