All About Mastering the Culinary Arts

Cooking is no longer confined to the traditional kitchen. It has stepped out to become a high-flying career giving good chefs celebrity status, says career counselor Usha Albuquerque.

“These chefs command high salaries and are amongst the highest paid professionals in the hospitality industry. So, this is a good career choice as the growth of the hospitality and catering business has indicated an enormous demand for trained people in this field,” she adds.

There are different kinds of courses – certificate, diploma and degree level – in culinary arts or food production, which can be pursued after a bachelor’s degree in hotel management.

However, the course in hotel management must have also included a specialization in food service, or chef training.

“Many of the hotel management institutes also offer diploma courses in food and beverage service and bakery and confectionary. There are also short-term courses of six months to one year’s duration - conducted by the government-run Food Craft Institutes in most state capitals. These courses in food and beverage service, cookery craft, bakery and confectionary are geared towards training candidates for direct entry into the industry,” says Albuquerque.

In addition, there are private institutes which offer diplomas in culinary arts, as well as shorter courses in baking, pastry arts, and other related areas.

In India some of the institutes that provide such training include:

Culinary Academy of India, Hyderabad - it offers a postgraduate diploma in culinary arts, as also an 18-month craft certification course in food production

Indian Institute of Hotel Management and Culinary Arts, affiliated to Osmania University, also in Hyderabad - it offers a one-and-a-half year certificate course in food production and patisserie

Goa College of Hospitality and Culinary Education, which offers a one-year postgraduate diploma in chef management as well as certificate courses in food production and F&B service at the popular Cidade de Goa hotel

ITM School of Culinary Arts in Mumbai - it offers a two-year full-time diploma programme focusing on advanced culinary techniques and skills

Redcarpet Hotel & Culinary Academy, Pune - it specializes in providing training in culinary arts and food production

Source: hindustantimes.com