There was a time in my kids’ lives when two of them entertained the idea of taking up a culinary course. Well, sort of. They were in high school and to be honest, they were not really that active in the kitchen so I was not sure then if it was just wishful thinking or a serious career plan.
Our dilemma then was that we knew next to nothing about the culinary arts. My husband and I were both graduates of business courses. What did we know about baking and cooking? Our kids eventually ended up studying in the school of their choice (the blue school in Katipunan) taking other courses. That blue school, many years later, opened its own culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu, but by then, all my kids had already graduated. What one of my daughters does now when she suddenly gets the culinary urge is to enroll in short courses offered by a popular local chef. Another daughter who now lives far from us has learned on her own how to cook several dishes. Her Facebook photo album is now filling up with different kinds of dishes she has learned to whip up.
It would have helped us if we had more information back then about the course, the different specialties, the majors and degrees offered, and other kinds of information. At least, our kids would have had some initial guidance in deciding if a cooking career was really for them.
I just recently came across — culinaryschools.org — a culinary resource site loaded with information for anyone considering a career in the culinary field. It may be a bit late for us but if you have a budding chef among your kids, you will want to check it out. I explored the site and found information that cuts across all ages — from the very young who just want to be Mama’s kitchen helper to students thinking of a culinary career or already in it and looking to pursue their Masters.
The sidebar on the lefthand side of the home page gives you a site map of all the interesting information found inside. Let me run down some of the types of information and activities in the site that I personally found useful or interesting.
Types of chefs – Gosh! I thought there were only a few types of chefs. Because of this site, I saw at least 10 types of chefs! There’s a chef for sauces, fish, grills, meats, pastries, soups, and the list goes on. Reading through the list can help your child better decide on the specialization, if any, he/she would like to get into.
Listing of culinary schools – You can search for top schools in the United States or do a search by city or state for schools near you. Even international schools across different continents are listed, including Asia (awwww, the Philippines is not yet on this list of countries but maybe we will be included down the road as we already have some really good culinary schools!). This listing is helpful if your child wants to study abroad, take a specialty course, or pursue a Master’s degree.
Listing of majors and degrees – The site explains different degrees of studies — from certificate programs to a full-blown Bachelor’s degree and further on to a Master’s program. I found it pretty exhaustive as it showed how you could go from a general culinary arts course to specializations such as baking/pastry arts or even specializing in wine, spirits and beverages (will we eventually have a barista course as well?).
Job outlook and salaries – This site even includes current statistics on employment of chefs as well as other workers in the food industry such as bartenders, waitresses, and food preparation workers. Not only will this be useful for those looking for a culinary career but also gives entrepreneurs running restaurants and other food and beverage businesses an idea of the going salary levels for different job types.
Health calculators – During this 2-year quarantine period, I gained inches around the waist as well as pounds. This section has three calculators for weight loss, body fat, and calories lost during a workout. I badly need to lose some weight around the belly so I did several iterations of weight using the body fat calculator. Based on this calculator, I should not reach 113 lbs or else I move from ‘Acceptable’ to ‘Obese’.
Measurement conversion – Even homemakers will find this section useful. Isn’t it confusing to have to convert recipe ingredient measurements from the imperial system to the metric system, or vice versa? This has always been a struggle. Thankfully, culinaryschools.org’s conversion calculator offers different conversion options as you can see in the dropdown menu below.
Cooking games for kids – Keep your younger kids (and even the older ones) entertained or whet their interest in cooking with over a hundred cooking games in culinaryschools.org. They can learn how to follow basic recipes, teach them about different types of food and which ones are healthy and unhealthy, slice and dice games, simulation games to teach them how to manage restaurant resources while attending to customers, and so much more! Favorite TV characters such as SpongeBob, Tom & Jerry, and Scooby Doo will keep them preoccupied for hours. Older kids will love the puzzle, simulation, and arcade games.
Here’s an easy one – Be Cool Scooby Doo Sandwich Tower. It is a towering sandwich building game where you must make a delicious towering sandwich for members of the gang. Just move the arrow keys left or right to catch the right ingredients and create the tallest sandwich you can make. A bonus round after every level gives Scooby Doo a chance to catch bone treats.
Want a more challenging one? I have Cooking Diary on my phone where you have to serve customers within a certain time. So one of the games I tried out on culinaryschools.org was Burger Time. Warning, guys, it is not as easy as you think.
There are other kinds of information you can find on culinaryschools.org if you take time to explore it. You and your child can spend hours reading and playing on this one site alone. Older children (and you!) will appreciate the additional knowledge and tools available here, whether they are pursuing a culinary career or simply want to expand their cooking skills at home.