Many people do not associate higher levels of education to the restaurant and food industry world. The majority of jobs that are available for line cooks in fast food restaurants, short order cooks in truck stops and food preparation workers very little education is required, in fact very few of these positions even require an applicant to have a high school diploma. However, for chefs and pastry chefs who hold more advanced specialties and job positions in the food industry a higher level of education is required and normally they are required to obtain this advanced level of education by attending an accredited school of culinary arts. Elegant restaurants and five star resorts and hotels and cruise lines look for those chefs who have the experience and have developed their cooking skills as well as the ambition and desire to continue to enhance their cooking skills in order to achieve advancement in their career.
The first step to starting your pastry chef education and training is to graduate from high school. Then find a school that offers classes and training in basic sanitation, food handling, safety and health procedures. There are school districts that have an agreement with their states department of education to provide on the job training for students who want to go on to culinary arts school to work part time in the school’s cafeteria. Paid summer internships are also offered to students of culinary arts schools by major restaurant and hotel chains, food service management companies, and resorts. Internships and on the job training helps to set the foundation for students to get the experience they need in order to advance their placement in formal chef training programs.
For advanced food preparation positions prospective employers prefer applicants to have a higher education than just a high school diploma, especially in high end hotels, resorts and restaurants. Pastry chef education and training can take anywhere from two months to two or more years to complete. There are vocational and or trade schools that offer the basic training for proper food preparation, nutrition, methods for slicing & dicing of meats and vegetables, food handling, sanitation and safe food handling procedures, and finally the basic methods for cooking, baking, grilling and broiling. Once a student has passed the basic training coursework, most schools offer more advanced training programs where the student can pick a specialty, such as pastry chef if they prefer and then move on to independent cooking schools, culinary arts institutes or even enter an two or four year degree program in culinary arts, hospitality services or the armed services.
There are five star hotels and fine dining restaurants who have their own training programs for head cooks. Even though training may vary among the different institutions that offer food preparation programs and training the one thing they all have in common is that the students learn their profession by doing it hands on day in and day out. On the job training is the key to becoming a successful pastry chef or any kind of chef. There are internships and apprenticeships to help those who attend culinary institutes gain the experience they need in order to graduate.