COOKING
A cook's profession
In order to be able to achieve a cook?s profession it is necessary - after having finished the basic education - to pass a three years? apprenticeship in a restaurant or catering and accommodation business which is connected with the attendance of a vocational school and the following final examination of apprenticeship.
A cook's profession means various possibilities of working fields. It requires abilities and skills such as occupational mobility, creativity and flexibility which have become very important in present working situations. These attitudes are necessary requirements for working in a cook's profession. Making an occupational career as cook it is very important to connect tradition with innovation (i.e. old, well-known recipes are going to be changed regarding to healthy food preparation and also used according to them). Further personal abilities and skills as a distinctive sense of taste, creativity, imagination as well as a talent for organization and conception are required from a cook.
A cook's profession includes different activities which are quite important for the preparation of dishes.
The preparatory work is essential and means:
- preparing the menu under consideration of seasonal offers
- calculating the necessary quantity of food which is required
- purchasing the foodstuff which is missing
- providing the kitchen equipment which is needed for several dishes.
Regarding the preparation of the dishes the kitchen equipment which is necessary for the various dishes is being used. The cook has to know which kind of kitchen equipment and when it can be used and how much time you can save by using it. After having prepared the dishes they are served on plates.
Hereby the cook's creativity can be shown through a great visual impact. This profession also offers a lot of opportunities for specialization. It is not the task of a single cook to be responsible for all things such as preparatory work or the preparation of various dishes.
The following specializations are possible:
- Preparing the respective menu
- Providing the foodstuff which is required
- Supervising and organizing the entire kitchen staff
- Potager (soup cook and vegetable cook) specialized in soups and vegetable
- Saucier (sauce cook) specialized in sauces
- Rotisseur (roast cook) specialized in egg-, pasta- and pastry-dishes
- Poissionier (fish cook) specialized in fish-dishes
- Patissier (pastry cook) specialized in sweets
The opportunities of occupation as well as the possibilities for making a career in this profession are also very varied. As cook you might find employment in different fields of occupation:
In factory canteens, hospital canteens, restaurants, hotels, medical institutions, on ships, trains with a dining-car etc.
The possibility for making a career is totally focused on the location of the function.
After having finished the apprenticeship the young cook is able to become Chef de cuisine (head chef) and Exekutivchef (kitchen director), manager, hotel manager or even owner of a restaurant.
The award of the so called Hauben as decoration for special capability can also be seen and regarded as occupational advancement and as a jump in one?s career.
Aims:
The main aim of this e-learning programme is to acquire basic knowledge of regional cuisines. After finishing this programme participants are able to create professionally and independently seasonal menus containing attractive and typical dishes, in order to show customers a part of the local culture.
Basic knowledge and requirements:
Experience in cooking is necessary, either a finished apprenticeship or three years experience as kitchen assistant.
The course regional cooking contains:
- Preparation techniques
- Purchasing and storage
- Food conservation
- Hygiene standards
- Seasonal products
- Sources of supply
- Historical sources of food, recipies and about the adaptation of recipies to current nutrition standards