Pretending to be official Cooking profession thread

Tchernobog (Banned) · 09-09-2008, 06:28 PM

Who in here has a job in the foodservice profession? Fryer jockey at mcdonalds, or executive chef, post up so we know who's an idiot, and who knows their stuff.

Personally, cooking is in my blood. My pops is a CMC (certified master chef) his dad was a CEC, and I've worked the hotline with my pops for about 3 and a half years now.

NickThePyro · 09-09-2008, 06:32 PM

I am a chef at a very nice golf course restaurant. All my relatives have cooked for sometime and my Uncle was the head chef at a large community collage up untill a couple years ago. Cooking is fun if you have a passion for it but it becomes tedious after a while. And memorizing a huge menu is not fun

Snake_Pal · 09-09-2008, 06:37 PM

I have been training to be a sandwich artist for the past 3 years (person who makes the sandwiches for the pictures on the menu for drive through line and subways) 1 more year till i can get certified as a processional sandwich maker
:no

:

IplayforRelentless · 09-09-2008, 06:41 PM

What does CEC stand for?

NickThePyro · 09-09-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IplayforRelentless

What does CEC stand for?

Chuck E Cheeses?

Tchernobog (Banned) · 09-09-2008, 06:51 PM

Certified Executive Chef.

TeamShellShock · 09-10-2008, 12:56 AM

I'm a line cook at the Brown palace.

MC_chicken (Banned) · 09-10-2008, 11:35 AM

i have been trying to get a job in a culinary profession
in culinary class in high school i did amazing
and i looked into cooking schools but just cant afford them
i have been trying to find a job in the culinary profession
or i might just sign up for job corps because i can do culinary there and it could help me get a cooking job thats what my teacher in high school said

DoubleZero · 09-13-2008, 01:02 PM

I just noticed that there was a food section. Cool.

I started washing dishes and chopping onions in a small family owned restaurant when I was 13 (I lied about my age and got away with it). Since then I have spent the last 25 years in the business all over the country. I have worked in restaurants in a few cities in Northern Cali, Anna Maria Island in Florida, Deerfield Beach, FL, Athens Ohio, Chapel Hill NC, and have been in New Orleans for the last 12 years or so. I also picked up random jobs in other cities as I bummed around the country for several years as I passed through places.

I have worked as a line cook, prep cook, Sous Chef, and Executive Chef for small family owned restaurants to large corprate gigs. I have done everythign from bar food in small Bar and Grill establishemnts to menu development for a brand new fine dining restaurant in New Orleans.

I am currently working for one of the largest catering facilities in New Orleans (the only two facilities in the city that have us beat in terms of volume are the Louisiana Superdome and the Convention Center, and our food is higher quality). I started with this company as the Sous Chef, but have moved out of the culinary side due to burnout. I am now the Executive Steward, and in charge of every piece of equipment that our catering department uses, from flatware and china to trucks, coolers, ovens, and forklifts. We have multiple venues in the city. We handle all private funtions at the Aquarium of the Americas, The Audubon Golf Club, the brand new Audubon Insectarium, The Louisiana Swamp Exhibit on the ground of the Audubon Zoo, and The Audubon Tea Room (one of the premier venues in the city, especially for weddings. We have a minimum $10k food purchase on top of venue rental, and we stay booked), just to name a few. We occasionally do offsite events, but prefer to use our own facilities. We do events ranging from small continental business breakfsts for 10 people to seated 5 course dinners for 500 people, to receptions for 30,000 people.

The Executive Chef is a very good friend of mine, and I still get to help out on the culinary side of things too, just to keep me on my toes. It's in my blood, and I cannot imagine ever NOT cooking.

Additionally, I am currently helping a friend of mine revamp the menu for his sports bar. We decided that just because you're at a sports bar to watch a game you shouldn't be stuck eating nachos, chili cheese fries, or burgers. We are implementing a menu that would normally be found at higher end restaurants, not a sports bar. Hopefully it will go well. We will introduce our first 5 new menu items tonight for the LSU game. Should be cool.

I am looking forward to joining the food discussion here for sure.

empirepb29 · 09-13-2008, 01:09 PM

I grew up watching the chefs in a kitchen at PGA cook meals for golf pros and now i just cook because i love it.

jcdenton69 · 09-13-2008, 01:35 PM

I watch the food network every day so I must be a chef, rite?

CrJenkins13 · 09-14-2008, 11:35 AM

I haven't got any experience from the restaurant side of things, but will be starting to work at Applebee's in a week. I'll learn a lot from that, hopefully. But I've been cooking next to my father for a long time, and now that I've moved out on my own, I've been cooking pretty often. I'm not gonna say I'm amazing or the best, but I've had people tell me some of the things I cook are the best they've ever had(when compared to their parents cooking), so as long as they're happy, I'm happy.

wakesideskater14 · 09-14-2008, 06:27 PM

my dad is a corporate chef for a a kitchen equipment distributor. they sell hoshisaki, alto shaam, etc. for those who work in a restaurant kitchen. he owned/operated a tons restaurants in the past as well. so he taught me most of what i know. and then ive been working in a local restaurant for a few years now so i picked up a bit there. alot of my knowledge came from experimenting though. also of course...the food network haha

SuMkRaZiEpAiNtBaLlEr · 09-14-2008, 07:49 PM

I work Subway as a Sandwich Artist. Does that count?

DarkEnigma · 09-14-2008, 07:50 PM

I work at McDonalds. It's not as bad as people make it to be, but it's not the best.

t(-_-t) · 09-14-2008, 08:18 PM

I'm a barista.. does that count?

UberBackMan · 09-14-2008, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MC_chicken

i have been trying to get a job in a culinary profession
in culinary class in high school i did amazing
and i looked into cooking schools but just cant afford them
i have been trying to find a job in the culinary profession
or i might just sign up for job corps because i can do culinary there and it could help me get a cooking job thats what my teacher in high school said

I take it you are trying to get a job in the culinary profession?

NickThePyro · 09-15-2008, 04:55 PM

Last night at work I was bored and tried to make chicken Alfredo with out a recipe. It wasnt too bad surprisingly. Kinda used too much white wine and not enough cream.

Furious_J · 09-16-2008, 11:44 AM

What you don't have it memorized?

DoubleZero · 09-16-2008, 01:04 PM

things like alfredo will become second nature after making them just a few times. I know very few chefs who use recipes for any of their daily prep items or standard dishes. I also know very few chefs who actually measure ingredients unless baking. Eventually you will be able to just grap/dump/pour your measurements with a surprising degree of accuracy.

I hate it when somebody asks me for a recipe for one of my own dishes. I have to make it and measure the ingredients before adding them as I go, writing it down. I cook using the "some, a bit, a dash, a pinch, enough, needs a little more" method of measuring when creating dishes. That's why I hate baking. Baking is the scientific side of the culinary arts, requiring very specific time, quatitiy, and temperature controls. Cooking is the artistic side (not that bakers aren't artistic, but you know what I mean), it allows you much more freedom to wing it, and to adjust things on the fly to achieve your personal end goal.

DoubleZero · 09-16-2008, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MC_chicken

i looked into cooking schools but just cant afford them
i have been trying to find a job in the culinary profession

It is one of the easiest industries to break into and become successful without the assistance of formal training. Just be willing to start at the bottom, learn from those willing to teach, be reliable and dependable, and you WILL move up. I started as a dishwasher, helped prep when I could until I learned enough to get a job as a prep cook. Then I spent as much time on the line as I could, helping out whenever the opportunity presented itself. The cooks saw my motivation and desire to learn, so they taught me whatever they could. When somebody didn't show up for their shift, I jumped in and took their spot on the line, never givng him the opportunity to get his job back. I continued that method of advancement all the way to being the number two guy in one of the top venues in a city known for its food. Actual real life job experience means far more to most operators than theoretical classroom/test kitchen training.

Sorry for the double post.