Careers for Gourmets & Others Who Relish Food, Second Edition

by Mary Donovan

Book Overview

Careers for Gourmets & Others Who Relish Food lets you explore the job market through the unique lens of your own interest. It reveals dozens of ways to pursue your passion for food and make a living--including the training and education needed to polish your hobby and interest into a satisfying career.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071387285
• ISBN13: 9780071387286
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

What a great book!

I have decided to go to pastry school and wanted to know what other option there are instead of working in a kitchen. This book give every career imagineable for the cooking industry. It give the pros and cons of going into that field. I have been greatly enlighten.

Excellent Book

This was an excellent book for the person that wants to become a chef. I want to become a chef and this book was very helpful to me. I enjoyed this book very much. Thank you for publishing a book that is this informative.

Bring your culinary career into focus!!

Much of the growth in the culinary arts has taken place without notice. Most people still associate the role of the chef in the kitchen as the only outlet for someone who has a passion for food. They are unaware of the many possibilities that exist from research and development to writing about food. Mary Donovan's Careers for Gourmets and Others Who Relish Food is an essential culinary resource, allowing people with a passion for food to determine the best path to follow in the culinary industry.She presents the culinary arts in a straight-ahead manner that helps to dispel many commonly held notions. The public's perception of the cook is gained from the TV chefs who never sweat on camera and never seem to be under any stress. Instead the first chapter explains in detail the rigors and the demands that this industry will place upon a person's life. The long hours, poor initial pay and high stress levels are rarely discussed with those entering the industry through culinary schools. In a segment entitled "Do you have what it takes?" she asks the reader to reflect upon individual characteristics that determine whether a person is suited for cooking in a kitchen. With questions such as "Will you be happy working with food every single day" to "How do you feel about working holidays" the reader is able to gage their own strengths and weaknesses. These questions are not intended to discourage those who do not possess the mentality for production cooking. Instead these people are encouraged to look for jobs in other sectors of the food business.The first half of the book looks at the different positions in the classical kitchen brigade and how they interact in a normal business day in three different kitchen types. From the managerial tasks of the executive chef to the hands-on production of the station cooks each station's good and bad points are discussed. After the production kitchen roles are presented some of the more unusual niches in the culinary industry are uncovered. The entire spectrum from personal chefs and chefs who own their own lunch carts to jobs in research and development and food photography. In each of these jobs the key to success was only to have a passion for food. The final section of this book is devoted to helping the hopeful culinarian to navigate the interview process. From personal experience, I found the list of sample questions to be in line with what the average employer will ask. Perhaps the best piece of advice in the entire book is the section on networking. This is a tactic that involves creating a series of working relationships. This is a good way not only find other jobs but also to exchange in new ideas and perspectives. One of the main drawbacks of this book is that it does not contain a chapter devoted to the expanding role of computers in the culinary arts. With the advent of computerized point-of-sale systems and software designed to make ordering