Become a fine dining chef
To become a fine dining chef you will have to attend a culinary school that provides theoretical and practical training in all disciplines and aspects of cooking. The Prue Leith College of Food and Wine is just such a culinary school and it will open a completely new world for you in the field of culinary art.
Advisory board maintains standards
The Prue Leith College of Food and Wine has been producing top class graduates through superior educational standards that are maintained by a board of advisers that comprises of three members, the patron of the college Prue Leith, Heinz Brunner president of the South African Chefs Association and Billy Gallagher Director of food and beverage for Southern Sun. The advisors ensure that the schools curriculum is equal to and surpasses international standards.
Curriculum overview
The curriculum was developed to meet the growing demand for fine dining chefs in South Africa and not only provide skills training in the culinary department. Students also receive training in financial management, basic business skills and general managerial skills. To see a complete breakdown of the course content you can request a prospective from the college or visit the website where you can download the prospectus.
To qualify as a fine dining chef you will have to complete the eighteen-month diploma course that commences in either January or July. You will be thought how to taste and develop your pallet as this will be the first order of business. One of the prerequisites of becoming a culinary master is to have a passion for food and a love for wine.
A good culinary expert can cook, but a brilliant fine dining chef perfects the art of marrying food and wine. To accomplish this art, the college requires students to complete the Cape Wine Academy certificate course as part of the curriculum in order to graduate. In this course, the emphasis is placed on South African wines and the use of wine with food.
There is more to becoming a fine dining chef than matching food and wine. Students must master other skills such as knife skills, menu planning and costing, different cooking techniques and pastry making. The Prue Leith College also presents a diploma in pastry making and this is awarded to a student that does extremely well in the art of pastry making.
Campus and group size
Prue Leith can accommodate up to ninety students at a time. Only thirty students can be accepted per course and not all ninety students are always at the college in the same period. Students are assigned to five star kitchens, hotels and lodges, locally and internationally, to complete the third semester’s practical training. Although the Prue Leith culinary art school is small, it has a reputation of being one of the finest culinary schools in the world.
Finding work
Because it is a reputable culinary institution students graduating from Prue Leith are placed almost immediately after graduating. The network of partners built over the last decade also enables the school to place graduates in suitable positions at top of the range institutions.
Get a competitive edge
Becoming a fine dining chef will be very rewarding. Although fine dining chefs are in high demand, the market is still very competitive and the top or executive position will not fall into your lap. You will have to distinguish yourself from other cooks and although graduating from Prue Leith already gives you an advantage over other candidates, you still want to ensure that you get the position. Graduating with distinction is one way of doing that and gaining as much work experience as possible during you eighteen-month diploma course might just give you the edge. Another factor to consider is specializing in a particular culinary field as it will set you apart from other cooks that have no specific vocation.
To be a top class fine dining chef you also need to develop your own cooking style that will bring a unique flavor to the table. After graduation, you should stay abreast of cooking trends, locally and internationally, but instead of just copying trends you should incorporate it into your cooking style. Contact us today and book early to avoid disappointment.
