With the boom in the hospitality industry, the occupation of chef has become one of the most well-paid. It carries with it not just the pay but the prestige and entry into collateral business opportunities like television shows, books and personal appearances. How to become a chef and where to get the education to become one has given rise to cooking colleges and universities around the world where state-of-the-art cooking methods are taught.

Because cooking classes have become a necessity in modern living, it was inevitable that cooking colleges would emerge to upgrade and professionalize cooking methods. A cooking college or culinary school is one that is dedicated to the art and science of food preparation. It goes beyond just teaching students cooking methods and how to prepare dishes but elevates the requirements and curricula to match those of the more traditional professions like accountancy, engineering and business.

Cooking colleges and universities have developed to the point where they rival the standard educational institutions. Located in almost all major cities around the world, cooking colleges offer a wide range of courses starting from basic culinary education to specialization if the different areas of cooking methods.Cooking colleges subject students to intensive training and issue degrees to certify to the proficiency and expertise of the student. These certifications are recognized by hotels, restaurants, resorts and other components of the hospitality industry. They provide the graduate with not just knowledge of expert cooking methods but also accreditation and the key to lifetime career of security and comfort.

The oldest and most venerable of the cooking colleges is Le Cordon Bleu, founded in Paris in 1895. For those in the hospitality industry, graduates of the school would be holding the equivalent of an MBA from Harvard or Wharton in traditional businesses, or from MIT in the sciences. The school has expanded by offering courses in other parts of the world. In the USA, the first of the cooking colleges was Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery in Boston, set up in 1902. Other cooking colleges, like the Baltimore International College or the Stratford University award an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree to the cooking school graduates. Still other cooking colleges like the Manchester Community College in Connecticut have their graduates certified by the American Culinary Federation, the largest organization of professional chefs in North America.

availability of top-notch culinary education from cooking colleges has opened the opportunity for aspiring chefs to choose the right school for their area of preference. Many cooking colleges have carved out for themselves specific areas of cooking methods. Some concentrate on courses in regional cooking or specific styles of cooking. All this has accrued to the benefit not just of the profession itself but to individual students who now have numerous options with which to develop their individual talents.

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