Bachelors Culinary Arts Degree

Getting a culinary arts degree is the initial step in reaching one’s aspiration to become a culinary expert, a professional chef or a renowned hotelier. If you are also considering going into a culinary arts program and eventually earning your degree, you need to understand that there are also various areas which subdivide the culinary realm. When you get into the school, you will realize that you need to decide about specialization—whether it is pastry making, international cooking or others. You also have to know what you intend to become after finishing the degree. Do you want to work in hotels and restaurants, be an expert in creating intricate cakes and pastries or manage an establishment?

Different schools and institutions call their culinary arts degree by different names. Among the common ones include Bachelor of Arts in Restaurant or Hospitality Management, Baking and Pastry Arts, Culinary Management or Culinary Arts. Oftentimes, students are also given the chance to major in one specific culinary aspect like wine and liquor, dessert or pastry making, bread making and others.

Skills to Learn

photo credit: flickr.com/DC Central Kitchen

When looking for a culinary arts degree that you will enroll in, there are two major aspects that you need to consider. It is best to scrutinize the curriculum and check out both the theoretical and practical aspects of the program.

What exactly are these? The theoretical aspect should teach you about the chemistry of food, familiarize you with the origin and characteristics of various cuisines, inform you about pioneers of culinary arts and a whole lot of other basic information. This will be the foundation of your culinary knowledge. On the other hand, the practical aspect should improve your skills, allow you to try out various techniques and actually do a whole lot of kitchen work. Combining both the theoretical and practical side of culinary should give you a well-rounded education which will prepare you for your future profession in this field.

Different schools may slightly vary when it comes to the details in their curriculum. However, there are certain basic topics which are often included such as Food Preparation, Cost Management, Creating New Menu, Sanitation and Hygiene, Inventory Management, Catering Planning and these are just to mention a few.

Career After Graduation

What will happen to you after graduating from a culinary arts degree? Yes, this program is designed to enable individuals to become professional chefs one day. If you finish your degree from an accredited school, you may eventually start up as a kitchen chef, venture into catering or become a personal chef. Excellent performance makes it easy to be promoted as sous chef and even head chef in no time.

Aside from becoming a professional chef, culinary arts degree will also open up a lot of career opportunities. With extensive knowledge about cost control, inventory management, employee supervising and customer relation, it is also possible to eventually become a hotel or restaurant manager or get other administrative positions. If you want to explore new horizons on your own, you might want to endeavor into catering business, pastry making or cake designing and a whole lot of other great business opportunities.