# Opinions Wanted



## stacey2685 (Dec 13, 2004)

I am currently a student at the Culinary Institute of Canada and i am in my 2nd year. I graduate in May. Right now i debating weather or not i want to come back to school or not next year for my pastry arts. i dunno if its going to do me any good or not! I'm also confused about where i wanna go, and what i want to do for the rest of my life, i know i want to stay in this business, but i dunno if i want to travel alot...where? 
Its alot of stress on the mind of a 19 yr old....

just can i have some advice on what to do, on anything i should know, b4 making the decision, anything u think i should know! 

:chef: Stace


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## tytitan (Apr 6, 2004)

Maybe you should make out a list of possible avenues that you want to pursue than write down pros and cons of each and make your decision that way. It has worked for me in the past.

Are you taking up culinary now?


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## stacey2685 (Dec 13, 2004)

ya, i'm doing the culinary arts program now, i'm in my 2nd year, and graduate in may


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## cookmonster (Oct 15, 2004)

Whether you are going into food styling, chefdom, specializing in garde manger, etc...I would recommend taking pastry, for several reasons. If you are in fact looking to be a chef you need to know pastries in the event your pastry guy is out that day. NOt only that, but as chef you are still responsible for managing inventory and usually purchasing, etc... Not to mention as chef, you should know what goes on in your kitchen and what is coming out of it. 

On a smaller scale, you may need to know how to make certain doughs used in savory applications, and you may need to understand what makes a good baguette that you may want to serve to your customers. 


There's more but just think about that stuff first and good luck...


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## squigon (Dec 26, 2004)

Hellow it's quite common to now know what to do! So dont panic or feel bad  Most of the students we come into contact with here in Asia also go through this stage. 

If you're really interested in pastry, then go for it. But we find the students who get into the work first come back with a greater sense of what they really want to do. so the idea is to get into the industry and have a feel of it. Then you might end up being more certain about what you want to do.

There are so so so so many careers possible for a chef. Besides restaurants, hotels and food service, there is food styling, writing, product development, etc. And within restaurants there is franchise, gourmet, fine dining, etc. But until you really start working you have no idea what your strengths are.

The other thing is to travel and chef for a bit. We had a chef David who did exactly that and found he loved to be a private chef. That he has to know from mains to desserts in that profession. And he lives cruising on yachts. Great improvisor. Doesnt like plannign too much. So when the yacht docks, he goes to the market, learns about the local ingredients and just whips up a meal.

Not sure if this helps at all! but its really my 2 cents worth. Hope you find you way.


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## newbiecook (Oct 17, 2004)

Hi there 
I'm a culinary student as well I'm currently in my last yr of my apprenticeship, so I know what your going through.
Have you had many jobs in the industry?
It seems to me like Pastry chefs are slowly dying out I know of very few pastry chefs, like at almost every place I've worked we have had most of our pastrys bought in.
If you want to go ont to Pastry I think that it would be a good experiance and if your good at it you can make a lot of money.
I guess you have to dabble into a bit of all aspects to see where you yourself want to specialize.
I've been working in the industry since I was 17 and I'm now 24 and I still have no clue what direction I was to go in.
Hopefully I've helped if you want to chat more or bounce off ideas from one student to another don't hesitate to msg me.
Take Care and Good Luck


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## sam2 (Jan 5, 2005)

check out this link "http://www.castlezaman.com/contacts.htm" could be a dream start for your carear ....goodluck


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