Culinary School
Posted by Amber411 on Feb 22, 2011 · Member since Oct 2007 · 18 posts
I plan on starting Culinary School next fall. My only dilemma being the obvious...I don't eat meat. I toured the school awhile ago and they told me about a girl who was a vegan but at school she would still taste the meat dishes for the sake of educational purposes and suggested I consider doing the same thing.
What do I do?
Definitely a personal decision! You will obviously have to cook many (all?) meat/dairy/egg dishes, and most probably taste them often.
There are also some different options, such as this: http://veganculinaryacademy.com/
Personally I would go to a vegetarian or vegan school, I'd have a problem giving money to a place that couldn't accomodate my beliefs. But if you want to cook meat for a living I guess you'd have to suck it up.
It's totally up to you and what you're comfortable with. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable cooking and tasting any animal products, no matter how educational.
Not that it's the same thing as going to a culinary school, but I was vegetarian growing up, but I was still the main cook of the house. I don't really know why now, but I cooked meat for my parents (I was only like 14! give me a break!). I never tasted it, just guessed on seasonings, asked for recommendations from meat-eaters, and tried my best. Is there any way you could cook the meat and not have to taste it? Probably not?
Thanks for all the advice :) I think I will try and see if there are any other options besides having to taste it. I really don't want to but at the same time being a chef is my dream. Such a conundrum
That's why I never went to culinary school! I've been vegan 20 yrs. and didn't want to compromise on tasting animal products in food. When I started cooking, I didn't know of any vegan schools, so I just built up my career w/o formal training. It can be done, but it's totally understandable if you want to go to school for it!
Good luck - I'm sure it will work out! :)
That's why I never went to culinary school! I've been vegan 20 yrs. and didn't want to compromise on tasting animal products in food. When I started cooking, I didn't know of any vegan schools, so I just built up my career w/o formal training. It can be done, but it's totally understandable if you want to go to school for it!
Good luck - I'm sure it will work out! :)
I thought about going without formal training but I no one around me seems to take me seriously unless I do lol Maybe it is a confidence thing. How did you go about learning?
so is your dream to cook meat for people? cause if it is that's fine (albeit weird) and you should go to culinary school and not taste the meat (if possible, if it's not possible personally i wouldn't go... but my dream would not be to cook meat for people, either). If your dream is to be a vegan chef i wouldn't go to culinary school. period.
Yeah, but if she's going to prepare animal for people, she'll need to taste it. Otherwise, how will she know if it's any good. I can't imagine being good at your job as a chef if you don't taste the food and if you're not good at your job, I can't imagine being able to keep one.
Well, it might be easier to get a feel for how I've built up my business by looking at the "about" page of my website, here: http://www.radianthealth-innerwealth.com/about.html
I will say that it took many years to become professional. I started out by trial & error, using the knowledge I already had, mainly from my Grandma & Mom. But in any line of work, you often have to put in the time before it pays off!
I went to culinary school, and being pescatarian from birth, I never tasted anything with non seafood meat in it and still got A's or B's in those classes. The key is acting professional about it. Having a few allergies (like lavender, red food dye, etc), actually caused more problems, because I couldn't be in the classroom/kitchen during those days and just wrote up reports in lieu of doing the lab work.
We also had minors in our wine studies classes. They didn't drink, just sniffed and observed the visual attributes, those that did their studies, Aced their finals even.
Depending on where you are, there can be a stigma against you, but I find if you treat it as a medical fact: after you stop eating a certain family of foods, for a certain amount of time, your body stops producing the enzymes that enable you to digest it. They can't force you to become sick.
after you stop eating a certain family of foods, for a certain amount of time, your body stops producing the enzymes that enable you to digest it. They can't force you to become sick.
This reminds me of work. I was told that if food is included in a conference or hotel stay, we can't claim a food expense for that meal, even if we can't eat what's being offered because being vegan "is a choice". Huh? It'll make me sick!
I went to culinary school, and being pescatarian from birth, I never tasted anything with non seafood meat in it and still got A's or B's in those classes. The key is acting professional about it. Having a few allergies (like lavender, red food dye, etc), actually caused more problems, because I couldn't be in the classroom/kitchen during those days and just wrote up reports in lieu of doing the lab work.
We also had minors in our wine studies classes. They didn't drink, just sniffed and observed the visual attributes, those that did their studies, Aced their finals even.
Depending on where you are, there can be a stigma against you, but I find if you treat it as a medical fact: after you stop eating a certain family of foods, for a certain amount of time, your body stops producing the enzymes that enable you to digest it. They can't force you to become sick.
Thanks for the tips. Sounds like I should be fine then as long as I am professional about it as you said. What school did you go to?
I attended the Western Culinary Institute chapter of the Le Cordon Bleu.
I wouldn't taste it. I would stand up for my beliefs.