What to do now if i want to become a chef when i get older??

Question

I'm 13. I really love to watch cooking shows and (if my mom would let me) would like to tyr to do what they do and make the resipes they do and i want to b come a chef when i get older. What should i do now to get started in the cooking world and r there cooking colleges or schools for kids my age?? anyotehr tips??

Answer 1

Do as much cooking around the house as you can - learn from your mom as much as possible. Sometimes local community associations have cooking classes, but there may be age restrictions, you'd have to ask. Often they are at a local high school one evening a week, and don't cost much.'
Hopefully your high school offers Home Economics where you can do cooking. Sometimes high schools also offer Commercial Cooking options. Also, depending upon where you live, once you are done high school, you could take food preparation or commercial cooking courses to get certified at a community college, then move on to more established food institutes.
Good luck!

Answer 2

Aside from the obvious "cook cook cook, and take home ec" which is wise, also think about your courses for high school. I recommend besides home ec, accounting, business, marketing, creative writing, history, and language (French would be good). You'll need all those to be a chef.

And read read read. Cookbooks, cooking magazines, the history of food, gastronomy, food science, nutrition, industry trends, wine pairings (even though you can't try them out quite yet) anything you can get your hands on. It's important to understand the food along with just being able to cook it. It's the 'whys' along with the 'hows'.

Community colleges usually have a 2 year culinary arts program. From there they'll be able to help you with resources to start on the road to a certified chef school. Like the CIA or Johnson and Wales.

When you're old enough to work, get a job at a restaurant so you can watch cooks in REAL action, even if you're a dishwasher. More experience under your belt is best.

Good luck! It's stressful but fun! If you've got the passion, you'll go far.

Answer 3

Whether or not there are cooking schools for your age would depend on where you live, ask your guidance counselor at school, they should know what's available in your area. Some cities have some type of program for young chef-to-bes. Almost all high schools have a kitchen in the Home Economics classrooms.

For now I'd just say get in that kitchen and experiment, clean your messes up, Mom will much more willing to let you experiment if she knows she won't have to clean it up. Taste everything new you possibly can. See how things taste together and learn about different cuts of meat, exotic vegetables and fruits, etc. Never start smoking...smokers cannot taste food the way a non-smoker can, and to be an amazing chef you'll need your palate to be developed and alert.

Answer 4

I started at even a younger age, 11. What I did was collect as many recipes I can from where ever I could get them, and I read books on what spices work well with cooking in general. And of course I had a wonderful grandmother that would let me cook right along side her.

You say you like watching some cooking shows, and alot of them have fan clubs that you can write to. You can search for their websites and pick their brains with all the questions you want! Like I said I was self taught in cooking and I didn't go to culinary school, but as I reflect it would have been great to go to an Institute for the Culinary Arts.

Answer 5

Good for you; what a rewarding occupation!
You might not become rich, or gain nationwide or worldwide exposure; but you will bring joy to many!
I'd practice in any way available to me; at home, in school, at a friend's house (all with permission, of course). The more you practice, the better you'll get; the more naturally cooking will come to you.
I'd learn from others; Home Ec. teachers in your school, ask to become a server or do dishes in a local restaurant whose chef/cook prepares food in a style you like ("starting at the bottom" gives a person a fuller, more 'well rounded' education, as they're able to see nearly every aspect of the business), find a mentor -- parents, grandparents, a friend's parent, an older sibling, aunts, uncles, cousins, a neighbor -- someone who knows how to cook and who is willing to let you hang out and help. Important: my emphasis is on the word "help"; otherwise, you're merely hanging out... (For safety's sake: tell your family about your plans and ask permission from your folks first! Once they've given you the green light, go for it!)
So:
1. Prepare/make your plan
2. Get your folks' "okay"
3. Begin, in any constructive way, to follow that dream. (Keep in mind that following a path requires you to keep your feet on the ground).
4. Work, work, work.

Good luck to you!

Answer 6

I'm not sure why your Mom won't let you cook, as long as she's there to supervise. But every mom is different, since I started cooking at age 12 when my mom went back to work (and she *loved* not having to make dinner every night). I didn't make a career of it until I was 26. The best advice I ever recieved was to "WORK in the industry BEFORE you EVER think about culinary school!!!!" And yes, it was usually phrased that way (yelling included) by friends who work for various hotels, restaurants, etc., who had to deal with people who thought a CIA degree was enough to make them chefs when they could barely boil water without help.....

You're still only 13, same age as my little sister. You have plenty of time to decide what you're going to do. But if you already have a love for food and the passion to prepare and present it beautifully (and are willing to put up with low pay and working nights and weekends), you might want to look into your first foodservice gig as soon as your local labor laws allow. Most kitchens will start you as a dishwasher, and you work your way up from there. You'll learn more from working in a kitchen than you think! Like the old Billy Joel song says, "you'll learn more from your accidents than anything that you could ever learn in school".

Oh, and make sure you have excellent reading and writing skills. Working in a kitchen means following standardized recipes and filling out paperwork. Most chefs have no patience for people with poor writing skills because they don't want to spend an hour deciphering handwriting and/or bad spelling - one of my former bosses used to really nag us about that :)

Congrats for finding something you love to do, and good luck!!

Answer 7

Given your age - the best first step would be to attend a tech high school that offers culinary arts (if you have one arond you). If not then do what you would do to attend any other college (study, good grades, etc in regular high school) and when the time comes there are numerous culinary colleges/universities you can attend: CIA, Johnson and Wales, etc - alot of the "good" (most talked about) culinary schools are in New England/NY. Until then, research on your own and practice, practice, practice! Don't do what I did and not follow your dream.

Answer 8

Try to get your mother to allow you to experiment in the kitchen. Do as much cooking as you can in the next few years. My niece went to the Culinary Institute of America after high school. She also did a culinary arts program through her high school. They ran a restaurant. You might want to see if your high school has something like that.

Answer 9

that's great and i would like to becom a chef too since im about your age. anyway try watching cooking shows still and maybe give tips to your mom about her cooking and maybe help her once in a while

Answer 10

I havea friend who did the same thing- she took art in high school and made like cakes and things that were highly looked apon, she did cooking for all of her projects. She is nowa freshman student at the Culinary Institute of America