(Stone, 2017)

Welcome to Introduction to Culinary School.  This learning module seeks to provide you an overview of some of the basic attributes of the work of a chef, familiarize you with some of the foundational skills necessary to be a successful culinarian, and offer you the opportunity to become acquainted with the online learning environment.  You will watch short videos, read text, and engage with classmates in online discussions.  You will complete a number of quizzes and other assignments designed to further your discovery of the food service industry.

Chef Robert L. Hall, WCMC, CEC, CCE MEd

Get to Know Your Instructor:  The following resume and bio will give you an opportunity to get to know me:

Robert L. Hall - Resume & Bio

DISCUSSION:  In 100 words (or more), introduce yourself.  Who are you?  Where are you from?  What do you currently do?  Why are you interested in culinary arts?  What do you hope to gain from this class?  Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Reflect on motivations to engage in formal culinary arts education
2. Understand the attributes of successful culinary professional
3. Understand how to succeed in culinary school
4. Engage with other culinary stude

A significant question to ponder and answer for any vocation one may choose is 'why?"  Why do you want to be a chef?  If not a chef, why do you want to engage in culinary arts education?  Are you interested in some other aspect of the food service industry?  Do you want to become a better cook at home?

The work of a chef is grueling and often thankless.  The creation and evolution of food television has elevated the entire industry, casting a spot-light on everyone wearing the chef coat.  Chefs are no longer servants; the chef is now a celebrity (so is the culinary student). 

The following video clips help illuminate the things necessary to become a successful culinary professional.

It is a true reality that formal culinary education, attending culinary school, is not required to become a chef. But, the path to professional kitchen leadership and culinary autonomy is extra difficult without the specialized training that occurs in the kitchen classroom. Check out the "Education and Career Roadmap" at study.com.

DISCUSSION: In 100 words (or more), describe your motivation for culinary school and what you plan to do with this education.  Do you want to be an executive chef?  Do you want to own a restaurant or catering business? Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the past, present, and future of culinary arts
2. Engage with other culinary students

Anciently, those we might refer to as 'chef' today were skilled slaves.  They worked for the royal class, nobility, the aristocracy.  They followed a specific, though uncodified training program to ensure consistency and continuity with their production.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a great shift in the culianry industry occured.  Antonin Careme developed grande cuisine, elevating the presentation of dishes.  Auguste Escoffier developed the Kitchen Brigade, the hierarchy of the professional kitchen still practiced today.

(Miller, 2017)

As your formal culinary education begins, you should consider what the real life of a chef is.  What is portrayed on television and in movies is glamorous and exciting.  But is that real life?

What might the future of food be?  How could the future change the role of chef?

DISCUSSION: In 100 words (or more), consider the past, present or future of food and the role of chef.  What do you take away from the past?  How will your present help propel your future?  Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the essential tools needed as a culinary professional
2. Understand the anatomy and proper care of chef knives
3. Engage with other culinary students

Your success as a professional culinarian will depend, at least in small part, on the tools you use, especially your knives.  One of the most important tools for any chef is the chef's knife.  It is the workhorse of the kitchen.  The chef's knife is like a hammer to a builder or a scalpel to a surgeon.  Of course, the knife is not the only essential tool.

You can't use what you don't know much about.  In other words, you have to know the 'anatomy' of the knife if you plan to use the knife like a professional.

(Knife Skills, 2017)

Bob Kramer is a former chef and master bladesmith.  Knowing the composition of high quality knives helps a chef understand the physics of cutting and how best to care for his/her blade.  Bob shows Chef Anthony Bourdain how to make a chef's knife.

A sharp knife is a safe knife; a sharp knife is an effecient tool.  If the blade of the knife is sharp, I mean razor sharp, then the knife will be doing all the work.  If the knife is even slightly dull, then the chef has to force each cut.  If a finger gets in the way, off the finger goes (and that does NOT make for a good dish).  Bob Kramer, the master bladesmith, teaches the very best methods for keeping your blades as sharp as possible.

DISCUSSION: In 100 words (or more), discuss the most important knives in your knife roll.  Why do you choose that knife (or those knives) as most important to you? Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the fundamentals of classical cutting technique
2. Practice specific classical knife cuts
3. Engage with other culinary students

Before moving directly to the classical knife cuts used by professional chefs, it is important to understand the proper way to hold and handle your knife.  With proper technique, your knife skills with improve with practice.

(Discala, 2012)

The cuts you're about to review must be practiced in order to acquire the skills.  Begin slowly, as slowly as necessary so that each cut is perfect.  Remember - practice makes permanent.  Be patient with yourself and don't expect your productivity will be the same as a professional who has cut for decades.

The following chart will help with your hands-on project for this course:

(Carrillo, 2019)

PROJECT:  Choose 3 classical cuts.  Prepare 2 ounces of each.  Attach 4 pics on a Word document: 1) you, in full chef's uniform, standing with your 3 classical cuts; 2), 3), 4) close ups of your 3 individual cuts.  Using the Knife Cuts Rubric, you will evaluate 3 classmates' knife cuts; 3 classmates will evaluate your cuts.

DISCUSSION: In 100 words (or more), discuss the significance of practice.  How does 'practice make permanent?' Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the dynamics of taste perception
2. Engage with other culinary students

Taste is a matter of perceiving combinations of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.  Umami is a sense of richness in the foods we eat.  Our perception of these flavor elements is as varied as the number of guests in the dining room.

Smell is an important aspect of taste.  Many of our smell receptors and taste receptors are connected.  For this reason, it is possible to perceive the taste of something without actually putting something in your mouth.  Of course, you can't smell salt, sweet, bitter, or sour.

(Taram, 2013)

Taste perception is also affected by environment, upbringing, culture, geography, and even national origin.  In the United States, the thought of eating rotten shark or goat fetus may actually take away one's appetite.

On the other hand, there are tastes and smells that pleasant and inviting, no matter where you are in the world.  What about a hamburger or bacon?

PROJECT: Write a 1,000+ word research paper about the science of taste.  How does smell and taste relate to each other?  How do environmental factors affect one's taste perception?  Consider other science of taste areas.  Include 3 scholarly articles and 1 currated media and reference your work in proper APA format.  See the peer-review rubric below:

Science of Taste Peer Review Rubric

DISCUSSION: In 100 words (or more), discuss your favorite dish(es) from a flavor/taste perspective.  What is the dish and why o you like it so much? Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the 5 mother sauces
2. Understand basic cooking methods
3. Understand the importance of kitchen organization and sanitation
4. Engage with other culinary students

Beginning with 5 sauces, cooking is really nothing more than the mastery of a few simple methods and techniques of manipulation of ingredients.  Mother sauces are those basic sauces from which almost all other sauces are derived.  An overview of some of the basic cooking methods and techniques are covered in the following videos.  This is an introduction to the specialized methods you will learn in culinary school.

Most of the cooking methods a professional culinarian needs to know can be divided among 2 groups - wet and dry.

(Liz, 2013)

No matter what, whether you are cooking at home or in a professional, commercial kitchen, keeping your kitchen/area/station clean and organized is critical.  This will help you work semlessly from one task to another and help avoid cross contamination.

UPDATE: In 100 words (or more), discuss kitchen sanitation.  Why is it important to keep your kitchen station clean and organized? Comment on classmates updates (at least 2) by replying and beginning your comment with "@[name]".