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Culinary arts, in which culinary means "related to cooking", are the arts of preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called "chefs" or "cooks", although, at its most general, the terms "culinary artist" and "culinarian" are also used. Table manners ("the table arts") are sometimes referred to as a culinary art.

Expert chefs are required to have knowledge of food science, nutrition and diet and are responsible for preparing meals that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate. After restaurants, their primary places of work include delicatessens and relatively large institutions such as hotels and hospitals.

Modern Culinary Arts students study many different aspects of food. Specific areas of study include butchery, chemistry and thermodynamics, visual presentation, food safety, human nutrition and physiology, international history, the manufacture of food items (such as the milling of wheat into flour or the refining of cane plants into crystalline sucrose), and many others.

Training in culinary arts is possible in most countries around the world. Usually at tertiary level (university). With institutions government funded, privately funded or commercial.

Before cooking institutions, professional cooks were mentors for individual students who apprenticed under them. In 1879 the first cooking school was founded in the United States: the Boston Cooking School. This school standardized cooking practices and recipes, and laid the groundwork for the culinary arts schools that would follow. Fannie Merritt Farmer was a student, and later the principal, of the Boston Cooking School She became the first person in the U.S to write a cookbook. Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook included over 1,000 recipes along with cooking tips.

After WWII there was a demand for culinary arts which the newly invented television and the radio broadcast to the American masses. In the 1940's, James Beard hosted a cooking show that was extremely popular, and in the 1960's Julia Child brought French cooking practices to America by radio and television. These shows along with the many others that followed helped to educate people and popularize the education of culinary arts.

A cooking school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of cooking and food preparation. There are many different types of cooking schools around the world, some devoted to training professional chefs, others aimed at amateur enthusiasts, with some being a mixture of the two. Amateur cooking schools are often intertwined with culinary tourism in many countries. Programs can vary from half a day to several years. Some programs lead to an academic degree or a recognized vocational qualification, while others do not. Many programs include practical experience in the kitchen of a restaurant attached to the school or a period of work experience in a privately owned restaurant.

Some schools, such as Le Cordon Bleu, offer programs through which a chef may demonstrate his or her knowledge and skills and be given certification. Others, such as Baltimore International College, Stratford University, Johnson and Wales University, and the Culinary Institute of America offer programs whereby students gain either an Associate's or Bachelor's degree. There are also a few, such as Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Manchester Community College in Connecticut, Los Angeles Trade Technical College in California, or where students receive upon graduation not only an Associate's degree but also certification by the American Culinary Federation, the largest professional chefs' organization in North America.

• Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
• Baltimore International College
• Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
• Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago
• Culinard, The Culinary Institute of Virginia College
• The Culinary Institute of America
• Culinary Institute Lenôtre
• The Institute of Culinary Education
• Culinary School of the Rockies
• DCT University Center - Switzerland
• International Culinary Center
• Johnson & Wales University
• Kendall College - School of Culinary Arts
• Le Cordon Bleu
• New England Culinary Institute
• Paul Smith's College
• Schoolcraft College
• Stratford University
• Sullivan University
• Art Institutes School of Culinary Arts
• Western Culinary Institute

A chef is a trained professional cook who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term chef de cuisine (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɛf.də.kɥi.zin]), the director or head of a kitchen. Chefs can receive formal training from an institution, as well as by apprenticing with an experienced chef.

Chef

A sushi chef at work
Occupation
Occupation type	Profession
Activity sectors	Culinary arts

An Italian chef preparing a truffle for diners

There are different terms that use the word chef in their titles, and deal with specific areas of food preparation, such as the sous-chef, who acts as the second-in-command in a kitchen, or the chef de partie, who handles a specific area of production, or “Television chef”, such as Alison Holst. The kitchen brigade system is a hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, many of which use the word "chef" in their titles. Underneath the chefs are the kitchen assistants. A chef's standard uniform includes a hat (called a toque), neckerchief, double-breasted jacket, apron and sturdy shoes (that may include steel or plastic toe-caps).

Other names include executive chef, chef manager, head chef, and master chef. This person is in charge of all activities related to the kitchen, which usually includes menu creation, management of kitchen staff, ordering and purchasing of inventory, controlling raw material costs and plating design. Chef de cuisine is the traditional French term from which the English word chef is derived. Head chef is often used to designate someone with the same duties as an executive chef, but there is usually someone in charge of a head chef, possibly making the larger executive decisions such as direction of menu, final authority in staff management decisions, and so on. This is often the case for executive chefs with multiple restaurants. Involved in checking the sensory evaluation of dishes after preparation and they are well aware of each sensory property of those specific dishes.

In the UK, the title executive chef normally applies to hotels with multi outlets in the same hotel. Other establishments in the UK tend to use the title head chef.

The Sous-Chef de Cuisine (under-chef of the kitchen) is the second-in-command and direct assistant of the Chef de Cuisine. Sous chef works under executive chef or head chef. This person may be responsible for scheduling the kitchen staff, or substituting when the head chef is off-duty. Also, he or she will fill in for or assist the Chef de Partie (line cook) when needed. This person is accountable for the kitchen's inventory, cleanliness, organization, and the continuing training of its entire staff. A sous-chef's duties can also include carrying out the head chef's directives, conducting line checks, and overseeing the timely rotation of all food products. Smaller operations may not have a sous-chef, while larger operations may have more than one. The sous chef is also responsible when the Executive Chef is absent.

A chef de partie, also known as a "station chef" or "line cook", is in charge of a particular area of production. In large kitchens, each chef de partie might have several cooks or assistants. In most kitchens, however, the chef de partie is the only worker in that department. Line cooks are often divided into a hierarchy of their own, starting with "first cook", then "second cook", and so on as needed.

Culinary education is available from many institutions offering diploma, associate, and bachelor's degree programs in culinary arts. Depending on the level of education, this can take one to four years. An internship is often part of the curriculum. Regardless of the education received, most professional kitchens follow the apprenticeship system, and most new cooks will start at a lower-level 2nd or 1st cook position and work their way up.

The training period for a chef is generally four years as an apprentice. A newly qualified chef is advanced or more commonly a torquecommis-chef, consisting of first-year commis, second-year commis, and so on. The rate of pay is usually in accordance with the chefs. Like all other chefs except the executive-chef, trainees are placed in sections of the kitchen (e.g., the starter (appetizer) or entrée sections) under the guidance of a demi-chef de partie and are given relatively basic tasks. Ideally, over time, a commis will spend a certain period in each section of the kitchen to learn the basics. Unaided, a commis may work on the vegetable station of a kitchen.

The usual formal training period for a chef is two to four years in catering college. They often spend the summer in work placements. In some cases this is modified to 'day-release' courses; a chef will work full-time in a kitchen as an apprentice and then would have allocated days off to attend catering college. These courses can last between one and three years. In the UK, most Chefs are trained in the work place, with most doing a formal NVQ level 2 or 3 in the work place.

        School Description

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Code	Concentration	More Info
AA/CC	Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Program - Atlantic Culinary Academy
School: Atlantic Culinary Academy Program: Training at Atlantic Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program in the United States combines demonstration classes followed by hands-on practical courses in professionally equipped, modern kitchens. The curriculum comprises one of the world's most intensive, practical and comprehensive training of the highest quality. Courses are taught at succeeding levels under the technical guidance and close supervision of skilled chefs. Students are encouraged to explore their own styles, creativity and cultural background. :: Concentration: Chef :: Campus    ::  Location: Dover, NH ::  more info

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School Description

chef

Training for the institute, Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program in the United States combines demonstration classes followed by hands-on practical courses in professionally equipped, modern kitchens.

The curriculum comprises one of the world's most intensive, practical and comprehensive training of the highest quality. Courses are taught at succeeding levels under the technical guidance and close supervision of skilled chefs.

Students are encouraged to explore their own styles, creativity and cultural background.

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