:: Baking
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.
Baking is a method of cooking food that uses dry heat, normally in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods are baked. Heat is gradually transferred "from the surface of cakes, cookies, and breads to their center. As heat travels through, it transforms batters and doughs into baked goods and more with a firm dry crust and a softer centre". Baking can be combined with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant by using both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit.
Because of historical social and familial roles, baking has traditionally been performed at home by women for day-to-day meals and by men in bakeries and restaurants for local consumption. When production was industrialized, baking was automated by machines in large factories. The art of baking remains a fundamental skill and is important for nutrition, as baked goods, especially breads, are a common and important food, both from an economic and cultural point of view. A person who prepares baked goods as a profession is called a baker.
All types of food can be baked, but some require special care and protection from direct heat. Various techniques have been developed to provide this protection.
In addition to bread, baking is used to prepare cakes, pastries, pies, tarts, quiches, cookies, scones, crackers, pretzels, and more. These popular items are known collectively as "baked goods," and are often sold at a bakery, which is a store that carries only baked goods, or at markets, grocery stores, farmers markets or through other venues.
Meat, including cured meats, such as ham can also be baked, but baking is usually reserved for meatloaf, smaller cuts of whole meats, or whole meats that contain stuffing or coating such as bread crumbs or buttermilk batter. Some foods are surrounded with moisture during baking by placing a small amount of liquid (such as water or broth) in the bottom of a closed pan, and letting it steam up around the food, a method commonly known as braising or slow baking. Larger cuts prepared without stuffing or coating are more often roasted, which is a similar process, using higher temperatures and shorter cooking times. Roasting, however, is only suitable for finer cuts of meat, so other methods have been developed to make tougher meat cuts palatable after baking. One of these is the method known as en croûte (French for "in a pastry crust"), which protects the food from direct heat and seals the natural juices inside. Meat, poultry, game, fish or vegetables can be prepared by baking en croûte. Well-known examples include Beef Wellington, where the beef is encased in pastry before baking; pâté en croûte, where the terrine is encased in pastry before baking; and the Vietnamese variant, a meat-filled pastry called pâté chaud. The en croûte method also allows meat to be baked by burying it in the embers of a fire – a favorite method of cooking venison. Salt can also be used to make a protective crust that is not eaten. Another method of protecting food from the heat while it is baking is to cook it en papillote (French for "in parchment"). In this method, the food is covered by baking paper (or aluminium foil) to protect it while it is being baked. The cooked parcel of food is sometimes served unopened, allowing diners to discover the contents for themselves which adds an element of surprise.
School Description
Choose the education that's right for YOU!
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California Culinary Academy: Baking and Pastry Arts
Certificate Program |
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California Culinary Academy
Program: The Academy offers an intensive program
designed for those interested in professional baking. The Baking
and Pastry Arts Certificate Program provides comprehensive study
with an emphasis on the hands-on application of fundamental techniques
and ingredient
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Concentration: Baking |
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Campus |
:: Location:
San Francisco, CA |
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School Description
Baking
The Academy offers an intensive program designed for those interested
in professional baking.
The Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate Program provides comprehensive
study with an emphasis on the hands-on application of fundamental techniques
and ingredient.
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