If you believe you have any culinary skills at all, or you already managed to prove to yourself and your closest that you do, a step forward in your life could be a pastry school. No matter how much we think we know there is always something new to add to your knowledge base. Some you can skim of internet, some of your friends and family but the finer points of any job are learned in school.
There are several food schools you can take up but if you are into sweets and you are keen on expanding your knowledge than pastry school is your answer. If you decide to take this up check around for the best deal you can get with one of these. Different schools offer different rates. Some are more expensive some less, but try and find a good one that has any sort of scholarship, and it will benefit your budget greatly. For more information about this please check out Culinary Lab School.
This is an awesome career full of challenges, nice people and sometimes packed with adrenaline especially if you nail an important job for someone famous. It will offer great benefits to you but only if you manage to profile yourself as a great pastry chef. This article will share all the reasons why you should go to one of these schools, so without any further due let’s start!
1. Creativity
This is important for many reasons besides just cooking. Creativity gives life a different meaning but being creative with people’s food gives you a sort of satisfaction that is hard to explain. Even more, it is the fact that your food will be liked and praised by many. Expressing yourself through food is very much like being an artist but with one difference, your blank canvas is the plate and everything you arrange there is something that is part of you. Creative persons draw additional satisfaction when doing something with their own hands and that is another thing that should complement your decision on taking up a pastry school.
2. It can’t possibly be boring
When you are a pastry chef there is a rare occasion (pretty much slim to none) that you will have the same day repeat at any point. It is always something new, something different. As a chef of any kind you have to be prepared for a high tempo, big commotions, often high stress that will not allow you to be bored or even fall into any kind of rut. Whether you are at a restaurant or run a catering business you will have to change things often and change them a lot. No one single person is the same and that means you will rarely make only one thing that everyone will want. This will keep you on your toes always, plus it also complements the creativity side of this.
3. Opportunities
Pastry chefs or any chef for that matter get to have more opportunities than anyone else. They can manifest in people you are working for, places you are working from or even people you work with. Imagine having a good career as a chef, you get noticed and suddenly you get approached by a huge restaurant chain and asks you to join them. That is a game-changer for you, plus, those kinds of opportunities mean that you will definitely end up working with famous people from your branch and who knows maybe you even meet your idol once and get to make a cake with him or her.
4. Variety
This is one of those jobs that allows for a lot of freedom to you as a person. You are not limited to be just a pastry chef at a restaurant, or for a catering company. It is OK, or even it is welcomed if you experiment with the path of your career. Trying different things and learning something new with every path you take is only a plus score in your book. Just think about what you can do if the one place chef thing isn’t for you – you can work with or for someone at recipe development, you can be an instructor or a teacher, you can tie yourself to food blogging or be active on social media or you can start your own business and be your boss. One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to have at least some of that traditional pastry chef experience throughout internship or being employed in a restaurant or bakery, etc. Some experience is required to have multiple doors open and at your disposal.
5. Free food
If you decide to go to pastry school and become a pastry chef, after getting a job somewhere, no matter how silly it sounds, you will be getting free staff meals as long as you are employed. This means no more thinking of what to make for lunch or what and where to buy. The good thing about this is not just the concept of free food but the fact it is a restaurant-quality food which will give you a chance to try something you otherwise would not buy for yourself, or simply didn’t know existed. Many foods on the restaurant menus tend to get overlooked because we are so caught up with what we know and we usually stick to that. Try something new every day and just see what you have been missing.
6. Working abroad
Now, for you deciding to go to pastry school, this might be the most important reason to take it up, especially if you want and like to travel. An important thing to note here is that you are not limited to pastry schools in your country or city, you can look for something in the food capitals around the world. This will be a unique experience and while obtaining it you get to see the world and experience different cultures. Even if you finish a local pastry school, your experience over time and your credentials will be recognized all over the world and you might even be approached by the famous French or Italian food restaurant to live there and work for them.
Pastry school, as we already stated, is a school like any other and will bring you even closer to your passion and teach you the finer things about it. What is even more important to know is that it will be a doorway to many other things in your life. Experiencing new places, new cultures, new cuisine is something every pastry, or any other, a chef should strive for. So if you are still thinking is this for you, we hope that this article has at least slightly tipped you in favour of going to pastry school.
