Novice chefs often imagine that they have only two options: restaurant kitchens or pastry bakeries. The Culinary Degrees at FEI gives you the tools to expand on these options.  Here is a short list of some of the most unusual careers available after graduation. They blend creativity, science, business and innovation: Research Chef is all about reinventing the donut. You design new products for grocery chains, restaurants and even meal kits. It combines culinary techniques with food science. This career is all about innovation and creativity. You also study market trends to see if chocolate is going out of fashion. It is up to you to discover the latest food craze or invent it. They also make certain that the new recipes are easy enough to replicate. This adds to the mass market appeal of your new dish. Research chefs are usually employed by Food manufacturing companies (Nestlé, Kraft, PepsiCo, etc.) and restaurant franchises (McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc.). Food stylist or food influencers make dishes for the big screen. The dishes need to be as eye catching as possible. They are often employed in advertisement campaigns. This career is part cooking and part art. You need to know how to use the camera as well. Often, you will be filming and photographing the foods you have prepared. This is perfect for chefs who value presentation above all else. You can also get your own cooking show, with enough charisma and food presentation. Food stylist typically earns between $75K in South Florida. A clinical chef works alongside medical professionals and dietitians. Unlike traditional chefs, nutrition is the most important aspect of every meal they make. They will often create meals for patients with special needs. These needs can include diabetes, food allergy or life-threatening illnesses, like cancer. They also make foods that cater to patients with specific cultural needs and backgrounds. Eating healthy is part of the healing progress. As a clinical chef, you can make a positive impart in the life of your patients. Chefs for VIP patients or wellness resorts can exceed $100,000+ with experience. Do you love to cook but also travel? If the answer is yes, Culinary Travel Guide is the career just for you. In this role, culinary professionals lead tours that explore the local food and drink culture of each region. They work with travel agencies to give tourist the best dining experience possible. Some even run their own culinary focused travel agencies. 78% of travelers view food and drink experiences as essential to their trips 64% say food significantly enhances their overall satisfaction. Culinary tours lead the activity types (~40% market share), followed by street-food tours (28%), wine & food pairings (19%), and cooking classes (13%) Believe it or not, chefs have a place in the video game world. Culinary experts are often hired to design fictional menus. They also help animators depict food in a realistic fashion. This career is perfect for lovers of video games and food. In television, it often happens that the actors playing chefs, do not know how to cook. It is your job to make certain that the actor slices an onion like a pro. You also design the sets for dinner and kitchen scenes. Presentation skills are the most important, not so much the flavor of the meal. After all, video game characters do not have stomachs. As for actors, most of the time they are going to be pretending to eat the food you placed before them. Movies have a lot of takes. So, you need to create dishes that stay and look fresh for hours. Examples: Janice Poon – Culinary consultant for Hannibal, responsible for grotesquely beautiful “cannibal cuisine.” Final Fantasy XV – Used actual chefs to design photorealistic meals that players can cook. The Bear (Hulu) – Culinary experts helped create the intense realism of a fine-dining kitchen. A culinary education takes you beyond restaurants. At FEI, our culinary professionals can take your cooking skills to the next level. When you are ready to learn, we are ready to teach you. The kitchen is just the beginning. Come on board, and let’s get cooking.

As a student, it is important to come to class prepared. Culinary students are budding chefs. They may not know what type of tools they need to hone their craft. Education is important, but without the proper tools it can become difficult to master even the simplest of recipes. As your first day of Culinary School, here are some of the tools you are going to need to succeed in the kitchen. This knife can handle just about anything. As you learn more, you will find yourself reaching for this knife on an almost daily basis. It can be used for chopping vegetables and meat. Most are made of high-quality, self-sharpening carbon blades. Overtime, it will feel like an extension of your hand. When you are window shopping for a clever chef’s knife, make certain it is high quality. By going cheap, you are going to end up having to buy more knives. It is better to splurge on a good chef’s knife, then to have a cheap knife fail you when you need it the most. Victorinox and Global brands are good for shopping for kitchen blades. If the chef’s knife is your right hand, your paring knife will become your left. It is the second most important tool in a chef’s kitchen. Paring knifes are typically 3 to 4 inches in knife. Its sharp blade is perfect for delicate tasks like peeling shrimp and trimming herms. When you use a paring knife, grip it like a pencil. This grip is ideal for detailed work. Keep the knife razor sharp. A dull knife is dangerous, and frustrating. Like before, chose a high-quality blade. Clean it daily to prevent rust and maintain hygiene. In fact, clean all your tools after you are done using them. You will be surprised at how often you will have to sharpen your blades. It is important to get used to the idea that a sharpening stone belongs in the kitchen. Use a honing rod between uses and a sharpening stone as needed. This will keep your blade in tip top condition. In Culinary school at FEI, you will learn techniques on how to sharpen your knives. That way you will not have to find a blacksmith in the middle of Miami, whenever your blade loses its cutting edge. It is tempting to just use any random surface for cutting. This is an amateur’s mistake. For every knife, there must be a cutting board. Both go hand in hand in the kitchen. Cutting boards are a sturdy. They do not slip. This is an important safety and efficiency attribute. You will need not just one cutting board, but several. A plastic cutting board is essential for raw meats. This prevents cross contamination. A wood or bamboo board is better for vegetables and other produces. When shopping for boards, find one that is large enough to work with and easy to clean. Plastic boards clean easier. However, wooden boards are gentler with your knives. Tongs are tools that are used to grip items. They usually have two arms joined into one. They have spring mechanism or a pivot. This allows you to open and close them, with just a squeeze of your hand. The tongs are useful when handling hot items. They have better control than a spatula. They also have a locking mechanism that makes them easy to store. Pick one that is stainless steel. This will give it more durability than if you chose plastic tong. Sauté pans can be used for making a variety of dishes. They can be used to cook searing meats and fancy sauces. The wide work area allows liquids to evaporate quickly. Such thing is necessary for certain cooking methods. When picking a pan, chose one that is heavy. Make certain that it has an even base. This allows for proper heat distribution. The pan needs a heat-resistant handle. You do not want to burn your hands by accident. The lid needs to handle the flames as well. If you ever baked a cake, you know just how indispensable mixing bowls are. They are practically used for prepping all ingredients. This includes doughs and batters. A set of different sizes gives you a lot of versatility in the kitchen. When picking a mixing bowl, chose a stainless steal one. They are easier to clean and they don’t absorb odors. They are a favorite of top culinary professionals. In the kitchen, getting the proper temperature is a must. Precision is key when it comes to cooking meats and baked goods. A digital one is fast and accurate. They can make all the difference when baking a cake or frying a turkey. A zester is a precision tool used for scraping or shaving off thin slices. They grate hard cheeses, citrus zest, garlic and chocolate. This tool makes a fine, even texture. It is useful for precision favorizing and garnishing sweet dishes. This tool can also be used as a grater for spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Keep this in mind. A zester is not just for scraping. Cooking is an art. And like every art, it needs a brush for finer details. It is most used when working with pastries and bread dough. The brush adds an egg wash on the bread or to comb complex details in the merengue. A brush with natural bristle gives a smoother application, and better control. At FEI Culinary School, we provide all the tools you need in the classroom. It is however important that students get their own sets. This gives you the freedom to practice your craft in the comfort of your home kitchen. It also helps to shop around for tools that you feel more comfortable using. Each chef's knife is unique. During your learning journey, you will discover your personal preferences. Overtime, you will add more cooking tools to your collection. As a beginner, you need these 10 essential tools to start your culinary journey. So, if you live in Miami, FEI is waiting for you to start your cooking journey. So, when you are ready to learn, we are ready to teach you. Q: Do I really need a thermometer just for meats? A: Yes! A meat this tool makes certain that the meat is cooked safely, and without burning it. Each cut of meat has different temperature requirements. It is better to check, just in case the meat looks done. Q: What’s the difference between a grater and a zester? A: Graters have larger holes. They are ideal for cheese and vegetables. Zester has smaller holes, ideal for cutting fine strips of oranges or hard spices like nutmeg. Q: Do I need both a food processor and a blender? A: Not necessarily. It all depends on the recipes. A food processor is ideal for chopping, slicing and mixing dough. A blender is for handling liquids like smoothies and soups. If you are not working with liquids, you won’t need both items. Q: What is mise en place, and how does it relate to tools? A: Miise en place means "everything in its place."  In cooking, it relates to having everything organized, before you start cooking.  Know your kitchen by heart. It’s the practice of prepping and organizing ingredients and tools before cooking to save time and avoid mistakes.

Do you love to cook? If the answer is yes, Culinary Arts is the Career just for you.  Cooking is one of the fastest growing industries in the market. Every day, there is a new restaurant opening. This can be your restaurant if you acquire the proper cooking skills needed to take charge of your kitchen. At FEI, we provide you with all the tools and skills needed to master everything from appetizers to desserts. Here are five reasons why joining culinary school is going to be the best decision of your life. The days when food was served only at restaurants is long gone. It isn’t uncommon for chefs to reinvent the cheesecake. The way that meals are brought to costumers is also transmuting. It is now common to find ghost kitchens, meal kit services, and meal trucks. Prospective chefs can capitalize on these opportunities. You can learn how to make your meals how and when you want. IT is common to find chefs outside the kitchen area, as well. They now have a home in TV studios, cooperate test kitchens, social medias and even Virtual reality restaurants. Culinary school gives you the tools to ride the waves of this creative, and exciting food economy. The service food market is projected to grow to 5.7 trillion by 2030. This growth is fueled by a high demand for professional chefs. Unlike traditional collages, FEI hyper focuses on giving you the classes you need to become top Chef. So, you can relax. You won’t be forced to take art history classes, or anything else that has nothing to do with your focus. Through this intense program, you are going to be serving up dishes within a year or less. We have all the tools necessary to teach you to make something as easy as pie, or a dish as complicated as a Beef Wellington. The hands- on training gives you quick access to constructive criticism from your tutors. Y Plus, this school has hybrid programs and even online classes to accommodate your work schedule. It is a common misconception that culinary school will only lead to restaurant work. This doesn’t have to be your destiny. Graduates from Culinary School have plenty of options. You can become an Influencer Food Stylist, a Product Developer, a Nutrition coach and even a personal chef for your favorite celebrity. With the right skills, you can turn your passion for cooking into a career. Right now, it is the perfect time to open a small food business. In this time of uncertainty, good food is the one thing that unites us all. It isn’t surprising that the government likes to invest heavily, in small business, especially if they are food related. Local pop ups, farmers markets, food trucks and niche catering businesses have created a unique culinary opportunity, just for YOU. Our Culinary programs include business classes, to teach you how to properly manage a restaurant, and other food related enterprises. This includes how to structure a menu, how to balance food price and ingredient cost, as well as how to license your food brand. Now, it is the perfect time to get cooking! Good food is the one thing that has universal appeal. Regardless of your belief system or political ideologies, we all appreciate a good meal. It doesn’t matter who you are cooking for. You are creating a meal that brings people closer. Choosing a cooking career is not just a practical choice, but a meaningful one as well. So, what are you waiting for? Final Considerations Acquiring Culinary Arts degree is not just about learning fancy, new recipes. It is about bringing your cooking skills to the next level. It is about turning your cooking dreams into a reality. If you are still hesitating, I want you to know that we are waiting for you in FEI. When you are ready to study, we are going to be here to teach you. So, without further ado, come on board, and let’s get COOKING!!