Personal Chef Cooking Lessons
Though a culinary degree is certainly helpful in becoming a personal chef, it is not completely necessary. Many private employers of personal chefs look more for experience in a niche cooking environment to match their personal tastes. Everything from vegetarian and raw foods experience to butchery and hunting skills can go toward a successful personal-chef career. However, it is always good to take some classes to round out your culinary resume and experience.
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What is a Personal Chef?
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A personal chef is someone who cooks for a private individual or family. These chefs sometimes cook for dinner parties, but typically they cook home meals for those without the time or skill, but with the means to employ a personal chef. A personal chef often works alone in a kitchen, though occasionally there may be additional help. This means the chef is responsible not only for the food, but the grocery shopping, cleaning, dishes and the occasional midnight snack.
Where Do I Learn to Cook?
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The obvious answer is a culinary school, which can be found online or in the yellow pages. Culinary schools tend to charge more than most schools, but they sometimes have short-term programs for those interested in cooking for fun, but not necessarily for a career. This give the personal chef some options. Also, apprenticing at a high-end restaurant, sometimes for free, can help you break into the business and gain experience. Community colleges and city-run education programs sometimes have cooking classes with a specific food or style focus.
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What Does This Cost?
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First, match your budget to your goal. If you want to be a chef for a billionaire, you better have a culinary degree and experience, but if you're going to be a personal chef for local families making them freezer meals once a week, then some training with a little experience is all you'll need. Expect to pay more than $50,000 for top-end two-year culinary schools, or just a few hundred dollars at the local community college for cooking basics. The cheapest route is to simply work at a restaurant for free whenever you can, even one day a week.
Nutrition and Trends
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To be a successful chef in any field, you must keep up with the trends. Nutrition is a big one among those looking for personal chefs. Having a nutrition certification, or even some nutrition classes through the local university, will go a long way toward getting you that personal-chef gig. Nutrition classes and certifications can be found through the American Culinary Federation and the National Restaurant Association, as well as local colleges and universities.
Personal Certified Chef
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This is a specific designation for a personal certified chef from the American Culinary Federation, the largest professional chef organization in North America. This designation requires at least a high school diploma/ or GED and 50 hours of continuing education credits, plus you have to pass the certification exam. It is not easy, but it is something you can put on your resume, and it certifies you are knowledgeable in this field.
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