If you can cook a fine meal for your friends and family; if you love the aroma of the Amaretto cream filled cake baking inside the oven not because you are going to eat it, but because you have put the ingredients together, then why not extend your cooking skills to make a career out of it? Who knows you could be the next Emeril Lagasse or Warren Brown.

Even if you don’t become a celebrity chef still you could end up having a rewarding career or be the owner of a restaurant if you plan well and are lucky. And Peter F Drucker, the famous management guru once said that, “Food business is the best business”. Because even though everything else slows down, people will not stop eating.

Culinary skills can be acquired and honed. The majority of people who choose a career in culinary arts do not enter this field just for the sake of a job. They love culinary arts and feeding people with tasty dishes. That’s why they are there.

Benefits of Culinary Arts Degrees

A culinary arts degree doesn’t teach about preparing mouth watering and lip smacking dishes alone. You learn to master the art of cooking.  It teaches how to run the affairs of a restaurant or a café. These degrees also teach you a lot about food hygiene and customer care. They are the stepping stone for your entry in the culinary world. You can start at the entry level and later become a world famous chef.

Job Prospects and Salary Estimates

The future career prospects for chefs, cooks, and food service managers look promising. According to US Department of Labor, jobs in this sector are poised to grow at same rate as the average job growth rate for all careers from 2004 through 2014.

• Salaried chefs and cooks earn a median wage of $14.75 an hour.
• The highest 10% of them earned a median salary of $26.75 per hour. And of course there is no limit to the earnings of a celebrity chef.  
• Food service managers earn a median salary of $39,610 per annum

Career Options

People trained in culinary arts work in hotels, restaurants, bakeries, and cafes. They may also find employment in institutions, recreation centers, bars, eateries, hospitals, gasoline stations and cafeterias. Chefs mix and cook ingredients to prepare dishes while food preparation workers help them. Cooks and chefs also need to be conversant in the way a restaurant is run. From the procurement of food stuffs to arranging the menu they can perform various functions. With hard work and dedication they can rise up to the position of food service managers or restaurant managers. Hosting cooking shows on the TV and writing recipe books are a few things they do when they attain fame and stardom.