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Despite the hard two years many in the food service industry have experienced. Working in a commercial kitchen or in restaurant management are still considered desirable jobs.

Having worked in hotels with Michelin star restaurants there is a buzz you get while working in this sector. Most of your job is live, you deal with everything from food preparation to customer service. Things go wrong, they break, the sous chef might be a little brusk that day. But together these make for a fun, energetic environment and there's nothing like having a big event go well and the satisfaction you feel as a team afterwards.

So if you're hoping to rejoin the food industry or your child is planning this as their future career where can you find all the tools and information you need? How do you go about finding career options?

Culinary Arts Curriculum

If your child is just beginning to search for their culinary arts program, you will discover these can vary greatly. Picking the right program from the start is best but not always easy.

This will depend on how certain your child is about which area they want to learn.

The principles of the art of cooking will all be taught from food safety, culinary skills, knife skills and scientific methods which give the outcomes they desire to create in a dish. However, not all young people know at this early stage of their high school career what they want to learn. It can take time to decide if you want to be a pastry chef or be in management for example.

Depending on how much your child knows already about their plans will shape which curriculum you choose.

Types of study

The next step is to agree together what type of learning experiences they thrive in and what programs are available to take advantage of this.

Online culinary school is now available and is a flexible, less expensive option. It provides an opportunity to learn in the evenings which can help with those working during the day.

What's missing from these is obviously the hands-on experience with tutors, food producers and artisans. Being able to try new ingredients you might not shop for at home.

A technical program can prepare you better for being a professional chef and experimenting with the principles of food science.

Being taught in person by teachers or professionals is one of the best ways to learn. This full-time student experience will set your child up for their first job. They will know better what to expect and have some knowledge of the challenges of each role such as budgeting and menu planning for a chef.

Take a look at the lesson plan for each type of study. Let your child imagine how they might fit with this structure and if its something like are comfortable with.

To bring their interest into your everyday life, let them cook at home. A practical way to help them and start improving their knowledge of measurements is this ingredient conversion tool.

Career opportunities

For a hospitality student, there is a wide culinary arts pathway with various options for them to choose from depending on their skills, personality and what is available in the local area.

They could also choose a career path away from home as the beauty of this type of industry is that you can travel and see the world while you continue your career and improve your CV.

Perhaps a professional kitchen and an executive chef role is the dream position? Encourage your child to imagine what their ideal business day would be. This will help you both uncover what might suit them and their temperament.

Returning to food establishments

Maybe you are thinking of going back to work in the food industry yourself, now we are having to learn to live with Covid-19. There are more things in place to allow people to continue to dine out and most customers want to get back to some sort of normality and are prepared for a small amount of risk.

There are a variety of positions available as countries begin to open up and those with real-world experience of working in the sector are in demand.

Perhaps you would like to encourage your children to follow in your passion or at the least develop a better appreciation of food. Apart from cooking together, there are a great variety of games to play online which are fun for both of you and will create curiosity. We love Guess the Food which is a simple spelling game where your children try and guess what type of food is in a picture. They then click the letter tiles to spell the word. It's a great way to improve their literacy and knowledge of dishes to cook at home.

I hope this gives you an overview of what to consider when choosing your child's culinary education. It's a wonderful, passionate industry; creating useful skills and worthwhile life experiences for many.