Well, it basically starts with your passion. Without this component it would be easy for you to give up your hopes for a chef career or at least, settle yourself in the kitchen and do what you are supposed to do. Without passion, you would start looking at cooking as a mere work rather than something that you like spending your time with. Without passion, you would look at each kitchen as the last place you would ever want to find yourself in. Without passion, nothing would fuel you towards making a name in the cooking industry or making a mark for yourself that would help you believe that you are pursuing that one thing you were born to pursue.

Thats all it takes- passion, everything else is secondary.

Many chefs seem to have this special talent on preparing menus that are not only appetizing but also filled with so much love for their creations. However there are others who are simply in the food industry because they were field by their desire to know every crucial thing about cooking. Each chef has his or her own personal desire when it comes to this field. But there is usually one denominator found in most of them, that is the desire to cook for the love of cooking.

It takes many years to produce a chef that lets love into his creations and alongside it are the best of the craft he has. Coupled with education on this art, chefs are able to make eating not just a simple component of living but also a pleasure that invites appetite.

You can start educating yourself in becoming a chef through apprenticing with an expert chef or through attending a culinary at school. But it would be best if you undergo both preparations. Even expert chefs still go through a couple of restaurants so as they may find the actual field they would want to settle in. There are actually various types of chefs and each type has its own job description and own field of mastery. And even experts still subject themselves to several mentors so that they could gather as much learning as they could accommodate.

Training could be obtained through vocation programs which may either be a two-year or four year course. Chefs could also be trained through apprenticeship programs under the supervision of an expert chef, professional culinary institutes, trade unions and industry associations. Additionally, there are some restaurants and hotels that offer their own training programs.

However, there are other paths towards a chef job. Individuals who have taken courses regarding commercial food preparation could enter their chef career without having to spend years with low-skilled, low-paying cooking job.

Take note though that each institute or school has its won curriculum and standards. However, students are basically learning through continuous practices. Depending on the school, students are given either the fundamentals or the whole-scope of culinary arts. But in some schools, basic practices, procedures and knowledge are given and the handling of this knowledge will depend largely on the capacity and manipulation of each student.

There may be courses on food purchasing, food lost control, menu planning, determination of cost, size and food proportion, storage and selection of food and management of leftover foods to help minimize the waste. Also, public health rules and restaurant sanitation are included in the course.