Advice On Becoming A Sous Chef


by Andrew Johnstone - Date: 2007-10-21 - Word Count: 376 Share This!

If you're interested in a career in commercial cookery and hospitality management, the courses you take will have a profound impact on the level of training you receive. The more you learn about kitchen staff management and customer service, the more valuable you will be to any establishment.

A sous chef literally means second in charge. Sous chefs work closely with head chefs in menu planning, creating and maintaining staff positions, and working with other managers when coordinating with dining staff. This position requires a great deal of theoretical cooking knowledge and personnel management.

During a typical two-year hospitality management program, you can expect to learn the following areas on top of your expert cooking knowledge:

¥ Manage staff
¥ Review and create budgets
¥ Create business relationships with vendors
¥ Oversee various cooking stations
¥ Maintain a safe and healthy work environment
¥ Understand legal responsibilities of kitchens
¥ Maintain or record stock
¥ Menu planning

Being a sous chef requires you to have an understanding of every aspect of the kitchen, from preparing main courses to creating desserts. Even though the head chef has the final say in menu choices, staff, and other managerial decisions, as a sous chef, you will be able to contribute much about day to day operations of kitchen and dining room.

WORKING WITH OTHERS

One of the qualities you must learn in order to be successful is working with a variety of people. As a sous chef, you have to ensure that all food sent to customers is of the highest quality. If something is wrong with a dish, it must be redone or fixed. While this can cause distress in the kitchen, you must be able to conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times.

Working in a kitchen is stressful because of time constraints, work habits, and diverse cooking styles of staff. It will be up to you to make sure that each area of the kitchen is working proficiently in order to provide customers with the best dining experience possible.

Along with your knowledge of food, you must be able to work with many people of different professional levels in order to be successful.

Academia International is a leading international college providing cooking courses, hospitality management training, hairdressing courses, and beauty courses. For a free brochure please visit Study in Australia.

Related Tags: cooking school, sous chef, chef school, cooking training, chef training, commercial cookery

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