Tag: Dedication

The Gold is in Scotland

It is said that the acquisition of knowledge on any subject that you are interested in only increases your appreciation for it. This can easily be said about the finest of scotches as well.

There seems to be a trend building with aficionados flocking the rolling country sides in Scotland just to sneak a sample of the gold they seek. As one must experience to appreciate, it appears that this is a task for the strong willed in this subject.

One could imagine many trips booked from abroad flocking Scotlands coastlines in search of the malt that has only been heard of and not been tasted. This is not merely just a trend, to Scotch enthusiast, it is rather a mission. To be experienced in the fine subtleties of these malts and blended scotch whiskies is to many a dream. Some could not even imagine the soft roll that many of these great spirits have to offer to the tongue.

Spending time with true connoisseurs of scotch and single malts gives you valuable insight as to what to look for in a full bodied fine scotch. They have made it a life ambition to seek out and test what the worlds finest has to offer. Many of these great spirits of course are not easily obtainable some run very steep in price and are on the wish list of some of the great testers of fine scotch everywhere. Generally they have first dibs, as the company will wait in anticipation for a vote of confidence and endorsement.

So too are the batches that are still maturing that so many people are waiting for with absolute excitement. Given the time it takes for some of these blends to reach an acceptable maturity where it will be appreciated it is only natural that many testers keep close tabs on the process and look for hints of up and coming blends that can be comparable.

As many professional testers will state, the best of the best still and most likely will always come from Scotland as they have mastered this art with a precision and dedication second to none. Testers will admit when they have stumbled on a gem from another country but honestly have not found that diamond in the rough all that many times.

So instead they give honest and professional opinions to the public, the benders, and distillers themselves, taking into account how harsh possible poor media coverage can be.

The Single Requirement to Become a Chef

Has it ever occurred to you that you might have been born to pursue a career in culinary arts? We all have our paths to take and each individual has his separate career to practice. You might have wanted to become a physician yet all roads seem to go nowhere near to it. Or, you might have been wanting to become an artist only to find out that years later, all you want to do is settle down in a monastery and live a spiritual life. There are lots of possibilities and each could propose the prospect of wasting the time you dont have.

Once you get the feeling that you want something then let go of the reins and pursue it, this might be your only chance. So if you are thinking of spending your fruitful years as a chef then do everything you could to be able to arrive to your desired destination.

The key here is commitment. Once you have committed yourself onto something, you are likely to succeed. Commitment is like the shepherd that will drive you towards your destination. It is like the fueling that would deliver you towards the goals you have set prior to your decision to pursue the career.

Without commitment, you would not even stand a few months of works. Being a chef is quite a task and it needs some endurance. One has to endure long hours of standing for preparation of dishes. You might start as a potato peeler or a dishwasher or anything but someone who is preparing the dishes.

And one thing is for sure- being a chef is a hard stuff. It takes lots and lots of dedication.

Education
You need commitment on education. Normally, college ends a person’s education life. After which, everything is about making fortune and making a name in a chosen industry. Your career as a chef however, will require you to attend schoolagain. Yes, either you choose a one-year, two-year or a bachelor’s course, there surely is one path ahead of you.

If dream of making yourself into an executive chef or as head cooks, it is important that you have a number of years of training and formal education. Training alone would not only require you to sweat-til-you-drop but would also require lots of patience and endurance.

Normally, apprenticeship or internship is required if you want to get hired in a priority position. However, if you choose to be employed as a cook or food preparation worker, training comes from everyday work and not specifically from formal educational settings.

Earnings
It is hard to survive a life of a chef if all you are after for is prestige and money. There is not much money in this industry unless you work for some high-end restaurant or if you are the host of a lifestyle program centering on foods.

The median hourly earning of an ordinary chef ranges anywhere from $9-$15, depending on the establishment you are working for.

On day to day basis
The daily life of a chef is pretty exhausting. He has to prepare, plan and create recipes. Personally plan all the ingredients and cook the recipe. Order food supplies on all other necessary supplies and estimate food requirements for specific periods.

If you think you cannot endure these hassles, it is best that you reconsider your options in becoming a chef. However if you have passion for food you’ve got enough endurance to get you going through the toil each day possess, you would only have to brace yourself into committing the best of your years in your career as chef.

The Process of Becoming a Pastry Chef

Want to make a name in the culinary arts industry? Well, you have several options and each of which require dedication, self-training and formal training and lots of creativity and love for food, more specifically pastries.

Pastries are not among the hardest to prepare and cook but they are not also the easiest to make. In short, they’re just somewhere in the middle. But this doesnt mean that you can be a pastry chef if you only have the “want”. Without the seriousness for work and the passion on what you are doing, becoming anything that is truly significant would be as hard as pushing a boulder uphill. If you are truly recognizing your need to become a pastry chef, we advise you to continue reading.

Know what you truly want to do
First you have ask yourself if you have the vocation. Cooking is not merely something one does to kill time or to express his love for exploring options on preparing for himself meals that he wants. It is also a vocation, a sort of a calling. As someone contemplating on this option, it is best that you recognize the need for self examination.

You will have to examine your intentions on entering in the world of the culinary arts. If you truly want to take things seriously, you will have to firmly decide what you intend to do. If you cannot establish your real plans, you might find yourself hanging at the end of the string, realizing that you have wasted time on something that you really dont want.

No one would stop you from becoming a pastry chef. It is just that there are lots of options out there both presented by the culinary arts industry and other industries. If you really want to become an expert in pastry preparation then apply for a course in culinary arts major in pastries. There are bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees and other minor degrees that you could choose from. Whichever way you want, be firm. Once you have begun your posit of career, you must decide not to stray away from it unless you have some good reason to support your decisions.

Train, train and train some more
Apart from your dedication on your chosen field, there is nothing that could equal your formal and informal training in relation to your becoming a pastry chef. Training could be vied as an educational aspect or it may be viewed as practical application of what you have learned in schools.

Training would not only let you use what you have learned but it would also help you perfect some components that lack fineness of delivery. After all, practice makes perfect, right?

While there may things that could not be perfected, you still have the option on taking things closer to perfection.

You would only spot your mistakes and imperfections through training. There are lots of pastry chefs who never stop training even after school hours. This training come in forms like preparing pastries at home, reading materials regarding pastries and observing people doing some pastry works. Any kind of training and practices could benefit a learner so long as he is attentive enough on both the essentials and the not-so-significant things that could be turned into specialties.

Discernment and training are crucial components of becoming a pastry chef. It is not all about cooking and preparation of ingredients after all, it is also about taking inward and outward steps that would deliver you from point A to the point B of your career.