Culinary arts is a booming field in the 21st century, with heightened importance for the health-conscious as well as the connoisseurs. People in today’s world have developed a fastidious precision for their food choices. Gourmet chefs and five-star chefs are more in demand now than ever.
What is Culinary Arts?
Unlike the common misconception, Culinary Arts are not the same thing as hotel management. Culinary Arts is a disparate thriving field that comes with its own specialized degree. Culinary Arts Colleges across the globe teach students, not only how to cook like a pro in general, but also widen their spectrum in the field. This includes the business aspect of being in the culinary field, Gourmet cooking, and hospitality. Switzerland ranks as the best country worldwide for a specialized degree in Culinary Arts. Culinary Arts specialization is more than just the simple idea of conventional food. The idea of Culinary Arts Colleges is to groom interested students to become masters in the culinary field by introducing them to the disparity and diversity of culinary arts.
By getting a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Culinary Arts in Switzerland, students are not only taught how to be professional chefs but are also taught to navigate the world of high end-culinary and cuisines. Fundamental business-model ideas are instilled and taught, paving the foundation for any successful entrepreneurship embarkation in the culinary realm.
Switzerland has been the hub of the world’s food domain for close to a century now and hence has specialized internalization of culinary choices. Students can choose to major in culinary Arts at Culinary Arts colleges, with speciality in any particular cuisine choice. This can be vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean, Japanese, Italian, Gourmet etc.
Subject Modules in Culinary Arts Colleges
What marks the difference between regular chefs and restaurant owners from Gourmet and five-star chefs, celebrity chefs and Michelin-star chefs?
Their specialization and trademark uniqueness. Gordon Ramsay, Chef Anton, Jamie Oliver, Rachael Ray and others are probably names that anyone interested in the culinary realm must have heard of. What makes these chefs different is their fundamental training and education. Instead of being taught to follow the preset and conventional rules of the field, they were taught to stand out and modify existing recipes. This is something that is taught at top Culinary Arts Colleges in Switzerland. Some of the best Culinary Arts Colleges in the world, located in Switzerland include:
- The Culinary Arts Academy- Switzerland (CAA)
- Hotel and Tourism Management Institute Switzerland (HTMi)
- Business and Hotel Management School (BHMS)
- International Management Institute Switzerland (IMI)
- Ecole Ducasse Institute
The basic modules of learning these Culinary Arts Colleges in Switzerland include are Fundamentals of Classical cooking, Marketing for Food Industry, Food Safety and Sanitation, Fine Dining Kitchen, Culinary Skills in Banquet and Buffet Preparation, Advanced Baking and Pastry (in collaboration with Ritz Paris), Introduction to Baking and Pastry Arts, Food and Beverage Management and Leadership, Kitchen management, Business plan for the Entrepreneur, Business Communication, Culinary Tourism, Cuisines of Europe, Food Product Development, The world of Garde Manger, Food in the Media, Nutrition, Health and Special Diets, The world of Chocolate Arts, Cuisines of the world, Culinary Events Management, Restaurant Service and Management, International Food and Wine Matching and Wine, Beverage and Mixology (in collaboration with Ritz Paris).
From this, we can clearly tell that Culinary Arts colleges in Switzerland don’t focus solely on the cooking aspect of the Culinary field, but rather go well above and beyond the generally expected prerequisites. All the way from bartending and mixology, cheese testing and gourmet ingredient teaching to the actual implementation of business models and financial production, Swiss Culinary Arts Colleges cover them all.
Testimonials from alumni of Swiss Culinary Arts Colleges:
“I started my vape business in 2014 and today my brand is one of the best in my country. But I must say that before achieving this, I failed a couple of times – and all of those were great lessons. My time at IMI gave me positive effects on both my body and soul; I enjoyed the relaxing environment of Kastanienbaum. If you ask me what I miss the most, I’d say International Night, the dining hall, the pool table, all my lectures, the lake view from my balcony, bus 21 and the smell of cows (Yes I do miss that).”
Says Bimo Anggaraputra Prasetio, the owner of Steamqueen Juice, from Indonesia.
The Swiss Culinary Arts Colleges provide students with more than just education- they help students in starting their own businesses. Most alumni go on to establish their own thriving businesses in any country of their choice. They become citizens of the world, rather than being tied down to any specific location. A lot of the graduates choose to either study further or establish themselves as a brand, by becoming famous or working for some of the A-list celebrities- they also go-ahead to become celebrities in their own right. Some examples of career paths that alumni from Swiss Culinary Arts Colleges have taken include-
Establishing vegan or homegrown brands, becoming travelling celebrity chefs, establishing 5-star restaurants, earning Michelin stars, becoming personal gourmet chefs for A-list celebrities, becoming dietitians, and becoming sports-team chefs who account for dietary constraints and food needs of the athletes.