Job Description of Various Professions within the Culinary Arts Field

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A job description of culinary arts would certainly be dependent on the unique location and position you find yourself in. The culinary arts field encompasses cooking, baking, pastry-making, and even management. This is essentially a field in which a leadership role is the goal, since ideally an entire kitchen staff would work to create your perfect vision of a fine meal.

A Job Description of Culinary Arts

According to most sources, the career is further defined by the position in the kitchen. The first position is the chef, or “chief,” who is in charge not only in preparing the meal, but also in planning, purchasing, and managing a full team. That means in most cases, the head cook doesn’t actually cook—not directly. However, his or her name is on the line, as he or she develops the meals and orders the staff, taking full responsibility for the dining experience. The head chef, or executive cook, manages multiple roles in the profession.

That means that the sous chef is actually the preparer of the food, the one who supervises the kitchen staff and ensures they are preparing each ingredient properly. They also oversee the hygiene of the kitchen, from the dishes to the cleaning process. Line cooks are the ones that prepare ingredients and combine food to create a meal. A line cook does the work, a sous chef is in charge of the kitchen and a head chef manages. That’s an accurate understanding of the hierarchy of the kitchen. However, don’t forget additional roles such as the station chef, who only maintains a station on the hot line, as well as sauté cooks, who oversee sauces and other items. There may also be roast cooks and vegetable cooks, as well as pastry specialists who handle desserts.

A Scalable Career

Of course, you’re only as powerful as your company can afford. Some cooks assume multiple responsibilities, from line cooking to management, if they own their own restaurant. Others will hire a staff, but may stay on as a sous chef as well as the head chef or manager, while line cooks prepare a meal according to directions. Your salary and career future depends on so many factors, many of which include how many people support you and vice versa. Remember, marketing and customer relations may be a part of the job description, as well as maintaining relationships with clients and vendors.

All Culinary Schools states that the best qualities for a head chef are creativity (for creating entrees), a sensitive palate (so that nuances in cooking can be sensed and utilized), teamwork and the ability to manage, and organization. Last but not least, determination is important, as this spells the difference between dreaming about success and actually finding a job. A description of culinary arts encompasses many different things and you will learn much of this during your formal education.

A bachelor’s degree is recommended and you can get one in just a few years, all the while gaining valuable work experience. Find out more by contacting your school of choice.