Customer Reviews

Opportunities in Culinary Careers

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This guide to culinary careers is terribly overpriced for the information it contains. The quick descriptions of different culinary careers have some value, as do the appendices listing culinary publications and organizations. However, the career descriptions are quite short and the advice is unremarkable. On the topic of finding a culinary mentor, for example, the author advises you to find one. That's pretty much it - no discussion on how to choose a suitable mentor, or how to convince an experienced professional to take you on as a protege. The book mentions the apprenticeship system but doesn't explain how to find an apprenticeship. The section on choosing a culinary school/vocational program is much better, though.

Something trumpeted in both the book description here and on both covers of the actual book is the inclusion of up-to-date information on salary statistics and earning potential for the spectrum of culinary professionals. It must have been printed in invisible ink, because I don't see it *anywhere* (and yes, I have this exact edition). This promise was my primary motivation for getting the book, so I was very disappointed (disgruntled, even) that this information is NOT in the book after all.

Don't spend money on this book unless you're just looking for a quick overview of the career possibilities. That's the one thing the author does well - it describes (in brief) a wide range of culinary careers beyond the obvious white-linen restaurant ones.

This book could have been greatly improved if it had expanded on the career descriptions, perhaps including short interviews with actual culinary professionals, especially those in roles like institutional cooking or food research. Of course it also would have been much better if it had actually included the promised salary information, too.

It's a good book to have in a library or career center, but it's not much use for your home reference bookshelf.