Old School

One of my professors gave me a great quote when he said "You're entering one of the last true apprenticeships systems around." This is not as true in America, where I've had to explain even to chefs what an apprenticeship would look like, and it's worth explaining the history and value of the apprenticeship.

For centuries aspiring chefs needing education (and we all need education, even if you father was Escoffier himself) found the best chef that they could, and signed themselves into what amounted to indentured servitude, getting paid little or nothing in exchange for work experience, education at the hands of culinary genius, and all the abuse an old-school French chef could hand out.

That changed in the 1970s with the rise of culinary schools, particularly in the US. Culinary schools had been around, most notably Le Cordon Bleu in France, and the Culinary Institute of America in the States, but by the 70s, interest in food and restaurants, particularly in America, had grown. Plenty of people wanted to be chefs, but few had the desire or means to move to Europe.

The America Culinary Federation now provides an apprenticeship program, and I'm planning on using it, at least as a framework. When I started looking for a job over spring break, I noticed that most chefs were unfamiliar with what I'd need as a first-year apprentice, especially after talking to a chef who used an apprenticeship for his education. He explained that I'd need a restaurant or institution that could teach me, through its regular oprations, butchery, bakery, lots of prep and maybe charcuterie. This isn't difficult to find in places with a long culinary history, where vendors most likely arose meeting restaurants' need for lots of raw product. In the age of restaurant group and providers that are more accustomed to providing bagged lettuce and pre-portioned meat, these sorts of kitchens are few and far between, and Atlanta's a recent arrival on the food scene. We rely on Sysco and United Foodservice for product, even if they go by the names of Buckhead Beef and FreshPoint. Getting beef in anything smaller than a subprimal (roughly 1/9th of a cow) requires special contacts, as does getting anything heirloom that you can legally serve.

An apprenticeship provides a unique opprtunity; aspiring chefs can learn from the best in the business, at the business, since the best chefs rarely have the time to teach at the local community college. Plus, we don't incur massive student loan debt, only to go out and earn ten dollars an hour while we pay our dues. It's practical, but that doesn't make it convenient.

Yet I'm still looking to take an old-fashioned approach to an old-school industry, and this was exemplified by an email that I got while trying to find a job. A local ACF chapter guy told me, of a specific chef who does apprenticeships: "You may not be able to reach him by phone.(but you can try). You could also write him a letter or visit the hotel and apply for a job." No mention was made of email. Talk about old school.