• Food and Drink

Food and Drink

Attention all food lovers!  If cooking and tasting culinary delights are your passion, then why not try a career as a Chef?  From planning out entire menus to experimenting and developing new recipes, a job as a Chef is an exciting career to have!

Becoming a Chef can require many skills.  So, what does it take?  Some basic skills include: a good eye for detail, the ability to multi-task and keep calm under pressure, accuracy - when judging quantities, and last, but certainly not least - excellent personal hygiene.  Oh, and not to forget good taste!

Glasgow Met offers a range of courses in Food Studies, including a Professional Cookery HNC which also provides a specialist course in Patisserie if you fancy indulging your sweet tooth.  If you love good grub, then please check out http://www.glasgowmet.ac.uk/professional-cookery-hnc-hnd.aspx for a list of cookery courses.

A man who certainly knows good food is Scotland-born, Mr. Gordon Ramsay.  Ramsay has been involved in numerous celebrity events and is a member of many charitable organisations.  In 2009, he was among a group of celebrity Chefs that cooked a five-course feast to raise money for troops in Asia.  Owning over 14 restaurants overseas Mr. Ramsay has his finger in many pies! 

Many restaurants will take on aspiring Chefs for a duration.  This is usually voluntary and unpaid, but some restaurants will pay you for the work you do.  A Modern Apprenticeship is a great way of training and gaining qualifications in your desired industry while earning some cash.  Check out http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/skills-and-training/modern-apprenticeships.aspx for more info.

However, a career in the culinary arts does not limit itself to cooking.  There are other careers in the food industry such as Food Scientists and Food Technicians that have the job of carrying out various tests and checks before the foods even touch the supermarket shelf.

While a job as a Food Scientist and a Food Technician often overlap, a Food Scientist generally researches and analyses all aspects of food, such as the chemical ingredients and nutritional values; making sure there are no risks to our health.  A Food Technician, on the other hand, works on the processing, improvement and preservation of food. 

So, if you enjoy experimenting with food and would prefer to work behind the scenes, then check out http://www.gcu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/food-bioscience-8592.php?loc=uk.  This degree in Food Bioscience includes a workbased placement, offering you the chance to study while gaining experience working in a lab.  Just giving you a little food for thought.