On the Inside Track with Le Cordon Bleu

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”

You’ve picked forest mushrooms, enjoyed Arctic berries, and sampled Mediterranean olives. You love to travel, exploring marketplaces, savoring local foods and trying top-rated restaurants. Why not return from your next adventure with a new set of friends and cooking skills? What if you brought back flavors and dishes to share in addition to your stories and social media posts? One of the best ways for a fully-immersive experience in another country is to go to cooking school, embracing the local community and food culture. Le Cordon Bleu, with multiple programs in almost two dozen countries, offers the perfect entry to learning new ingredients, tastes, and techniques. Imagine upgrading your abilities in culinary, pastry, wine, cheese, or artisan breads. These are but a few of the possibilities throughout the school. Le Cordon Bleu is your ultimate cooking travel vacation destination.

You could find yourself staying in Paris, London or Ottawa and looking for ways to broaden your social and professional circles learning about new food culture. Or you’re at a transitional stage in your life and have time to act on a long-held dream. Perhaps you’re tired of your job and going to cooking school will open doors for a new career. Kathleen Flinn, author of The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, poignantly remembers her time at Paris’ Le Cordon Bleu. One spring morning making crepes she looked up at her classmates from around the world, all in white chef jackets. “It was 10am on a Tuesday morning and I realized I would normally be in some boring business meeting. Such a feeling of freedom and unity!” You can have your own cooking travel vacation too.

A New Career Path

Few places allow you to learn a craft, meet like-minded people, discover new food culture, and share meals with your classmates. Says Emily Novak, pastry chef at Serpico in Philadelphia and a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, “Amongst my peers were students who had completed PhDs, were parents to teenage kids … had enjoyed other careers. I was worried that not embracing my culinary calling until after finishing a degree would set me back—and that those around me were starting off younger and would have more experience. Yet, I quickly realized that age doesn’t matter as much when it comes to food—the hospitality industry is a beacon to people of all ages and experience levels.”

You know how to cook. It’s time to pursue your dream to completely engage with your craft. Maybe you’re just beginning to explore the wider world of food. Perhaps you’re handy in the kitchen but lack the confidence for expanding your repertoire. Or you’re already a gourmet cook and just want some finishing touches. No matter your level, Le Cordon Bleu kitchens provide the platform and expertise to exponentially increase your skills. In Le Cordon Bleu classes, you have room for exploration, trial and error, and time to reflect without the pressure of serving people. It is your ultimate cooking travel vacation destination.

Having worked with countless cooking students on their first day in class, the common fear I hear is that they feel they are not good enough; that somehow, they must be perfect when stepping into a commercial kitchen. From a learning perspective, nothing could be further from the truth. Some students will have more experience, but plenty will have less. Actually, when you make a mistake, a Le Cordon Bleu Chef can help you understand why your chicken never browned or your chocolate lumped. Unlike at home when a dish fails, you’re not left to your own devices, seeking answers from websites or friends. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you adapt and feel at home with your classmates and instructors. There is nothing as infectious as the enthusiasm of a group seeking common goals; and food lovers are particularly enthusiastic. Learning about a new food culture is amazing.

Mastering the Culinary Arts

The culinary arts involve the heart, the hands, and the head. It’s not only memorizing facts. You must know, apply, and repeat—often. You may make a bread or pastry perfect the first time. But don’t let that give you a false sense of confidence. Mastery comes after dozens of attempts in different conditions. You’ll surprise yourself at how much you now rely on your senses in the kitchen. Chef Novak reminisces on “so much joy in having the whole class band together to prepare for a service, muddle through bumps in the road, and watch beautiful plates leave for guests’ tables. There is an infectious energy that just absolutely permeates the kitchen, and the sense of camaraderie—you prep together, plate together, clean together, and feel the sense of pride for a service well done together.“

This is the key to culinary education—it exposes you to global ingredients, food culture and methods that you may not know. Where else will you learn to properly apply such flavors as cardamom, fenugreek, and tarragon and in a short amount of time, from a few weeks up to the 9-month Le Grand Diploma course, the peak of culinary education? You methodically wend your way through tradition, technique and dishes under the caring guide of a Chef Instructor, where a-ha moments occur daily. Novak recalls, “Chef taught us that everything in pastry is about temperature and texture. If one of those is wrong, it won’t work.’ Re-examining these two variables always seems to get me back on track.”

Crossing Cultures

Another little-discussed benefit of the culinary classroom is the influence of your classmates. They bring diverse cultures and perspectives to the table and engage you further in your temporary surroundings. Each will have his own variation of seasoning, garnish, presentation, food culture and insights that you can share instantly. Novak notes that “when it came time to create our original gateaux (cake) recipes, I witnessed this incredible blending of techniques with Asian flavors – red bean paste, matcha, currants, lychee. Some attempts were more successful than others, but this drive to blend the familiar with the new made for exciting, memorable desserts.”

Cooking in another country will change your life, deepening your understanding of other cultures and peoples. Regardless of the motivation, culinary education may be one of the greatest journeys you undertake in your life and Le Cordon Bleu International can bring that experience full circle. It definitely should be on the list of your cooking travel vacation destination list.