Culinary Arts Education

What is Culinary Arts? We the fine art of cooking “culinary arts” because a well planned and executed meal is a work of art.  A good culinary arts education must teach the chef and their team how to please all five senses of their guests.

Culinary Arts Education of how to please the sense of sight

Some foods look messy and others look mouth-watering. Why is it that the recipe and food you make at home usually do not look quite as appetizing as the pictures in the magazine? It is because the chef and the photographer at the magazine have had a culinary arts education at some fancy culinary arts schools to learn how to make food look as tempting as possible.

For the mouth, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese may be a great combination, but even those who never had culinary arts education can tell that two blob-shaped, bland-colored foods won’t win a culinary arts contest. Chefs learn from their culinary arts education how to choose bright, interesting color combinations of food.

An example of what they learn in culinary arts education is to never roast two green peppers when you can have a green one and a yellow one. Pleasing the sense of sight is very important in culinary arts education. When you attend a culinary arts cooking school, you will undoubtedly spend much time learning how to please all the five senses.

Culinary Arts Education

Culinary Arts Education of how to please the sense of sound

The restaurant designer learns from his or her culinary arts education how to make the very sound of food add to the pleasure of a meal.  Many restaurant kitchens are open to the dining area, or even in the very center of the room. Culinary arts education teaches that the sizzling grill sound, the flambéed dishes sound, and even the opening and closing oven door increase the anticipation of the meal making the forthcoming meal even more appetizing.

Culinary Arts Education of how to please the sense of touch

Learning to please the sense of touch is very important in culinary arts education. Although we do not touch most of our food with our fingers, we touch every bite of food all with our mouths.  A sound culinary arts education teaches how to best please the sense of touch. One of the joys of a good salad, for example, is crispness.  A fresh leaf of spinach and a tired-looking one may taste similar, may give the same nutrients, but there is no pleasure in biting into it.  It’s similar with a (French) fry.  No good chef will give a soggy, limp fry to guests.  They know how to cook fried potatoes to a soft inside contrasted with a crisp exterior. Culinary arts education is most important when it comes to pleasing the sense of touch.

Culinary Arts Education of how to please the sense of smell

The sense of smell is actually an integral part of the sense of taste.  If you eat a meal in a pleasant, clean restaurant it will taste better than the same meal served next to a garbage dump. You probably don't need an exquisite culinary art degree to tell that eating in a clean and nice smelling restaurant gives you a better fine dining and eating experience than eating in a stinky restaurant. Culinary arts education teaches how to maximize the use of great smell to further the fine dining experience.

Culinary Arts Education of how to please the sense of taste

So far we have discussed how to please the four of five senses in culinary arts education. The last sense to please is taste. The very goal of a culinary arts education is, for many, preparing a meal to please the sense of taste. How many times have you been to an exquisite restaurant where everything seems so right, the looks, the smell, the touch, the sound, the only problem is the food tastes awful! If you have been to as many restaurants as I have, you will know that it happens often. Learning how to properly tempt the other senses is a necessary part of making a gourmet meal but learning how to tempt the sense of taste ensures returning customers.