Illinois Offers Top Cooking Schools So You Can Pursue Your Dreams

People who don’t love to cook don’t understand the passion that people who do love to cook have for food. Food is an art in itself, which is why so many people choose to go to a culinary school to hone their art. One area that draws a number of students is Chicago, Illinois. The reason for this is that Chicago offers a diverse food culture. Much like New York, Chicago is an area that is known for their food and for setting food trends.

Illinois Cooking Schools

There are several cooking schools in Chicago from which you can choose. Some of the Illinois culinary schools are well know, such as The Art Institute of Illinois. Others, like the school Cooking Fools, are less known, mainly because they don’t offer degrees or certifications.

If you plan on going to chef school, you’ll need to decide if you want to do so to make a career of it or if you’re simply learning something that can translate into more exciting dishes at home.

If your intent is to become a chef, then you’ll want to consider culinary arts schools in Illinois that allow you to get a degree in the field of your choice. If you want to create artistic meals at home, then cooking classes without a certification will be more affordable and practical for you.

Food Trends in Chicago

As mentioned above, Chicago is a hot spot when it comes to current trends in cooking. Chicago is, of course, known forits super deep-dish pizzas, but that’s not all that you’ll find in this area.

You’ll find that homemade style dishes with a creative flair are quite popular in Chicago. Mac & Cheese dishes have become popular even in high-end restaurants. Chefs, however, are creating their own unique versions of these dishes including everything from specialty cheeses to adding smoky meats and other non-traditional ingredients to this dish.

Gourmet food trucks are also quite popular in Chicago. There are entire blogs dedicated to following around specific trucks that tend not to stay on the same route. These trucks serve up food that you could only find in a high-end restaurant in the past.

Chicago is also home to Greek, Chinese, Italian, German, Korean, Mexican and many other ethnic flavors. The food in these restaurants range in price for the very cheap to the ultra expensive and the one common denominator amongst them all is that they all have a trained chef or cook working in their kitchens.

Making Money as a Chef in Chicago

The first thing that you have to understand is that becoming a chef if much like any other career, you have to work to get to the top. If you have a degree in the culinary arts, you’re going to be able to make more when you start than someone without any formal training.

It’s important that you understand, however, that you’re not going to start out at $56,000 a year, which is the average salary for an executive chef in Chicago. It is possible that you could start out as a sous chef, however. The average salary for this role is $37,000 a year.

Choosing Between the Cooking Schools in Illinois

There are only a few big name cooking schools in Chicago. Choosing between them may be difficult, but you should begin by focusing on your personal goals. If you want to be a pastry chef, you want to choose a school that is known for training highly qualified pastry chefs. If you have a particular cuisine in mind, then choose a school known for that type of cuisine.

You’ll also want to determine what kind of financial aid that each school has available. An accredited school allows you to get government grants and student loans to pay for school. A non-accredited school will have their own programs in place.

Lastly, consider the programs each school offers. Do they only offer certifications or do they offer a combination of degrees and certifications. Again, this stems back to your goals and whether you want a degree, but if a school doesn’t offer what you need then you know that they are automatically out of the running.

Find your cooking school and the program that will best help you reach your goals at http://www.cooking-culinary-arts-schools.org/.