Career Colleges » Oklahoma » Culinary and Hospitality
Looking for accredited career colleges, technical schools, and universities in Oklahoma offering Culinary and Hospitality degrees.
Culinary training programs provide students with skills and knowledge needed for careers as chefs, cooks, food prep, and catering managers.
Oklahoma is not just farmland however. There are various Native American reservations spread throughout the state interspersed with memorials and museums to commemorate the wagon trails of America's westward expansion. So if you don't have a green thumb, but enjoy history or anthropology, Oklahoma colleges have much to offer.What do the world's most well-known chefs, line cooks, catering managers, pastry chefs and prep cooks have in common? Most of them have formal education in the culinary arts. You won't become Emeril Lagasse overnight, but even world-famous chefs traditionally start in culinary school, learning both the trade and business of creating delicious food.
Private and public career schools and chef schools can give graduates the basis they need for entry-level positions. Associate degrees and bachelor's degrees in culinary management are also available. For those with significant work experience in the field already, certificates in food and beverage management can be a career-booster.
A sincere interest in food--combined with a passion for making it taste and look good--are the qualities it takes to succeed in the competitive and challenging world of restaurants. The work can be physically demanding, and the hours can be long and may include weekends.
Culinary arts programs typically offer certificates and degrees in culinary arts or baking and pastry arts. Students begin by learning professional terminology, as well as the processes and procedures used in kitchens, including sanitation laws. Later they move to such hands-on classes as:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, chefs earned a mean annual wage of $44,780 as of April 2011, while cooks in private households earned $31,110 and food preparation workers earned $20,660. On the management side, food service managers earned $52,220, according to the BLS.