Online Gourmet Cooking Courses

Learn the skills you need to succeed in Catering/Gourmet Cooking at home, at your own pace with Penn Foster. Develop your natural talent for Catering and Gourmet Cooking with the Penn Foster Catering and Gourmet Cooking distance learning program. Your customers, neighbors, and friends will respect your skills and admire the exquisite meals you prepare and serve. Train quickly and conveniently with our “Quick Learn” method. Learn about:

• Food styles involved in catering
• The gourmet kitchen and the culinary professional
• Preparing poultry, fish, game, and shellfish
• Baking and pastry

And you’ll learn it all at home no classroom needed! You’ll get valuable information about different cuts of meat and how to prepare them, as well as basic and advanced presentation. It’s like having your own personal Catering and Gourmet Cooking school. Why take a Catering and Gourmet Cooking training program? With the right credentials, you can:

• Work for a restaurant, hotel, resort, or cafeteria.
• Start your own catering business and enjoy career independence.
• There will always be a demand for professional Caterers and Gourmet Cooks. Create new, unique dishes and prepare them for your own parties and banquets, or get paid to prepare them for clients.

We’ll send you free information with absolutely no obligation! Find out more about Penn Foster's Catering and Gourmet Cooking training that includes:

• All the books, lessons, equipment, and learning aids you need.
• Recipe supplements and videos that demonstrate popular techniques.
• Toll-free instructional support.
• Access to student services by website, phone, and mail.

Gourmet Cooking & Catering
Learn gourmet cooking with an exciting course from Ashworth University. In this course you’ll learn:

• The basics of gourmet cooking – History of chefs
• Nutrition & Recipes – The balanced diet
• Tools & Equipment – Use the correct utensils and cooking equipment
• Time management skills for cooking
• Poultry
• And much more

Restaurants and hotels are a great place for employment with the skills of a gourmet cook. Institutional organizations are also in need of cooks. Schools and hospitals also have a need for qualified cooks. There are no prerequisites to enroll and online learning is flexible and fast.

Distance education lets you study in the comfort of home at your own pace. Frequent course updates assure you’ll learn the latest skills and techniques. Ashworth University courses are very affordable; monthly tuition is interest-free. Ashworth University is an accredited member of the Distance Education and Training Council. The Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency for distance learning schools.

What Type of Positions are in the cooking industry?

Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers prepare, season, and cook a wide range of foods from soups, snacks, and salads to entrees, side dishes, and desserts in a variety of restaurants and other food services establishments. Chefs and cooks create recipes and prepare meals, while food preparation workers peel and cut vegetables, trim meat, prepare poultry, and perform other duties such as keeping work areas clean and monitoring temperatures of ovens and stovetops.

In general, chefs and cooks measure, mix, and cook ingredients according to recipes, using a variety of pots, pans, cutlery, and other equipment, including ovens, broilers, grills, grinders, and blenders. Chefs and head cooks also are responsible for directing the work of other kitchen workers, estimating food requirements, and ordering food supplies.

Larger restaurants and food services establishments tend to have varied menus and larger kitchen staffs. They often include several chefs and cooks, sometimes called assistant or line cooks, along with other lesser skilled kitchen workers, such as food preparation workers. Each chef or cook works an assigned station that is equipped with the types of stoves, grills, pans, and ingredients needed for the foods prepared at that station. Job titles often reflect the principal ingredient prepared or the type of cooking performed vegetable cook, fry cook, or grill cook.

Executive chefs and head cooks coordinate the work of the kitchen staff and direct the preparation of meals. They determine serving sizes, plan menus, order food supplies, and oversee kitchen operations to ensure uniform quality and presentation of meals. The terms chef and cook often are used interchangeably, but generally reflect the different types of chefs and the organizational structure of the kitchen staff. For example, an executive chef is in charge of all food service operations and also may supervise the many kitchens of a hotel, restaurant group, or corporate dining operation. A chef de cuisine reports to an executive chef and is responsible for the daily operations of a single kitchen. A sous chef, or sub chef, is the second-in-command and runs the kitchen in the absence of the chef. Chefs tend to be more highly skilled and better trained than cooks. Many chefs earn fame both for themselves and for their kitchens because of the quality and distinctive nature of the food they serve.