Two Months at the PCI

I first announced my enrollment in the PCI culinary program at the two-week mark.  Now, at the two-month mark, it is time for a further update.  In these two months our class has covered the fundamentals of soups, sauces, vegetable cookery, and meat cookery.  At this point we are beginning to place more emphasis on plating complete dishes.  Although I am in the day class, I am also frequenting the evening class for extra practice on the procedures I am learning.  I would caution any young aspiring chef who is considering the question of whether to go to culinary school not to be arrogant about the knowledge they already have.  Regardless of how many books you have read, regardless of how much independent practice you have had, there are always those details you some how manage to miss.  Because I tend to think of the culinary arts in very broad terms (my next post will demonstrate this), it has been very helpful for me to become better grounded in the fundamentals of cooking through the highly execution-driven approach the program entails.