Known as the "King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings," Antoine Careme went from being an abandoned child left at the door of a restrauteur in 18th century Paris, to become the father of "haute cuisine" – the high art of French cooking – in the early 19th century. Chef to then-world movers and shakers such as diplomat Talleyrand-Perigord, the future King George IV, Czar Alexander I, and the powerful banker James Rothschild, Careme is noted for his voluminous writings on cooking, including the famed L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise (The Art of French Cooking), a five-volume masterpiece on menu planning, table settings, hundreds of recipes, and a history of French cooking.

Another Frenchman, George Auguste Escoffier, bridged the 19th and 20th centuries with a modernization of Careme's elaborate cuisine by ingenious simplification of it. Escoffier lent his talents as a chef to open the Ritz and Carlton hotels with partner Cesar Ritz, and then went on to wow such illustrious passengers as Kaiser William II of Germany on the German liner Imperator. Besides being known for such famous treats at Peach Melba, created for Australian singer Nellie Melba in 1893, Escoffier penned numerous volumes on cooking and was largely instrumental in the betterment of conditions within commercial kitchens. A stickler for cleanliness, he demanded the same from his workers and forbade swearing or any type of violence, which at the time, was common as apprentices and other help were routinely beaten by older staff.

Charles Ranhofer, the son of a restrauteur and the grandson of a chef, goes down in the annals of great chefs as the first French chef to bring the grandeur of his country's cuisine to America. Noted primarily as the head chef of New York City's famed Delmonico's restaurant, Ranhofer ran its kitchens for nearly 34 years. Serving such luminaries as President Andrew Johnson, President U.S. Grant, Charles Dickens, and a host of foreign dignitaries, Ranhofer created such culinary distinctions as Lobster Newburg and Baked Alaska, among many others. He also wrote "one of the most complete treatises of its kind," according to the New York Times in praise of his book, The Epicurean, published in 1894.

A discourse on famous historical chefs would not be complete without the inclusion of one of the most gifted chefs of all time: an American woman named Julia Child. Born to a prominent California family, Child did not begin to cook until the age of 34. It was after she moved with her husband to France that she had her grand epiphany: Good food is more than roast beef and mashed potatoes. She flung herself headlong into an education at the esteemed Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and later wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking with two partners. Child went on to become the first "celebrity chef" with more books, television programs, newspaper columns, and magazine articles. She brought exquisite French cuisine to America as much with her "have-a-good-time" attitude toward cooking as she did with her talent and expertise.

To all these great chefs, we owe a debt for their giftedness and tireless contributions that have truly turned cooking into an art form. It does make one wonder, however, if ever the temptation arose with any of them to ever dine secretly on a lowly peanut butter and jelly sandwich or to toast the evening with Kool-Aid and crackers. We'll never know, but we'll surely speculate – as we take another bite of quiche Lorraine.

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Successful chefs are like other creative types – they will be found "playing with their food" even if no money was involved. Like writers who write because they love to express themselves this way, and singers who belt out tunes anywhere they can get away with it, chefs are "chefs to the bone." A true chef considers the money involved merely a "bonus" to what he or she loves to be doing anyway.

While a job is just a means to an end (as in paying the bills) with 40 hours dutifully put in every week and the occasional overtime blessing (or curse, depending on your situation), a career is like a marriage: You have an unspoken commitment to yourself that you will love, cherish, and even obey this vocational calling 'til death do you part. If you ever get to know a successful professional chef, you'll immediately realize this "marriage" is a forever thing – part of his or her personality that's so ingrained there is essentially no difference between that person and what they do for a living.

Chefs live, breathe, eat, and dream about – guess what? Food. Although there are many other duties associated with "cheffing," such as management, personnel, accounting, and other responsibilities, the core of a chef's livelihood is the preparation and presentation of food.

When someone earning their living comes home from work complaining of the tiredness of their feet and back, the heat of the kitchen, or the endless stream of meals that had to be prepared, it's apparent this is just a job to him or her. The career-minded chef is not even aware of being career-minded; their mind is on what went wrong, what was successful, and how could they improve on anything that happened in "their" kitchen that shift. The chef in the former state of mind wonders how to get out of his current situation; the chef in the latter mindset wants more and relishes the next opportunity to express him- or herself with food.

So when you ask if being a chef is a career or a job, no one can answer that except you. If coming home smelling like barbecue or fish or Limburger cheese appalls you, consider the fact this is often the case with chefs. You may want to save your cooking skills to the occasional at-home masterpiece that wows your friends and family. But for those of you reading this that are saying to themselves, "Yep, that's me, all right," then don't wait any longer – the world's taste buds impatiently await you!

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Yep, it's true that your mom, your Uncle Pete, and your friend can cook – Mom's pancakes are wonderful, Uncle Pete's barbecue makes you drool in anticipation, and your best friend's spaghetti sauce should be patented – but alas, they are still merely cooks, not chefs.

Chefs must not only be wonderful cooks, they must also develop menus, stay on top of food costs, manage a staff – plus wear the hats of human resource professional, accountant, teacher, sometimes Mom and Dad, and sometimes friend (or enemy), as well.

Creativity plays a major role in a chef's profession. Not only must the food be impeccably prepared, but also its presentation must be artful and designed to appeal to the most discriminating taste buds. Chefs are also expected to create new, never-before-seen dishes and for this, a mastery of all types of foodstuffs is required – meats, fish, poultry, herbs, spices, even wines.

These descriptions are, of course, for Executive Chefs. There are a plethora of underlings that also retain "chef" as part of their official title: sous chef, pastry chef, saucier chef, garde manger chef, and more.

A cook needs nothing more than a desire to work in the kitchen and deftness with a whisk and spatula, while a chef needs years of training and apprenticeship for certification – almost all of it done on his or her feet.

One way to look at it is this: Any good hamburger flipper can be a cook, but a chef is the one who created the "Imported Gruyere Cheese With Porcini Mushrooms Hamburger Deluxe" on the menu at the five-star restaurant you visit only on Mother's Day or on a very hot date.

Of course, there are the rare occurrences where a really good cook – the so-called "gourmet cook" – should, for all practical purposes it seems, be classified as a true "chef." But, alas, without that stamp of approval, the certification from an accredited culinary school or college, the gourmet cook must remain satisfied with the little-lower-than-the-angels "cook" designation. And one must remember the other requirements of managing a kitchen, staff, and the ability to create – not merely follow a recipe. A true chef MAKES the recipes, THEN follows them.

Even the act of creatively and exquisitely preparing food does not a "real" chef make. Chefs are a breed apart. Absolutely passionate about food, if they were not creating dishes for pay, a true, dyed-in-the-wool chef would be inventing sumptuous gastrointestinal delights just to appease his or her innate preoccupation with food, and the creative preparation and presentation thereof.

So if you feel you can tell the difference now between a "cook" and a "chef," you are at least part of the way toward an understanding of this prestigious profession. If not, stick to the fast-food joints and greasy-spoon diners where your talents will be better appreciated. Please.

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And then there's the "real" world: The median hourly earnings of chefs two years ago was $13.43, with the lowest 10 percent making less than $7.66 an hour, and the top 10 percent plucking down a healthy $25.86 hourly wage. So – there you go: Unless you're one of the blessed food wonders of the world – with plenty of backing from top sponsors – you're most likely going to fall in the latter group of those head chefs making anywhere from the unacceptably low, "you gotta be kidding" pay scale to the, "yeah, I can get by on that" wage.

A lot depends on what part of the country you're working. Executive chefs in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston are going to make significantly more than those in Mobile, Alabama or Mesa, Arizona. Population aside, it's the deep pockets of the customers in those former locales that make the difference.

Another big factor is what type of establishment you work in. Highbrow, four-star-rated restaurants are going to earn you a much fatter paycheck (and, in turn, demand your best performance!) than Granny's Supper Shack that opens only when Granny's not down with a hangover or the Pizza Palace whose main attraction is its "certified chef" that can twirl a round of dough over his head.

At some places, the relatively low wages may be offset by the employer paying for the uniforms (yes! The tall white cap and white jacket!) and free or reduced-priced meals. But this is strictly arbitrary; Federal law allows meals and uniforms to be deducted from wages if the employer so chooses – something to definitely take into consideration when you're interviewing. And benefits (health insurance, sick days, etc.) are only for full-time employees, so part-timers need to figure out another way of meeting medical bills and avoid getting sick.

Unions for chefs do exist. These unions include membership not only of chefs, but all kitchen workers, down to the dishwashers and busboys. The largest are the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). HERE recently merged with the Union of Needletrades, Textiles and Industrial Employees (UNITE) to form UNITE HERE, and represents 440,000 active members and more than 400,000 retirees throughout North America. The SEIU represents 1.7 million working people and 120,000 retirees. So when you are considering employment, you might want to learn whether or not the establishment you're looking at is a member of one of these powerful unions.

Now you know what a real, red-blooded American chef earns. If the beginning wages don't scare you off, you may truly be one of the Chosen Few destined to "chef" your way through life. One thing to remember is that although starting salaries look meager, a reputable chef with some solid experience – say six or seven years – under his or her belt, can make around $120,000 per year on average. So knuckle down, take your licks, and get going – you're a chef, right? Go get cooking!

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Professional chefs advise investing from at least $250 to $400 for a good set of quality knives that includes a paring, filleting, French, carving, and bread knife, as well as a sharpening steel and a fork. And this is a "starter" set. As a chef gains more experience – and makes more money! – he or she soon begins to covet the hundreds-of-dollars-per-individual-knife cutting instruments.

Sharpening steels come as adjuncts to knives, and it is not a one-kind-sharpens-all proposition, either. Steels must match the type of knife they are to sharpen. Coarser steel is used for butcher knives, for instance, while finer steel works better on paring knives. So along with your knives, you should also keep on hand the proper steels with which to keep them in excellent condition.

Cheap knife sets only mean trouble in the long run, so go ahead, take the leap, and make the investment. When buying, always inspect the blades and look for less alloys (metal mixes) in the composition and more tempered carbon stainless steel, instead. With a poor knife, you spend a lot of time sharpening it because it just won't hold an edge. Say you're in a hurry (as most chefs are) and don't sharpen it, then use it anyway. You may wind up cutting yourself – badly. One trip to the emergency room, and no one will ever need to warn you again about using dull knives. As one chef said, "A good knife is like a good dog. Treat it well, and it's your friend forever."

Mandolines, while not knives, perform much the same function. These instruments slice, dice, and julienne vegetables, fruits, and meats to the user's specifications – and are totally hand-operated, no electricity required. Food sliced using a mandoline comes out looking neat and uniform and cooks more evenly during deep-fat frying or sautéing. While a professional chef would most likely opt for the $200 variety found at restaurant supply houses, mandolines can be bought for as low as $30, but just like knives, it's best to buy quality over cheapness – which always winds up costing you more in the end.

Chefs use many tools besides knives – blenders, mixers, food processors, colanders, all kinds of hand tools such as whisks, spatulas, wooden spoons, and so on, but what struck one professional chef as his second most-needed, on-the-job tool after knives? A good attitude. This chef says that with a good approach to his profession, he is free to thrive on the adrenaline rush of busy nights at work, knowing he's in top form, and always being on the lookout for ways to improve.
Now that's some sharp tool!

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Saucier – As might be expected, the saucier is the sauce specialist. As a saucier, you create all the sauces and those dishes that are cooked in sauces. Making from scratch stocks, soups, classic and contemporary sauces, accompaniments, and foods paired with all these are all considered part of your job. Sauces are an essential component in much cooking, so sauciers must be very well educated when it comes to the possible mixtures and combinations of ingredients that compose a fine sauce.

Garde Manger – The garde manger creates all the cold food presentations: fruit and vegetable salads, pates, canapés, and hors d'ouevres – anything cold for the table. The garde manger chef makes all vinaigrettes and dressings in addition to molded aspics, pickled vegetables, chutneys, and relishes. In some settings, the garde manger chef plays sculptor, as well, by creating ice sculptures ranging from the simple to the elaborate to decorate party or buffet occasions.

Entremetier – The entremetier prepares, cooks, and presents all types of vegetables, pasta, rice, and egg dishes. As an entremetier your rice must never stick to the pot and your spaghetti must be cooked perfectly al dente. Vegetable side dishes perfectly prepared and impeccably presented to accompany entrées make you an important link in the "food chain" of culinary arts.

Patissier – As a patissier, you are the creator of all baked desserts and other confections: cakes, pies, tortes, tarts, cookies, and candies. Creativity must be expressed not only in the taste, but also in the decoration of all types of dessert and pastry dishes. The perfect piecrust is your forte, and fudge, for you, never fails.

These are a just a few of many other culinary positions out there in the world of food, but all professional cooking positions require the following traits:

- stamina
- excellent sense of smell and taste
- creativity
- math skill
- good with details
- patience
- good teamwork abilities
- organizational skills

So if you love to cook and possess all these characteristics, there awaits for you many excellent opportunities as a specialized chef. These positions don't carry quite the prestige as does the head or executive chef, yet the final (and most critical) responsibilities of wherever you work do not lie at feet of these positions, either. But make no mistake: although specialty chefs may not be held ultimately responsible for any major faux pas, they are still expected to create and produce at the top of their expertise. Otherwise, as they say in the business, "Your goose will be cooked."

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Two of the biggest organizations in the business of training and bestowing accredited certifications to personal freelance chefs are the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCS) and the American Personal Chef Association (APCA). Both organizations offer information regarding liability insurance, software to help with scheduling and menu planning, tools and equipment, and local chapters provide coaching, advice, and other support for members.

Thanks to the advent of these trained personal freelance chefs, many families now have their favorite meals prepared for them up to several weeks in advance, ready to simply heat and devour. For many, this means getting a decent, home-cooked meal instead of relying on fast food or tv dinners. And most personal chefs not only do the cooking, they plan entire meals, do all the necessary grocery shopping, and clean up their mess when through in their client's kitchen. Personal chefs spend, on average, four to six hours twice a month in their customers' homes making such dishes as salmon with Parmesan crust, fettuccini Alfredo, crab cakes, and other fine meals. Some suggest and provide wines, as well.

Pricing averages from $7 to $15 per plate, but with savings found in time saved by not having to shop or do the cooking themselves, people from singles to seniors and professionals with little or no free time, find the service worth much more than the cost.

Training schools for freelance personal chefs provide cooking and business education through seminars, personalized mentoring sessions, classroom instruction, video- and audiocassette teaching, CDs, books, and online testing for a typical price of around $900. Information varies, of course, from school to school, but usually includes such things as checklists for starting out with your business, learning how to price, preparing recipes and planning menus, packaging prepared meals for storage, sanitation and hygiene, and more. Chefs who are already certified as personal chefs – and who are already successfully running their own personal freelance chef businesses – commonly provide instruction and support as mentors.

Personal chefs enjoy all the benefits of any other business owner – and all the responsibilities. Some freelance chefs cook for as many as 15 families. But to most, all the hard work is worth it. One personal chef summed it up nicely: "When you cook for a family for any length of time, you become a part of that family as well." And who would not enjoy that?

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Although this career can really be like the above, most successful chefs say it is definitely worth it – especially if you're passionate about food. Food definitely must be the center of your life – not eating it, but preparing and presenting it! (Though a taste now and then will keep the good chef on track.)

Many years of training go into the making of a professional chef, one of the reasons a deep love of food and cooking is so important. Some potential chefs begin by taking courses in high school or after-high-school vocational training programs. Others opt for formal education at private culinary schools or take culinary arts degree programs in college. Apprenticeship (usually three years) and internship (often a year) are almost always required for completion of these programs because most employers in the field today won't accept less than hands-on training when it comes to hiring people who prepare the food for which their establishments are known.

Curriculums vary, but all good cooking schools teach you how to prepare and present a number of meals appropriately using the correct equipment, along with menu and portion planning, budgeting, purchasing, nutrition, and waste control. You also learn proper sanitation and public health regulations regarding the handling of food – which consist of a lot more than just a quick hand wash and a pinch of salt thrown over your shoulder for good luck.

Hotels, restaurateurs, cruise ships, and other establishments needing professional chefs look toward the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and its accreditation when going over the resume of a possible chef to work for them. The ACF puts their stamp of approval on more than 100 culinary school training programs and backs apprenticeship programs all over the USA. If you have successfully completed training that's acceptable through the ACF's recognized standards, you've got a definite leg up on your competition who've recently received certificates from Bob's Burger Flipping School. This doesn't mean you're guaranteed a job, however – you just have an advantage!

Chef certification or a degree in culinary arts is not an absolute requirement for becoming a professional chef. It's just regarded as the easiest way – if there is such a thing. Some chefs become what they are through working under already-well-established professionals. If they don't succeed their mentors (possibly at retirement), their mentors sometimes recommend them to other quality establishments to enable them to rise in their careers. This is wonderful if your mentor likes you; otherwise, when you leave that establishment, it's back to square one – chopping, peeling, and cleaning up others' messes.

So, it's highly recommended to take the formal education route – that is, if you're sure this career is to your liking. By all means, go for it! Who knows? In just a few short years, you, too, can spend hours and hours on your feet, dripping wet from the heat and exhausted from trying to get everyone doing what they're supposed to in your kitchen – but hey, you'll be a chef!

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Curricula differ somewhat from school to school, but most of the culinary student's time is consumed in learning the ins and outs of cooking by actually doing it under close supervision. Participants not only prepare food, but also learn how to plan menus, minimize food costs, buy food and supplies in quantities, and how to appropriately choose and store food. Learning proper hygiene and local public health rules also play a large part in a culinary student's education.

Classes are sometimes offered all day, taking a complete eight hours, while at some schools, classes are broken into morning and afternoon sessions. There are usually lectures, and then demonstrations followed by hands-on practice time with students applying the techniques demonstrated earlier. Some schools even offer part-time professional classes to accommodate working cooks wanting to increase their formal education.

A number of educational scholarships are available, among them:

The American Academy of Chefs Chair's Scholarship – Ten $1,000 scholarships awarded each year
The American Academy of Chefs Chaine des Rotisseurs Scholarship – Twenty $1,000 scholarships awarded annually
National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) – Three yearly $2,000 scholarships for high school seniors and undergraduate students

Because years of training and experience are needed to reach the level of executive chef in most well-paying restaurants, many students serious about this profession begin their training in high school through vocational programs, then go on to a two- or four-year college or university. Apprenticeship programs offer more training afterward, and these come from individual eating establishments and are given by a personal mentor or from professional institutions and associations such as the American Culinary Federation.

Apprenticeship lasts usually about three years and is most often known as the years of "grunt work" – doing all the chopping, grating, peeling, slicing, and washing necessary to prepare the ingredients for the chefs. Even cleaning appliances, sweeping and mopping floors, and other seemingly unaffiliated "chef" work gets done by the apprentice as part of his or her learning experience. Often this "trial-by-fire" period separates the truly dedicated chefs-to-be from those who are merely good cooks.

It is not impossible to attain the status of executive chef without the benefit of formal education, but in today's job market, most establishments (especially the finer hotels and restaurants) now require some type of certification to work in this capacity. Like a degree of any sort, formal training in the culinary arts may not mean you are another Julia Child or Paul Prudhomme, but it does at least signify that you've got what it takes to get through the school. So stop trying to think of ways to take shortcuts, get your tuition together, and go learn what you need to attain your dream!

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Walter Scheib III – White House Executive Chef

The White House Executive Chef position does not necessarily change during each Presidential administration and is governed by the First Lady's office. The current executive chef, Walter Scheib, has been the Whitehouse chef since 1994 and hopes to serve there until retirement. Scheib won the position over 4,000 applicants, undoubtedly due to his extensive and impressive credentials: formal training at the Culinary Institute of America, executive chef of the Capitol Hilton in Washington, DC, executive chef at Florida's Boca Raton Club and Resort, and executive chef of the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.

Chef Scheib supervises five staff members that work full-time and up to 20 part-time staff. He travels with the president to prepare food for official state functions and often remains on-call in the event he is called at home, picked up by a White House car, and requested to prepare an off-hours meal.

Jamie Johns – Personal Chef

Jamie Johns did her stint at the Texas Culinary Academy and landed her unusual job with a Central Texas family right after finishing her apprenticeship. The family is not what one would consider the typical Texas family, however. This family only lives in Waco, Texas part of the year, spending four months in the Cayman Islands and another two months in Aspen, Colorado. Johns' job consists of traveling along with the family, whose tastes are polar opposites of most Texans' Tex-Mex, steak, and deep-fat-fried fare. Instead, Jamie concentrates on creating the family's preferred Thai, ocean vegetables, and vegetarian fare. She loves her job and the family, but admits she does sneak off occasionally to "find some good, old-fashioned meat" to cook and eat for herself.

Steamboat Paddlewheel Chef — Mark Amatangelo

Executive Chef Mark Amatangelo presides over the galley of the historic Delta Queen steamboat that cruises up and down the Mighty Mississip'. Chef Mark serves up "regular" fare along with Louisiana southern specials that include Frog Legs in Piquant Alligator Sauce, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Turtle Soup au Sherry. On a typical steamboat cruise, Chef Mark and his staff serve up 25 different lunch entrees, a variety of 35 dinner entrees, and the customers' choices from 14 different soups – in addition to an array of appetizers and salads. Mark landed this job after working for his uncle's New Orleans restaurant as sous chef, then studying culinary arts and business while attending North Carolina State University. The Delta Queen Steamboat Company hails all the way back to 1890 and is the oldest continuously operating riverboat line in America.

These are just a few unusual places you may find yourself if you choose to pursue a culinary quest – but there are many more. For instance, whom does the NASA space program select to cook for its staff? And movie stars are well known to keep their own private chefs on hand. What about the chef for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus? Do they even have a chef, or do they survive on popcorn and peanuts?

So don't feel you'll be stuck in some highbrow, low-interest, golf-course-ridden resort just because you've now got your official cooking papers. Shoot for the stars! Or the steamboats! Or, hey – even the White House!

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