Vegetarian Cooking

Vegetarians and vegans represent a growing population of discerning diners for whom today’s well-rounded chef may either attract as regular customers or lose forever. Vegetarians choose not to eat meat for a variety of reasons, including: concern for animals, health reasons, religion, or simple distaste for meat. Vegans follow vegetarians in rejecting meat and add to that group all things related to animals including milk, eggs, cheese, and everything with any of these products in it.

The focus with vegetarian cooking is not the exclusion of meat. Rather, it is skillful cookery that uses local, seasonal, and organic ingredients whenever possible. Professional chefs must be able to offer a tantalizing variety of meatless meals that explode with flavor, color, interesting textures, and presentation, while pleasing the fussiest palate.

Vegetarian culinary programs provide culinary students with the skills and hands-on knowledge necessary to create imaginative and innovative vegetarian cuisine. Graduates are prepared to use a variety of international flavors and ingredients that make the difference between a menu with a few unimaginative vegetarian offerings to one that attracts diners to experience and re-experience a wonderful expedition into fine vegetarian dining.

Vegetarian Cooking Courses

Should you decide to study vegetarian cooking there are a number of areas you can expect to focus on primarily.

• Types of vegetarians
• Vegetarian Diets – balance, essential nutrients
• Protein alternatives; adapting meat and fish recipes
• Transforming the kitchen; preventing “cross-contamination”
• Educating kitchen and serving staff
• Using local, organic, and in-season ingredients
• International flavors and ingredients
• Drawing on world cuisine
• Professional chef techniques
• Flair – Eye-popping presentation
• Optimizing taste, texture, and color
• Presenting yourself as the expert you are
• Writing cook books

It is possible to appease the strict vegetarian and even attract the meat and potatoes crowd using the skills and knowledge you acquire in vegetarian cooking training programs. If you do not want to limit yourself as a chef, you cannot afford to pass up this valuable exploration into an exciting world of vegetarian cooking.

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