Today (Friday) dawned bright and beautiful (to paraphrase James Harriott). Up until now it’s been a remarkably gray, chilly and dreary holiday season in Paris. We had such beautiful weather in Strasbourg the last few days before Christmas, so much sun that it made our eyes hurt; and we come back to Paris where it’s been a never-ending stream of gray days punctuated by the occasional promise of snow; and of course nothing happens.
But, as we were always told by our elders, there is a silver lining to every cloud and sure enough there is one here. We no sooner started to leave Strasbourg than Susan came down with a cold – maybe it was having to leave such a wonderful city that pushed her body over the edge. I simply don’t know. But seeing Paris in a constant and consistent shade of gray has in fact worked in her favor, forcing her to simply stay put in our warm apartment, reading, doing crosswords, and stitching (she’s back to teddy bears) and just relaxing and enjoying life, or rather being alive.
As the year comes crawling to a conclusion and as we eagerly seek our new and grand future in 2007, it now seems like a good place to stop and reflect on what has been the central focus in our life this past year, Susan’s transition from a life concerned with preservation to one of creation.
Susan has devoted this entire past year of her life to becoming a pastry chef and the experiences in Florence and Paris have been more than ample reward for the investment of time and money.
Others better qualified than I am have written of the pros and cons of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I urge you to check out “Chez Christine’s” lucid, insightful and delightful “Final Thoughts on LCB Paris” before making a commitment.
While her observations pretty much parallel Susan’s experiences, Susan only studied pastry and had little to do with the larger world of general cuisine.
But -- and of course there is always a but lurking somewhere ready to strike -- there are several important points to consider before taking the plunge into the world of becoming a pastry chef.
Simply recommending a particular school is something better left to folks whose experiences are much more broad-based than ours. Still, if you are serious about pursuing a career in culinary arts and want a comprehensive, exhaustive and thorough grounding in the skills necessary to acquire a job in that field, and plan on working in the US, then why not consider one of the great schools in North America? But if you want the experience of studying and living abroad – worth it’s weight in gold I might add – then by all means consider one of the Le Cordon Bleu campuses. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity and you’ll meet fascinating people from all over the world.
But what about Italy? What about the Apicius experience in Florence? How does it compare to Le Cordon Bleu? Again comparison shopping pretty much only works for cars and underwear; culinary programs differ from country to country and your decision depends on the objectives you set for yourself in attending such a program.
In general, it is probably safe to say that if you are a 20-year-old college student looking for a semester abroad in a “fun” place and hang out and travel to cool cities throughout Europe on your weekends off and not have to worry terribly much about grades or work, then by all means Apicius is the school for you. Indeed, the relationship between Apicius and numerous US-based study abroad and semester abroad programs make it an ideal candidate for just such a student.
Having said that, let’s look at a side-by-side comparison of the two pastry programs.
First, at LCB the pastry “diploma” is made up of three levels or certificates, which can be achieved in nine months (or less if you do the intensive program). At Apicius the pastry program is comprised of two levels (basic and advanced) which take approximately 26 weeks to complete (and while an intensive program is offered on paper, there is no guarantee it will happen).
Second, tuition and fees run a bit higher at LCB than at Apicius, but the difference between the two is not terribly significant, although certainly the costs of living in Paris are quite a bit higher than in Florence.
Third, each student in the pastry program at LCB is pursuing a certificate or diploma in pastry. At Apicius while there is a stated baking and pastry curriculum, each class may include students from a variety of other culinary programs.
Fourth, the schedule of programs at LCB is clearly laid out and every program is offered each term. At Apicius one could not count on both pastry levels (basic and advanced) being offered in every term, or even in successive terms, due to uncertain enrollment numbers (a concern that LCB does not share). This was one of the most telling problems we encountered. Susan started the beginning pastry certificate in January of 2006, hoping to do the intensive in the summer. When that program was not offered she then planned to return in the fall and finish the advanced certificate. But by the end of the basic program in April/May the school had no definite plans to offer the advanced program in the fall either.
Fifth, the instructors at both schools are superb and were always willing to give the students a hand or help with explaining a particularly thorny problem. At Apicius, where many of the instructors owned and operated their own businesses, it was not uncommon for some to make themselves available outside of class as well. At LCB the full time instructors are some of France’s leading pastry chefs with years of experience in restaurants and/or patisseries.
It is an interesting contrast between the New World and the Old, that the culinary world in Europe is still virtually dominated by men. This is certainly true of the instructors at both schools. In fact with a few exceptions (at Apicius) all the instructors and chefs were men.
Sixth, class structure varies greatly between the two programs. At LCB, following a demonstration given by one of the chefs, each student performs every step of a given recipe. Pressure, competition and intensity were the driving forces in the LCB practical kitchen. At Apicius each student might find herself preparing a portion of just one of perhaps four or five recipes, and in some of the larger classes it was not uncommon to see one or two students who chose not to do anything.
So which do you choose?
Good luck, bon chance and "in boca a lupo"!
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