What does it take to be a CHEF?
How does one become a chef? Does a person need to enroll in a culinary course or school? Or if you love cooking, and it’s in your blood… are you allowed to call yourself a chef or are you just a cook?
I had never been a fan of titles but when you are living in a country where papers are important, sometimes you have to think twice if you will push forward to get that title of a “chef”. It’s not just all about the position nor the title, but also the respect of your peers & colleagues. That you are not just a hobby cook, but you actually know what you are doing. Plus, you also get a different salary range when one is a certified chef.
When I decided to be certified as a chef back in 2014, I was not prepared nor knew what was needed of me. I thought that years of experience in the kitchen was enough. Or the passion for cooking was sufficient. At that time, there was no guidelines or knew of people who have taken this what they call, “FAGBREV I kokkefaget” which means certification in cookery.
What steps did I took back then? Well, first off – I did my research and asked my former employer if they could assist or help me achieve my goal. In the end, I found the information I needed and proceeded with the following:
- “Kompetansebevis” – it means that I had to file for a competency evaluation based on my work experience in the food industry. And I did this back in 2014, I sat with this evaluation for sometime as I did not know what to do with it, nor what step to take next.
- After further research, I found out that I had to take a written examination as a “privatist” (private person). I took the exam and only used 1 book as a reference material for the syllabus that would be covered.
- I registered online to take the written exam, paid and received email as to when, where & time of this examination.
So, I took the exam and that was the longest one I had ever taken in my life. After about 5 intense hours doing the written exams with no food nor drink with me, I was done. However, in the end I was not sure if I did enough to pass the exams as I was not confident with the effort I had put forth.
Sometime later, the results was out and I got my grade. Problem was I did not know if my score was passed or failed. So, it ended up that I did not take the next step which was to take the practical exams since I was not sure of what the next step was at that time.
The “FAGBREV i Kokkefaget”/certification in cookery has 2 steps:
- Written exams – theoretical ✔️
- Practical exams – planning, cooking & kitchen work *
*I was completely in the dark about this part of the process to be honest during that time.
It ended up the written result from my examinations that time just sat and matured until about 6 years later until my interest in ticking off the boxes in my `bucket list´ happened. And that was when I wanted to continue and finish what I started in 2014 which was to BECOME A CHEF.
It was around 2019 when I considered completing the certification once again.
Note: Story of this journey continues on the next blog.