What They Don't Teach Chefs in Culinary School

Chef Evan Funke breaks down just how important maths is in a chef's daily life.




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[lemon_the_spider]

Literally had a class called "food cost and control" in culinary school

[elliottfussell]

Food cost was the second thing i learned in culinary school. The first was food safety.

[Braisedin]

We had a class on kitchen math. One half was all about writing menus and how to chart things. The other was all about your books and keeping books.

[RogerEbert-vypv]

I worked for the guy who really did write the book on cost control. Paul Magnant.

[cameronwiens]

They totally taught food costing in cooking school.

[Cheyneclair]

talking about cost with a $500 pen, I love it

[doublewides]

They are teaching that in Culinary school. My daughter went to the CIA and had courses in exactly this topic. So maybe it depends on which school you go to? That said, your target message about understanding costs is spot on!

[enriquehernandezjr]

I’m a manager at a restaurant, and food cost is everything. This is the bread and butter for a sustainable restaurant. No matter the sales, if you are constantly losing money because of poor preparation, excessive loss of product, inconsistent ordering, etc. you will not succeed.
Even if you have little sales, if you maintain consistent food cost then you have something to go off of for improvement.

[JefferyStangle]

Being a chef in this business is not just cooking. I agree with you. Glad there are chefs like youm

[mr.grotto]

I went to a tech culinary school... We learned about this and managed accounts. Food cost, control, inventory, etc... Were all "taught" daily.

[Runeknight]

That one hotdog stand computer game did this exact thing in grade school.

[AntoninoParino]

Me: “When will I ever need this maths”
My grandfather: “if you’re lucky enough to be your own boss”
Should’ve listened 😂

[corbintheintern]

They 100% taught me this within weeks of starting culinary school

[dasfonzier]

They do teach this in culinary school...

[heybeardy]

I don't know about​ others culinary school but mine teaches all those stuff like restaurant management, food cost (profit/loss), food media etc. We even get to run our own pop up restaurant​ at the end of semester as well.

[anky]

They taught me this in culinary school

[courtneywillhoft]

Went to Johnson and Wales for Baking and Pastry and had a whole class on food cost and menu pricing. And at the end of the class we had to come up with a restaurant concept and pick a location. Estimate the start up cost. Come up with a menu with pricing and a food cost list.

[Nickle]

There was a very interesting Gordon Ramsey - Kitchen disaters. Basically two people running a pub kitchen at lunch time. Not the brightest.
So he didn't come down on them. Instead he had them do some costings - with a calculator.

[DrTHC]

Life certainly teaches you much of that when you have a big family! My grandmother had twelve kids, grew most of her family's food, and had zero food waste. She knew a full year in advance what to adjust for the next season. Oh... And she couldn't read or do any math on paper; she had it all in her head (a "first grade education", they said). Thousands of recipes, generations of garden and local seasonal foraging knowledge, and a lifetime of collected equipment and preservation techniques, were managed entirely by memory (and no modern refrigeration!). THAT is true food management! And she was a pentecostal preacher's wife... So she also fed congregations both regularly and at the drop of a hat. I've often noted that restaurants run by large families usually have much better food, are better with service, and more reasonably priced. Doesn't matter the ethnicity or region, but that huge family will force the cook/manager to take into account things you never would with only two kids in the suburbs.

[blaackberry]

They taught me this, but I went to a 4 year culinary college
Culinary school must be a whole different vibe