Guess what’s cooking? Well, at least, as far as the job market is concerned? plenty of opportunities ? for chefs! Yes, that’s right. Hospitality industry experts point out that with the boom in the hotel management business all over India, the demand for professional chefs is growing at a tremendous rate. “In Calcutta itself, a host of job opportunities opened up for chefs when two more five star hotel chains ? ITC Welcomgroup and Hyatt ? set up shop here,” says chef Wahab of Atrium, the coffee shop at Park Hotel, Calcutta.

Besides, as Praveen Shelley, general manager of the five-star Ashoka Hotel in Agra, points out, “Job prospects are not limited to hotels and restaurants any more. Caterers, airlines, cruise-liners, event-management companies, tour operators, the packaged food industry ? they all require chefs.”

In fact, a national chef’s guild was formed last year with the intention of setting up a mother association for all the regional chef’s associations and, according to Shelley, “also to accord recognition to a group of professionals that has long been denied due respect.”

“Indeed, there was a time when chefs were not held in very high regard in India,” says Sanjay Matta, consultant chef at Goa’s famous Cavala Beach Resort. “They were considered mere cooks, who required little education or knowledge. But nothing could be further from the truth.” In fact, in order to become a professional chef, there is a minimum educational qualification criterion? Class XII.

Matta, who has a masters degree in history, feels that you should also have a keen interest in other cultures, tastes, food habits and, if possible, a knowledge of many foreign languages, especially if you are going to specialise in the cuisine of those countries. “Your ability to provide culinary delight is intrinsically connected to your level of understanding of a vast range of subjects.”

Adds Sutapa Bhatta, director, Institute of Hotel and Restaurant Management in Narendrapur near Calcutta which accords a BSc degree to students who complete its three-year graduation programme, “In order to be a good chef, it is important to have a basic understanding of such subjects as nutrition, microbiology and food science.”

Matta strongly advocates wannabe chefs to at least get one chef’s degree from abroad, not just because “the exposure maximises your chances of landing a great job” but also because “ it’s abroad that you’ll get the really good schools for chef training”.

However, the cost of attending chef training schools abroad is high, with Matta putting the figure at anywhere between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 30 lakh a year for a three-year degree course in an institution worth its salt. The fees for even the short two to three-month courses can be as steep as Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. Matta advises that you “either get yourself a good sponsor or try and get a scholarship,” as he himself did.

But those who lack the means and the opportunity need not move to the next best profession.

Jayanta Chakraborty, head of the department of food production at the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in Salt Lake, Calcutta, says, “While there are no specialised chef-training schools in India yet, it is an integral part of all hotel management courses.” And in the case of, say, a three-year degree programme ? IIHM offers a three-year bachelors degree in hotel management, with a course fee of Rs 3 lakh ? the third year is dedicated to specialisations like food production, which is basically the job of a chef.

Says Chakraborty, “The course covers both practical and theoretical aspects of the subject. The former category includes training in everything from cleaning, chopping and cutting, to cooking, and the latter is all about learning the classifications and properties of food.” He adds, “With growing prospects in the field, there has been an increase in the number of people opting to focus on food production.” In IIHM, out of 122 students in the final year, 22 are taking chef training.

Jobs aplenty

“Once you get professional training, getting a job is not a problem,” says Chakrabarty reassuringly. And if incumbent chefs are to be believed, once that happens, your future is more or less as well made as some of the beef steaks you’ll cook up. The starting salary for apprentices is not too great ? between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,000 ? eventually, you may command a sum of over Rs 1 lakh a month.”

But provided you don’t chicken out ? industry experts warn that it’s a tough job. “A career as a chef eats into your personal life,” puns veteran French chef Yvonnick Jegat Deniam, executive chef at Atrium. “Because, if you want to be a good chef, you can’t look at it as a job. It has to be your life, your passion. This is why in France this profession is consid-ered as prestigious as a doctor’s or lawyer’s job.”

Shaun Kenworthy, also an executive chef at Atrium, agrees. Originally from Manchester, U.K., he talks about the respect commanded by chefs in his country. And he adds that in his experience, young Indians have also begun to see the work of a chef as a “craft” and believes that the profession has a great future in India. So if you think you’re in a soup as far as career plans are concerned get cracking, or should that be cooking?