Best place to become a professional in Thai cuisine and study to be a Baker/Pastry Chef

[Startmeup]

I know the two are totally seperate but interested to hear more on both, from those with experience.

 

My girl loves to cook but has had no guidance.
She would consider a career in either or both of the above subjects, With the view to eventually open her own place.

 

There's levels to this stuff which we all have seen based on the restaurant or cafes we have frequented.

In Phuket ive gone to cafes that sell cappuccinos anywhere from 50-200 baht and the price doesn't necessarily correspond to quality.

The same can be said for the breads/pastries that you might buy in those places. 

Ive had 70 baht croissants that were as good as 120 baht croissants. 

You would expect they are both making money at those prices.

Thats just a basic assumption Of course there are other factors and overheads at play that might come into pricing.

 

One bakery/coffee shop that I know of in Phuket that does good croissants the lady went to study as a baker/pastry chef in Bangkok to learn the trade.

Im unsure if she worked hands on elsewhere prior to opening, Ill have to ask more when im there again.

It's a small basic cafe that does fresh croissants/paninis/baguettes/sandwiches and breads daily. They seem to sell freshly baked goods to restaurants and other coffee shops.

The menu is small but what they do they do good and it seems they are expanding the menu slowly. A good strategy imo.

 

Similarly Thai food has levels. In this case though I have found it very rare that a cheap thai restaurant compares to a higher class place where the price is x2-5 times.

The flavours and quality of the food are just incomparable. Alot of the cheap Thai places are simply Mom and Pop places that open a business to earn some extra money.

They haven't been trained formally in cooking and have little to no knowledge on nutrition. They are just dishing out what they were taught by other family members. 

After some basic research three places have come up.

Dusit Thai College, Le Cordon Bleu and UFM all in Bangkok.

 

Just taking a quick look at the Le Cordon Bleu courses

They offer a 240 hour 10 week baking/pastry course at an eye watering 300k baht.

https://www.cordonbleu.edu/thailand/art-of-bakery/en
 

Or a prof thai cooking course for 9 months at an even more eye watering 520k baht

https://www.cordonbleu.edu/thailand/professional-thai-cuisine/en

I didn't check into the others too much but a quick glance shows similar prices.

I think hands on experience in a good place is likely a crucial part to the learning experience.

Is there any need to go to school, would you be better off working in a few good restaurants and learning the ropes that way or would that take years?

Any other recommendations of places?

 

I thought I would pose the question here to get the ball rolling to give me some ideas if its something that ends up getting more attention in the future.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

I know a girl who learned to cook professionally in Thailand, successfully - but I don't know where she learned.

 

One way to find out is to talk with restaurant managers or hotel F&B and HR managers what they are looking for. I am sure they know good schools possibly in your area or further away.

[Startmeup]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

One way to find out is to talk with restaurant managers or hotel F&B and HR managers what they are looking for. I am sure they know good schools possibly in your area or further away.

Yes that's the plan when/if I start to dig in deeper.

[save the frogs]

The chef here is from France and probably much cheaper than Cordon Bleu and probably good enough

https://www.cheflucasbakingstudio.com/

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I know a girl who learned to cook professionally in Thailand, successfully - but I don't know where she learned.

I asked: Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School

 

[Startmeup]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I asked: Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School

 

What course did she do?

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Startmeup said:

What course did she do?

I don't know. As far as I remember she was years at that school.

And then she started to work in a 5-start hotel (and I think later in another one).

 

That school seems to have a very good reputation. But the girl was also highly motivated. So, it's not surprising that she is successful now.

[Classic Ray]

My wife did several courses at Le Cordon Bleu, did very well and was very satisfied overall. But education there is an investment, I haven’t seen much return yet.

[fallup88]

Le Cordon Bleu is very intensive. It’s good to have basic skills before you go in, I think it’s a waste if you have no basic knowledge. You are better off enrolling at small schools and try to cook from passion and learning yourself, watching videos online.

 

Experience at hotels and reputable restaurants also helps a lot. It takes time to be proficient and experiences are invaluable for your journey.

 

I’ve been to restaurants where owner graduated from Le Cordon Blue, hate to say some are not better than those that learn from scratch, experience, and passion. As corny as it sounds, a good cook / chef comes from within and experience it gains a long the way.

[patman30]

As a former chef that run kitchens for a decade......
If the end goal is to open your own place/sell your own products
you would be much better spending the 300-500k on food and equipment and get practising
nothing beats learning more than practice
practise cooking what you think you would possibly sell in future
one issue with learning classes/courses, is it puts blinkers on the chef, and makes them a this way only type
food is flexible there are no rules or set ways, especially for business
for your own place the most important thing is to know your customer base
being able to cook the "best food ever" does NOT make you a good chef
running a profitable kitchen is what makes a good chef (many fail to understand this)

yes you are correct Baking is a separate speciality, baking is a science.
one comment you may not like
enjoying cooking at home is not the same as cooking for a business
the enjoyment may be soon lost as time and pressure quickly mount up
kitchen time management and pressure is what gets most chefs regardless of any training
and those who are used to having time quickly get stressed when on the clock
 

Edited March 25 by patman30

[sikishrory]

For croissants specifically they are not that difficult to do by yourself if you have a good recipe and the setup for it. Setup is rolling pin, bench space, mixer and oven. Thats all. First couple of batches will be crap but its not as hard as it seems. The sheet butter is not that hard to find.

Otherwise look for some baking courses at the aforementioned places or try to get a job somewhere doing it.

 

For Thai food. Dusit Thani is where a lot of Thais go to do their training. I asked my Friend who did it not long ago but they didn't reply yet. This would be the place I would choose if I were you.

I'm not a big fan of Cordon Bleu. I don't like the extra 32,000 baht they slap on for being a foreigner although it used to be much much more. I also feel if you're going to spend thousands of dollars then you may as well do it in another country (for baking or general cooking). For Thai food if you have money to burn sure why not but I still feel Dusit Thani would be fine.

I'm a Chef and have worked in Thai kitchens and looked at Dusits curriculums awhile ago as they are also good for fruit carving and I wanted to learn more of that. The lady that teaches it there (Ajarn Pawana) is quite famous for it. Lots of the Chefs that worked under me trained there as well.

[sikishrory]

8 minutes ago, patman30 said:

As a former chef that run kitchens for a decade......
If the end goal is to open your own place/sell your own products
you would be much better spending the 300-500k on food and equipment and get practising
nothing beats learning more than practice
practise cooking what you think you would possibly sell in future
one issue with learning is it puts blinkers on the chef, and makes them a this way only type
food is flexible there are no rules or set ways, especially for business
for your own place the most important thing is to know your customer base
being able to cook the "best food ever" does NOT make you a good chef
running a profitable kitchen is what makes a good chef (many fail to understand this)

yes you are correct Baking is a separate speciality, baking is a science.
one comment you may not like
enjoying cooking at home is not the same as cooking for a business
the enjoyment may be soon lost as time and pressure quickly mount up
kitchen time management and pressure is what gets most chefs regardless of any training
and those who are used to having time quickly get stressed when on the clock
 

Also totally agree with this.

Practice.

[crazykopite]

To be a baker or pastry chef takes years of experience a good apprenticeship can take a good 3 years I know this from past experience  I would suggest if you GF is Thai then sticking to Thai traditional cooking with a twist would be her best option what I find let’s Thai food down is presentation even the simplest thing like frying the egg to go on top of the rice is not carried out 2 or 3 hours before and sitting in humid conditions waiting for a customer ! Always cook fresh as much as possible don’t have food sitting in a pot for hours on end 

Edited March 25 by crazykopite

[BTB1977]

The higher end restaurants don't take people off the streets. 3 family members have graduated from Culinary schools.  And got jobs at the better Hotels around. But still at entry level.  You work your way up.