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Post by bubble88 on Jul 21, 2016 12:15:26 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I just joined. Like all of you, I am obsessed with chocolate. I am serious about making this a career (it would be a total career change: I am 36 and work in medical research in Oxford). At the moment, my goal is to join an existing company (rather than create my own). I particularly like Hotel Chocolat but couldn't get any information from them about what qualification would make me more recruitable for them. They used to recruit and train apprentice chocolatiers but it doesn't look like they have done this in a while. Any advice on how to get there? I was looking at training courses for chocolate making. A lot of options: Valrhona school of chocolate, Callebaut school of chocolate, Cordon Bleu (Diploma in Pastry and Confectionery etc.). Is there one that is better/more widely recognised? I was in the process of registering with Cordon Bleu (thinking they were the best) but read bad reviews.
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Post by martin0642 on Aug 4, 2016 19:34:39 GMT -5
Hi Bubbles....is that Oxford uk you're from? If so - then I would go for either Callebaut or Cocoa Black courses. I've only done the Cocoa Black (level 2 masterchef) course but Callebaut offer some specialised courses (Like an intense infusion course) which cover more detail on specific things. Callebaut, I think, have the training thing nailed. They employ more top chocolatiers as lecturers and pour a huge amount of resources into their education programmes. I can see the appeal of joining a company...I started my own business a few months ago after deciding to "have a go at making chocolate from scratch" in October. It is not an easy business and it is not a profitable business (not for a long time anyway). But it is amazing fun Appeals to the geek in me as well (i'm a former academic also...Public Health). Forget about which course is more widely recognised; there isn't an industry standard. Go for one you'll enjoy, is accessible and you can afford. Any of the names you mentioned would carry some weight with a future employer in the business...but experience counts for a lot. You can learn a lot of useful tips but only by actually using chocolate regularly do you get any of teh necessary skills. And patience. You need a lot of that
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