The benefits of taking a course prior to your season are obvious. You will be more
confident in cooking for large groups (you might end up cooking for 15 or 20 people),
and will be better equipped to attain the level of quality expected by your employer.
If you attend a course specifically for training chalet staff you will get to know
about the potential mishaps involved with the difference in cooking time for eggs for example
(even when they are in a cake). Cooking for large numbers, often in a small kitchen, takes some getting used to
and a course can just take the edge off the nerves when presented with it for the first time.
Having completed a course prior to application will certainly strengthen your chances.
The organisations listed below provide cooking and catering courses for all eventualities.
Here are the latest ski courses, a full list of chalet cookery course providers is detailed below.
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The Winter Adventure Company
Aimed at keen amateurs wanting to work a ski season, yet lacking the confidence to cook for larger numbers, this course provides the perfect opportunity to learn new skills, gain a more advanced range of cooking techniques and have a greater selection of menu's in your repertoire. Courses take place in France and Scotland in a realistic environment with a maximum of only 3 students. We mirror the chalet routine during your four days with us and you cook for real guests and not just other students. The course is run by John, who has over 20 years experience in the catering industry, including 6 years spent working as a chef in Switzerland and 10+ ski seasons catering in luxury chalets and hotels. He has a thorough understanding of what will be expected of you during a season and will help equip you with the skills required not only to cook but to manage your time effectively and maximise your ski season experience.
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Mountain Chefs
Learn the art of gourmet cooking with Mountain Chefs and find your dream ski season job as a Chalet Chef. We help you become the ski industry’s best chalet chefs through attendance on our unique three-week course, teaching you the art of gourmet cooking, the shortcuts to running a successful kitchen and giving you the confidence to produce excellent food. We work with the top ski resorts in placing our chefs using a very proactive placement process. If you pass our course, we guarantee you a ski season job. We believe that a well-managed kitchen run by a knowledgeable and happy chef will give you more time on the slopes! The Chalet Chef course is perfect for gap year students with an interest in cooking or those on a career break who are looking to work a successful and satisfying ski season as a Chalet Chef. Mountain Chefs is based in the UK at Junction 14 of the M1. e-mail rachel@mountainchefs.co.uk or call 01908-585411. |
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The Alpine Cookery Course
The Alpine Cookery Course provides a week long courses for people wishing to spend a ski season working as a chalet hosts. Our course will fully prepare you to take on a ski season with not only great cookery skills but knowledge on what it is actually like to live and work in a resort.
Our courses are based in the beautiful alpine resort of Chamonix, a mecca for skiers in the winter and a bustling alpine town in the summer months. If you are looking to learn all there is to know about becoming a chalet host, increasing your cookery skills and cooking for larger numbers, then look no further than this course.
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Chalet Academy courses
Chalet Academy provide chalet courses in Chamonix, France. With particular focus
on the cooking element, a job offer is guaranteed on completion of their course.
The head Chef, Simon is an experienced trainer, and with over 10 years experience
in the industry he is the perfect mentor to teach all the vital skills needed for
a successful season in the Alps.
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The Ultimate Chalet Host Cookery Course
An affordable one week hands on course to teach you everything you need to know about running a successful chalet with style and the minimum of fuss. Learn quick, easy recipes, for large numbers, cooking at altitude. Tips on menu planning, shopping, budget control, health & safety, living in the alps, the life of a chalet host, language skills and tricks of the trade to maximise ski time. Based in a luxury chalet in La Rosiere, France, with qualified and experienced tutors, you cook in a real chalet kitchen and sit down to dine with your guests, just like you will in your chalet. This is truly THE MOST AUTHENTIC CHALET COOKERY COURSE available. Click the link above, call us on 01342 302 910 or email
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Tante Marie School of
Cookery
Tante Marie has been training the world's top cooks for fifty years. As well as
courses leading to the Tante Marie Cordon Blue Diploma, Tante Marie offers shorter
courses particularly suited to gap year students, including the eleven week Cordon
Bleu Certificate course and the four week Essential Skills course. Ski Chalet operators
approach Tante Marie every year, appreciating the excellent training its students
receive. Cordon Bleu Certificate and the Essentials Skills students have great opportunities
to work for top operators in top resorts every winter, as well as in villas and
on yachts in the summer.
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The Edinburgh school of food and
wine
The Edinburgh School of Food and wine provide cooks and chefs for permanent, temporary
and part-time work. EFSW offers a wide variety of full time and part time cookery
courses.
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The Orchards School
of Cookery
The Orchards School of Cookery specialises in training and recruiting chalet cooks
to work in ski resorts. The School is well recognised and with its contacts in the
chalet industry is able to help and advise students with recruitment. Ski companies
visit the school to interview students. To date they have 100% success rate at recruiting
their students.
The Orchards School of Cookery was No.4 in the ‘Top 25 Cookery Schools in Europe’
published by Waitrose Food Illustrated in January. “If you don’t have time to ski
to your heart's content and make the most of the aprés ski, what is the point of
putting up with the cold”
For further information please telephone Isabel on 01789 490 259, email Isabel@orchardscookery.co.uk
or visit www.orchardscookery.co.uk
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Fishworks
The cookery school at FishWorks are run to help de-mystify the selection, preparation
and cooking of seafood.
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Leith School of Food and Wine
Leiths School of Food and Wine in London has an international reputation as a first
class training school for chefs. Students come from all over the world to enjoy
the dedicated teaching in a friendly atmosphere. The guiding principle is to impart
enthusiasm for the trade and instil a lasting love of good food and wine.
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Well Seasoned
The Well Seasoned Chalet Cookery Course takes place in the famous winter ski resort of Tignes where we hope the relaxed and informal style of teaching combined with luxury chalet accommodation and the stunning backdrop of the French Alps in summer will inspire and excite you! We provide training which will develop your skills in the kitchen whilst at the same time introducing an awareness of both the possibilities and limitations of cooking in a real chalet environment. Our tutor has a wealth of experience in the field enabling you to come away with the confidence to prepare and present excellent quality food suitable for guests returning from a hard day on the slopes! We’ve even included some free time throughout the week so you can make the most of the activities on offer in resort including skiing and snowboarding.
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