The first step to becoming a chef, this course gives you the practical experience and key skills you need to start working as a cook in commercial kitchens or study further to become a chef. You’ll learn how to prepare all kinds of tasty dishes, from delicious sauces and soups through to meat and fresh seafood.

As part of the course, you'll do a five week internship in the cooking industry. This may be paid and will look great on your CV. From here, many Aspiring Chef students go on to do the International Chef course (Level 5).

A TASTE OF WHAT YOU'LL EXPERIENCE

Get your bearings in the kitchen

Learn about food safety, effective kitchen working practices, staff interaction with other kitchen staff and standard ways of working in a commercial kitchen. You’ll also focus on cold-larder work, making marinades, dressings and cold sauces, stocks, soups, and egg dishes.

Expand your skills with seafood and more

We’ll teach you the practical skills to create appetisers, complex sauces, fish, seafood, vegetable and rice dishes. You’ll also learn about risk assessment, customer expectations, communication, teamwork and general supervision.

Meat dishes, grains and pasta

Learn how to make your own pasta and get practical training on cooking dishes with meat, pulses and grains.

Pastry, cakes and desserts

This is the sweet part of the course - you’ll learn the practical skills to make pastry, desserts, cakes and dough.

A foodie field trip

As part of your course, you’ll get to visit a New Zealand food supplier to see where some of the food or ingredients you work with comes from and how they’re harvested or produced.

Five week internship

The last five weeks of your course will be spent working in a commercial kitchen as part of an internship. This will give you invaluable real-life industry experience and contacts.

Outcomes

Work as a sous chef in hotels, restaurants or for a catering company

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Hotel Demi Chef de Partie

Restaurant Chef de Partie

Catering and Events Demi Chef de Partie

Cafe Sous Chef

Industrial Catering Demi Chef de Partie