Apprenticeship
EARLY HISTORY
Since the 11th Century, apprenticeship has been the model for learning a trade. Cooking and baking are two of the oldest trades known to mankind and throughout Europe, Trade Guilds (equivalent to modern day trade unions) were the source of skilled craftspeople. In 1248, King Louis IX from France established the Royal Guild of Goose Roasters (The Chaine des Rotisseurs) defining the true beginning of our noble, respected trade. During the days of Taillevent, Careme, Pointe, and Escoffier, apprentices worked diligently under the guidance of competent chefs to meet the requirements of their field. When skill sets were validated, these apprentices could move to journeymen and in some cases, eventually, master of their profession. In formal kitchens, boulangeries, pâtisseries, charcuteries, and butcher shops throughout France, Germany, Austria, Italy, England and other countries on the European continent, the trades were aligned with a form of on-the-job training that was time tested. Learning by doing is not a new phenomenon, it is a well-established process that has been around for centuries.
Over time, various specialties were defined by the Guilds and in the late 19th Century, under the guidance Chef Auguste Escoffier, who balanced his military experience with the specializations defined by the Guilds, created the Kitchen Brigade System of organization and delineated responsibilities still used at some level today.
Although, low in social standing during the earliest days of the profession, cooks and chefs were essential to the establishment of a country’s culture. Prepared food was noted as a unifying and defining component of everyday life. Early in a person’s life, a determination of an individual strengths would point them in the direction of a specific trade, thus apprenticeships thrived as a vehicle for determining “place” in society.
LANDMARK PROGRAMS
After several unsuccessful attempts in the ’30 to establish an apprenticeship program some enterprising clubs, resorts, hotels and their chefs would launch their own in-house program, mostly fashioned after the European model, while not accessible to outsiders, but only serving their own establishment’s needs.
The Greenbrier Resort model under Chef Hermann Rusch, the Balsams Grand Resort, Colonial Williamsburg, the United States Army, and dozens of other initiatives gave birth to the future National ACF Program. Each welcomed young apprentices to the rigors of training, that would, over the following decades, train some of the country’s most prominent chefs, including Certified Master Chefs and AAC Hall of Fame members.
THE EVOLUTION OF ACF APPRENTICESHIP
Credit goes to the members of the Pittsburgh Chefs Association who strongly supported the effort to develop the curriculum and pilot-test the program on a local level. In those days 80% of Pittsburgh chapter meetings were devoted to the apprenticeship program; developing training sequences, establishing measurable standards, setting timetables and qualifications for teachers (only Certified Executive Chefs qualified), monitoring and even teaching the program in areas of specific culinary expertise.
In 1972, Ed Brown, Chefs F. Metz, J. Braun with the unconditional support of the Pittsburgh Chefs Association developed the Cooks’ Apprenticeship program, a competency-based, hybrid model, built on the established European experience, tempered by cultural influences and combined with American know-how. Most notably was the requirement of an AOS Culinary degree from an accredited academic institution in tandem with an on-the-job culinary training. After pilot tested at the local level, the program was implemented regionally and ultimately became the ACF national program. Apprenticeship was an important initiative, demonstrating to the public and government the ACF’s internal pledge to training and education.
ACF’s commitment to a functional and approved apprenticeship and certification program had wide-reaching effects, far beyond any expectations. It directly fueled the mergers of rival associations with ACF, the industry’s and public’s awareness of the culinary profession and the foresight by the US Department of Labor providing seed moneys for the funding for the apprenticeship program, while officially elevating chefs, deemed as domestic servants heretofore, to the category of professionals.
These articles above were published in Pittsburgh, highlighting the early apprenticeship program.
In 1979, The American Culinary Federation’s application for designation as the only recognized apprenticeship model in the U.S. was approved and registered by the Department of Labor. Over the next two decades, ACF Certification grew to become the gold standard for chefs at all levels. In 1981, the Master Chef Program was brought to fruition with the first extensive exam offered in the same year.
Other programs would follow, adding relationships with local colleges to teach complementary courses that were part of a balanced culinary apprenticeship and yielding both validation of apprenticeship completion and an associate in occupational studies degree (AOS). Local ACF chapters were engaged to help monitor programs and service as a resource for apprentices and chefs who were training the next generation of cooks.
In the late 1970’s, with growing interest in kitchen careers and a change in the social stigma about this type of work, culinary certificate and degree programs became a growing trend with just a handful in the seventies to well over 1,000 programs by the end of the 20th century. Most major restaurants and hotels saw the value in turning the training and teaching process for cooks and chefs over to colleges better equipped and more patient to do so.
The 1980’s and 90’s saw tremendous growth in the number of restaurants, hotels, resorts, and other food related businesses. The interest in and demand for trained cooks had never been higher. Media coverage of a chef’s life enticed a generation to view cooking for a living as a noble, exciting, and rewarding pursuit. Enrollment in culinary programs and the number of colleges offering those programs grew exponentially until the reality of the work commitment and the cost of both delivering and receiving an education peaked. Gradually it became apparent that a degree in culinary or pastry arts was an exceptional way to learn the trade, but not the only way. By the 2020’s, apprenticeship models were seeing an upswing in interest and are now positioned for growth again.
RECOGNITION AND FUNDING
Through award of a $625,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Labor, the ACF was able to establish the methods, means, and standards necessary to operate the first truly effective apprenticeship model in the country. Beyond that, it allowed the ACF to hire six regional coordinators, mostly retired chefs, with responsibility to assist chapters mentor and monitor all aspects of the program. This was an essential part, ensuring that all the programs follow national standards.
APPRENTICESHIP AS A LINK TO CERTIFICATION
Certification and Apprenticeship worked hand-in-hand as the ACF was now positioned to validate chefs’ skills and abilities at levels from Certified Culinarian to Certified Executive Chef and Executive Pastry Chef. Based on its building blocks and skill-based competency system, apprenticeship represented the foundation for certification, as it established measurable standards required at all levels of certification.
RECOGNITION AND AWARDS
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor recognized the American Culinary Federation with the 21st Century Trailblazers and Innovators Award for their apprenticeship partnership with the United States Army.
MOVING FORWARD – APPRENTICESHIP FOR A CHANGING INDUSTRY
The status, number of programs and apprentices, as well as the quality of the ACF apprenticeship program, suffered due to unfortunate neglect, depriving the once stellar program of attention, progressive development and general support.
Moving forward, the American Culinary Federation is positioned to be the leading authority in Culinary Education for future generations through its Apprenticeship, Certification, and both secondary and post-secondary accreditation programs that validate a school’s commitment to quality and adherence to rigorous standards.
Today, the ACF Apprenticeship Program, developed more than 50 years ago, along with Chefs’ Certification are primary reasons for membership and active engagement in the American Culinary Federation. In addition, apprenticeship and certification project the ACF’s professional image and the organizations’ role in supplying the foodservice community with qualified cooks. It is important for the program to constantly evolve, embracing new techniques, skills and know how.
Anecdote from Chef Metz:
“This reminds me of a luncheon meeting with Emily DeRocco, the then Assistant Secretary of Labor. We talked about the status of apprenticeships in America, upon which she pointed to the ACF program as one of the most durable and successful national programs. Needless to say, I was thrilled.