Catering to the Masses - Culinary Style by Mary Hart

Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site.

Careers in the culinary and food service industry are very popular. Earning your degree in the culinary arts prepares you for a broad choice of career options. One popular course of study is catering.

What Does a Caterer Do? Caterers provide food and banquet services to their customers at specific locations and venues. Catered events can range from box lunches for a picnic, to full food service. Private caterers often manage entire events and are responsible for not only the e food, but beverage service, decor and floral arrangements as well.

Another main area of catering is hotel catering. These catering managers arrange for food service in a hotel's meeting rooms, for banquets, weddings, etc. They coordinate the menus and costs for these parties and events with planners or individual clients. They also organize schedules and staffing in conjunction with kitchen personnel for proper execution of food service.

There are also other areas of catering such as mobile catering and industrial catering. Mobile caterers generally work from a vending cart of some sort for sporting events, festivals, or on the street. Industrial caterers often work providing catering services for airlines and schools.

Training To become a professional in catering or any branch of the culinary arts, qualified training is recommended. Students in formal culinary training programs generally spend their time in kitchens learning to prepare meals through actual practice. They learn knife techniques and proper use of kitchen equipment. Food safety is one course that is required for culinary students. Students will learn about sanitation and public health rules for handling food. This ensures safe food-handling procedures.

Other training programs can include courses in nutrition, menu planning, and purchasing and inventory management. Training in catering service can also include courses in management, inventory software, and banquet services.
About the Author

Mary Hart is an in-house writer for Online-Degrees-Today.com and has been writing about online culinary degree programs since 2004. To find out more information about earning your online catering degree, click here.