For those looking to turn cooking into a career, Paris is the place to begin. Here, you can score a world-recognised diploma in French cuisine or pastry, while savouring the rewards of the art in the capital's range of Michelin-starred restaurants.
The most famous of the city's professional cooking schools is Le Cordon Bleu, created in the late 19th century. Despite having branches all over the world, the cramped quarters of Le Cordon Bleu Paris, located in the unfashionable 15th arrondissement, continues to attract an international cast of aspiring chefs - not all of whom survive the gruelling, boot-camp atmosphere, where burnt pans can result in tongue lashings.
The most intensive programme, Le Grande Diplome, offers nine months of instruction in French cuisine and pastry. Classes begin with demonstrations, followed by hands-on workshops, where you're expected to recreate what you learnt. Those who pass the nerve-wracking practical exam at the end earn an internationally recognised diploma and an internship in a French restaurant. Shorter certificate courses are also available.
A similar education and diploma can be had at the Ecole Ritz Escoffier, located in the palatial Ritz Paris hotel. The school boasts a larger variety of courses, including workshops such as wine appreciation, but it's best known for its diploma programmes, which cover the gamut of classical French cuisine and pastry without neglecting contemporary trends.
You are also initiated into haute cuisine, learning dishes served in the Ritz's Michelin two-star restaurant, L'Espadon.
Those with shallower pockets might consider enrolling at the Ecole Superieure de Cuisine Francaise (ESCF), a vocational school in central Paris that teaches all the essential skills of traditional and regional French cuisine and pastry without the exorbitant fees (or romance) of the better known institutions.
